Vendor Contracts

What is a Vendor Contract?

In Discovery, a Vendor Contract is a record that represents a contractual agreement between a Vendor and a Client or a Vendor and a management company. These records are designed to digitally mimic the traditional pen-and-paper (or PDF) documents that vendors and managers typically sign. The line items on a Vendor Contract record are the services and fees tied to it in Discovery.

How do I?

• How do I create a Vendor Contract?
• How do I add fees to a Vendor Contract?
• How do I Terminate a Vendor Contract?

Vendor Contract Activity Log

Watch this video to learn more about vendor contract activities and where they are displayed.

Anatomy of a Vendor Contract

Primary Fields

• Vendor

  This is the vendor that is servicing the contract and should also be the same for all services on the contract.

  Effective Date

  This is the date that a contract becomes effective. This value must always be a date that comes before the expiration date and termination date (if set).

  Expiration Date

  This expiration date is the date that a contract's current agreement terms are set to expire on. Not to be confused with the termination date, the expiration date does not mean that the contract has ended. Rather, it signifies that the given agreement terms have ended and are open to re-negotiation.

  A Vendor Contract with a status of "Rolling Month to Month" will automatically have its expiration date moved to the first day of the next month as long as the contract isn't terminated.

  Discovery sets this date for you based on the contract's status:

  • Pre Term and the Initial Term statuses: the end of the contract's initial term.
  • Standard Renewal Term and Standard Renewal Term (Can Cancel Auto Renewal): the contract has auto-renewed, so this is the end of its current renewal term.
  • Rolling Month to Month: the first day of next month.
  • Pending Termination: the Termination Date.

• Termination Date

  This is the date the contract is terminated. It represents the end of the contract agreement between the vendor and waste manager. No services on the contract will be performed after this date.

  Term Months

  The number of months that a contract's terms are effective for.

Statuses

A Vendor Contract in Discovery may flow through many different statuses throughout its lifecycle. These statuses are used to inform users of the Contract's current validity and track the availability of "auto-renewal" cancel opportunity windows.

Pre Term: There are upcoming services scheduled, but the Effective Date on this contract is still in the future.

Initial Term: This contract is past its Effective Date and has never expired before (and thus never been auto renewed), and is not currently within a window of time that would permit cancelling any auto-renewal clause. Looking at the contract's `initial_expiration_date`, it will be a date in the future.

Initial Term (Can Cancel Auto Renewal): Initial expiration date has not been met. However, the contract is eligible for a Cancellation of Auto Renewal, because given the expiration date and the Minimum days to notify and Maximum days to notify values, the current date falls within that window of time.

Initial Term (Auto Renewal Cancelled): The contract is still within its Initial Term and Expiration Date is in the future, but the contract's Auto Renewal was successfully cancelled. This is a good status to be in as future negotiating opportunities will not be locked-out because of a long term auto renewal. Once the contract expires then it will be moved to Rolling Month to Month.

Standard Renewal Term: No Cancellation of Auto Renewal Letter was sent and the vendor contract auto renewed for the Auto Renewal Term Months value. There is also not an opportunity to cancel the auto renewal at this time, based on the contract's Minimum days to notify and Maximum days to notify values.

Standard Renewal Term (Auto Renewal Cancelled): The contract is in a Standard Renewal Term, and the Auto Renewal has been successfully cancelled. Once the contract expires then it will be moved to Rolling Month to Month, and a renegotiating opportunity will be available.

Standard Renewal Term (Can Cancel Auto Renewal): The contract is in a renewal term but it is also eligible for a Cancellation of Auto Renewal because the current date falls between the Minimum days to notify and Maximum days to notify values. Once the cancellation of auto renewal values are set, the status will transition to Standard Renewal Term (Auto Renewal Cancelled).

Rolling Month to Month: The contract has no extended renewal term, so it continues one month at a time. In most industries, particularly the waste industry, at least 30 days' notice is needed to cancel service because of the logistics of removing equipment. While a contract is in this status, its Expiration Date is always the first day of next month. On the 1st of each month, Discovery moves it forward another month, and the status stays Rolling Month to Month until someone changes it.

• Month to Month Reason:  When a contract is in Rolling Month to Month, Discovery also tracks why it's there. The Month to Month Reason gives anyone reviewing the contract quick context without digging through its history.  

How it works

• It's set for you. When a contract moves into Rolling Month to Month, automatically or because someone changed the status, the reason starts at No Reason Set.
• Change it from the Edit page. Open the contract, click Edit, and pick a reason from the Month to Month Reason dropdown next to Contract Status. If you're changing the status to Rolling Month to Month in the same edit, you can choose the reason at the same time.
• It only applies while the contract is month to month. The dropdown appears only while Contract Status is Rolling Month to Month. You can't set a reason ahead of time on a contract in any other status, and it isn't on the Create form.
• It starts over each time. When a contract leaves Rolling Month to Month, its reason goes back to No Reason Set. If the contract later returns to month to month, the earlier reason is not restored, so review it again.
• Where to see it. On the contract's page, Month to Month Reason appears under Record Information, beside the status, only while the contract is in Rolling Month to Month.

Pending Termination: The contract has a future Termination Date and will end on that date. Until then it is still an active contract, and the vendor is expected to keep servicing it as normal.

• Setting it. Edit the contract, set the Status to Pending Termination, and enter a Termination Date. The Termination Date must be today or later, and on or after the Effective Date. This status can't be chosen when you create a contract.
• While it's pending. The Expiration Date is set to match the Termination Date, and the nightly status update leaves the contract alone, so it won't auto-renew or move to another term status. A banner at the top of the contract reads "Scheduled to terminate on [date]".
• When the Termination Date arrives. Discovery changes the status to Terminated automatically overnight.
• Changing your mind. Click Cancel Pending Termination on the banner. Discovery clears the Termination Date and recalculates the status from the contract's dates: Pre Term, Initial Term, Standard Renewal Term, or Rolling Month to Month.

Terminated: The contract has ended. Discovery sets this status automatically on the Termination Date of a contract in Pending Termination. You can also set it yourself on the Edit page, with a Termination Date of today or earlier.

Auto Renewal

Auto Renew Cancellation Document This represents the cancellation notice/document that was sent to the hauler/service provider for a given Vendor Contract. While it's not necessary to store this in Discovery, people often choose to do so for their own record keeping purposes.

Auto Renew Cancellation Mail Receipt Proof This is the cancellation proof receipt; It should be given to you by the vendor of a contract once the auto-renew is indeed cancelled.

Auto Renew Cancellation Notice Sent On The date your auto-renew cancellation notice was sent.

Maximum days to notify The maximum number of days to notify the hauler (for auto-renewal cancellation) before the contract expires.

Minimum days to notify The minimum number of days to notify the hauler (for auto-renewal cancellation) before the contract expires.

Contract Term Length The number of months the contract will be active before it's auto-renewed or terminated.

Auto Renewal Term The number of months the contract will auto-renew for if the cancellation of auto-renewal isn't sent to the hauler.

Signing / Procurement

These are optional fields you may wish to store as data on your contract.

• Responsible for Managing Termination
• Responsible for Next Contract Negotiation
• Signing Party
• Procuring Party
• Signed by Vendor

Misc.

• Manual Terms
• API % Before Integration
• Minimum Tonnage Cost Hidden On Invoice
• Is Franchised
• Exclusive to Vendor
• Payment Days until Remittance
• Signed Contract
• External Reference ID
• Vendor's Contract Reference — Optional. The number the vendor uses to identify this contract on their own paperwork. View and edit it in Record Information.
• Customer Name — Optional. The name the vendor uses for the customer on this contract. View and edit it in Record Information.
• Month to Month Reason — Only while status is Rolling Month to Month. Options: No Reason Set, Watching for Price Increase, Reviewed - No Action Needed.

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.