Before creating a contract, most first represent the different packages or types of agreements they offer to customers as contract templates inside of HindSite. Using these contract templates allows for a streamlined process for entering contracts.
To create a contract template, you first would need to navigate to the maintenance portion of HindSite by clicking Go to Maint, and then selecting Contract Templates. From here, you should see all the current contract templates available in your HindSite.
To create a new estimate template, you will click the New button in the bottom right corner of this section.
A new screen will appear prompting you to enter in the description/name of the template and choose the color that should be associated with this estimate template. Do note that the color selected on the template here affects the color coding of the contact that displays on the schedule when a contracted contact is selected.
After entering in the description and choosing the associated color, you would click the Service ID drop down below to select the first service that would be included in the package you are creating. In this example, the first service included on the bronze package would be the Spring Start Up.
Once the service is selected, you will need to set the checkboxes accordingly to distinguish if/how the service will be billed once the associated work order is completed.
“Visit billable?” distinguishes that the service is billable and will produce an invoice once completed. Once set, additional billing options will become visible. If “Visit Billable?” is the only option selected, the service will bill based on the default billing set on the service record.
“Bill Visit Value?” when set will bill the calculated visit value as a flat rate to the customer overlooking the default billing setup on the service. This is a common option to have selected for contracts containing only one visit of each included service or when contact specific flat rate pricing is already established.
Lastly, the “Bill Materials?” option determines if logged materials on the work order should be billed onto the invoice. This option is typically selected for services; however, it can be disabled if the service pricing already accounts for the anticipated material usage.
After distinguishing how the service would be billable, the next step would be to choose where the dollar value for the service comes from. Commonly this is done by selecting a User Defined Field from the dropdown that would hold the service value for the property. If a UDF value doesn’t exist for the customer or property specific pricing isn’t needed, the Default $ Value set for the service would be used instead.
Additionally, if you have the specific number of hours it takes to complete the service outlined in a UDF, that can also be associated here on the contract template, otherwise the same logic would apply, and the Default Man Hr entered would be used.
Once all the necessary settings are set for the service, you can click the Save button on the right-hand side of the screen and repeat the process of adding services until all the services in the template you are trying to create are added. In this example, the bronze package only contains the Irrigation Start Up and Winterization.
After all the needed services are added, you can Close out of the contract template and repeat the process until all common variations of service agreements offered are entered.
***For information regarding how to use these contract templates to create Job Contracts, please view our article regarding Creating a Job Contract Here: Job Contracts: Creating a Contract