How do I create a Vendor Contract?
Creating a vendor contract in Discovery allows you to track contractual agreements between a vendor and a client, including auto-renewal terms, notification windows, and signing details. The steps below walk through each field you will encounter on the Create form.
Getting Started
Navigate to Vendor Contracts in the main menu, then select New on the vendor contracts index page. Please note that an asterisk (*) indicates a required field for vendor contract creation.
Basic Information
Vendor: Enter the vendor's name and select from the available options. If the vendor does not appear in the list, it must be established in Discovery before the contract can be created.
Contract Status: Select the appropriate status for the contract at the time of creation. See the Vendor Contracts reference article for a full description of each available status.
Contract Effective Date: The date on which the contract becomes active.
Payment Days Until Remittance: The number of days within which payment must be remitted to the vendor after an invoice is approved.
Contract Term Length: The length of the contract's effective period in months.
Is Franchised: — Indicates whether the vendor operates under a franchise arrangement
Exclusive to Vendor: — Flags the contract as exclusive to this vendor
Vendor Contract Document: Upload a signed copy of the contract if one is available. Files are limited to 20 MB.
Auto Renewal
Maximum Days to Notify: The latest date (in days before expiration) by which cancellation of auto-renewal must be submitted.
Minimum Days to Notify: The earliest date (in days before expiration) from which cancellation of auto-renewal may be submitted.
Auto Renew Cancellation Document: The cancellation notice sent to the service provider.
Auto Renew Cancellation Mail Receipt Proof: Proof provided by the vendor confirming receipt of the cancellation notice.
Auto Renew Cancellation Notice Sent On: The date the cancellation notice was transmitted.
No Auto Renewal Toggle
For contracts that will not auto-renew long-term, the No Auto Renewal toggle (located next to the Auto Renewal section heading) simplifies the cancellation workflow in a single click.
When the toggle is enabled:
- Cancellation document fields, notification day fields, and the Auto Renewal Term are automatically cleared and greyed out (Auto Renewal Term is fixed at 1 month)
- The contract status is automatically set to Initial Term Auto Renewal Cancelled
- Only the following statuses are available: Pre-Term, Initial Term Auto Renewal Cancelled, Rolling Month-to-Month, Pending Termination, and Terminated
- When the contract's current term expires, it will transition to Rolling Month-to-Month
When the toggle is disabled, all fields revert to their defaults (90 max days, 60 min days, 12-month renewal term) and become editable again.
Signing / Procurement
Signing Party: The individual or entity responsible for signing the contract on behalf of the client.
Procuring Party: The individual or entity responsible for procuring the contract.
Signed by Vendor: Indicates whether the vendor has countersigned the contract.
Responsible for Next Contract Negotiation: Indicates which party (Company, Client, Unknown) is responsible for the next contract negotiation
Responsible for Managing Termination: Indicates which party (Company, Client, Unknown) is responsible for managing termination of the vendor contract.
Additional Details
The following optional fields provide supplementary information about the contract:
- Manual Terms: — Free-text field for any contract terms that fall outside standard fields
- API Before Integration %: — The annual price increase % applied before integration
- Minimum Tonnage Cost Hidden on Invoice: — Indicates if a minimum tonnage cost is hidden on vendor invoices
- External Reference ID: — An identifier used to reference this contract in an external system
Saving
Once all required and applicable fields are complete, click Create Contract to create the vendor contract.
If you have additional questions or need more in depth information, please feel free to send us a message using the help beacon in the lower right-hand corner.