There are two types of agreements: vendor agreements and client agreements. All Qualer users will find vendor agreements. Only service providers, or users with a client list, will see the client agreements module.
Vendor Agreements
All Vendor Agreements can be seen under Assets > Vendor Quotes & Agreements.
There are 2 ways to create a new vendor agreement:
- Via the Asset Manager
- Via the Vendor Quotes & Agreements
Via the Asset Manager
To create a new quote/agreement, go to the asset manager. Select all assets that you want to create an agreement for. Click on Create Service Agreement... from the Toolbox on the right.
Select a vendor that should be linked to the service agreement. To do so, click Pre-select Vendor.
A pop-up window will appear to associate a vendor. Click on the vendor you would like to assign and click Select Vendor:
Once that information has been added, input the Title and PO numbers along with the start/end dates for the agreement and add Additional comments and requests:
Once that information is populated, specify service information. Service Agreements in Qualer are designed to be service-centric.
The top section of the agreement represents common fields and optional custom fields, which can be configured via Administration->Configuration->Custom Attributes (selected scope - Client Agreement)
The top section of the agreement represents common fields and optional custom fields, which can be configured via Administration->Configuration->Custom Attributes.
Configuration of the Service Interval
When the agreement is in Editing mode, the first section of the service plan allows configuring service intervals. Service Interval can be defined directly in the agreement or reference an existing Maintenance Plan by clicking on the Set Schedule button.
In either case, the underlying connection is to a maintenance task with all its capabilities:
- Flexible intervals (excluding conditional rules)
- Automation settings
- Vendor selection
- Service levels and options
The next Service Date is taken from the Agreement Asset forecast but can be changed at any time.
In a quite simple case, only the Next Service Date can be entered, which will make the agreement due on this date. This date can be shifted manually or just left alone if the agreement is only for a single service.
All assets on the agreement become due at the same time based on the defined interval. Effectively the agreement acts as a "combined asset" and appears in all lists as one yellow pseudo-asset:
Specific client assets can be added to the agreement either immediately or at a later stage. It is possible to specify the number of covered assets before actual assets are added. When assets are added, the number of assets is verified against the number of covered assets and a warning is displayed if excessive assets are added.
Additionally, it is possible to limit the agreement to specific product types. Limitation works only after it is set. If some assets of unsupported types were already added, they are retained until removed manually.
The actual asset counter should link to the client asset manager filtered down to specific agreement assets.
Agreement Limits
An agreement can be limited either to the total contract value or to the number of service calls. When the agreement limit is reached, a warning will be displayed in the next work order based on the agreement.
Total Contract Price
When the agreement is based on a full contract price it acts as a standing PO for all work performed against it. There may be a specific asset or product types associated or in the simplest case it could be just an open work agreement for a specific total amount. Each service call performed against this agreement will reduce the remaining balance until the amount is depleted. The next service request that goes over the total amount will be marked with an alert.
Number of Service Calls
An agreement limited by the number of service calls works alongside the full contract price and without the service call price. It allows for specific number of times a work order can be created under this agreement for the specified serviced product or asset. When an exceeding number of work orders are created, a red alert icon will be displayed in work item detail on the work order screen.
Agreement Pricing
In addition to inheriting pricing from the associated service price list, agreements can define a static per-item charge, which takes precedence over other price lists. If a per-item charge is defined here, it will be used for all assets linked to this service plan regardless of any other price lists.
Additionally, a master template can be linked to the agreement, which may contain other pre-defined charges.
The linked template also allows to define other behaviors, like tasks and automatic notifications, for which shortcuts are displayed:
When a master template is defined in the master agreement, it is automatically assigned to the work order based on this master agreement.
On the right-hand side, additional documents from your personal computer can be uploaded. At any point, the request can be deleted or saved as a draft before it's submitted.
When ready, click Finalize Request. The request will officially save. At this point, it can be edited or printed from Qualer to be sent to the vendor. If Send Request to Vendor is clicked, it will be sent to the email in the Shipping Address of the vendor selected from the Manage Vendors list. The request can also be archived by clicking 'Mark as Accepted', which means it can no longer be edited. If the request expires later, "Create a Copy" can be used to re-create the agreement and add new dates.
If Send Request to Vendor is selected, Qualer will prompt you to choose the vendor if it wasn't already selected. From there, you have a choice of adding this to an existing agreement (e.g. this is an extension of a pre-existing agreement) or continuing as is. The vendor will now see the agreement in their portal under Service > Client Quotes & Agreements and be able to accept or deny the quote.
Vendor point of view:
Once it's sent, you have the option to still print the agreement, cancel the request, and send to another vendor.
Client Agreements
If you are a service provider, meaning you have access to the Service > Manage Clients module, you can send a quote to a client or create a client agreement.
Find the desired client in manage clients and go to their asset list by clicking the client name. Select the assets that should be a part of the quote then choose New Service Agreement under the Toolbox on the right.
Or, you can go to Service>Client Quotes & Agreements
Click "New Service Agreement", Select Client Company:
Then, you will need to fill out all information, such as Title, dates, service plans, PO numbers, select assets and service levels, prices and limits. (the same way as you've read above)
Service Agreements and Work Orders
Once agreement is accepted, most fields become read-only. The New Service Order button appearing in the header allows the creation of a new work order with all assets in the agreement.
When a work order is created for an asset with service agreement linked to the maintenance plan, the pricing identified in the agreement will auto-populate in the following section along with the agreement number and PO number.
After services have been completed against the agreement, a running total begins to be displayed on the agreement page
Master agreements at a work order level
Similarly, to be able to select a Master Template at the order level, now users will be able to select a Master Agreement at the order level.
The master agreement should be selected automatically if the current client has only one active agreement in the current time period.
When a Master Agreement is selected, the following things should happen:
Primary and secondary PO are populated from the master agreement
The selected Master Agreement will be displayed in the header. If no agreement is selected, a clickable empty link ("---") will be displayed. Clicking on the agreement or empty link should bring up a popup with the selection of the agreements that are active (not expired) for this client. There is also an option to remove the master agreement from the order.
The price list for order-level charges is assigned from the first item in the master agreement
The Pick From Assets dialog now has an additional tab "Master Agreement" that displays all assets linked to the master agreement.
Service Agreements and Asset Management
If an asset is linked to a Service Agreement, the agreement information will be displayed on the Maintenance tab of the asset. The most recent Agreements will be on the top. All expired agreements will have the dates in red.
Agreement Buckets in the Asset Manager
When you use one of the Agreement Filters it the Asset Manager screen you can see the new "Agreement/Effective Dates" column
The column content displays:
Agreement Number - a link to the agreement.
Vendor Name
Agreement dates range - If the agreement has expired, the date range will be red.
Agreement Asset display
Service Providers can see what clients’ assets are under a service agreement from Service>Manage Clients> select the Client> Assets.
You can also click on the New Service Order button to be able to generate a work order with all assets under the selected agreement:
Asset owners can see the same yellow lines on the Asset Manager screen. which works the same way:
