Once a purchase contract is approved and activated, the only way you can modify it is by creating a change request. A change request is a copy of an active purchase contract on which you can propose changes. Once you approve and apply a change request, the proposed changes are applied to the original contract. This enables you to modify and adjust your active contracts over time and offers you a version control system that helps you keep track of all changes applied. Existing change requests for a purchase contract are listed on the Change Requests related list of the contract. From this related list you can create new change requests and manage the existing ones. For more information, see Creating a Change Request.
When you create a change request for a purchase contract, a new purchase contract of type Change Request is created. In this process, all the field values of the original purchase contract are copied to the new change request record. The change request fields are prepopulated with the values of the original contract. You can modify these values as needed.
A copy of each line on the original contract is also created. You can propose changes to the original lines by editing their corresponding copies on the change request. You can also add new lines if required. The changes you make to existing lines and any new lines that you create are added to the original contract once the change request is approved and applied. Deleting existing lines is also possible, although these lines will become expired lines on the original contract after applying the changes. For more information see, Deleting Purchase Contract Lines
Each change request that you create is associated with its original purchase contract. In the same way, each change request line which is copied from the original contract is associated with its original line. Similarly, each new change request and each change request line are associated with their preceding change request and change request line respectively.
When you apply a change request to a purchase contract, all the changes included in the change request are applied to the active original contract and its lines. The applied change request is deleted and a new superseded change request containing the original purchase contract data, as it was before the changes, is created. This enables you to have detailed control over the changes made to a purchase contract through its subsequent versions.
What Happens When You Apply a Change Request?
Applying a change request only requires you to click Apply on an approved change request. However, there are several processes and changes that take place when you apply a change request to a purchase contract:
- The data on the original active contract and its lines is replaced with the data on the change request. Any modified values on the contract and its lines are updated; newly added lines and deleted lines are also reflected.
- The original contract data, as it was before applying the change request, is copied to a new change request record. Only lines that have a status of "Active" or "Complete" are transferred to the new record. The status of the newly created change request and its lines is set to "Superseded" to indicate that the contract version and its lines are no longer valid because they have been replaced by a newer version. This ensures a copy of the previous contract version is retained that you can check at any time. Superseded change requests and lines cannot be edited or deleted.
- The Original Purchase Contract field of the newly created change request is populated with the contract number of the original contract. Similarly, the Original Contract Line field of each line is populated with the contract line number of its corresponding line on the original contract. This ensures superseded versions of the contract and its lines are always linked to their active ones.
- The Previous Contract field of the original contract is populated with the contract number of the newly created change request. In the same way, the Previous Contract Line field of each active line is populated with the contract line number of its corresponding line on the change request. The Previous Contract Line field is only populated for lines that already existed on the original contract and have been modified; it remains blank for new lines added to the change request. These fields link the original contract and its lines to their preceding versions. When applying successive change requests to a contract, the Previous Contract field on these change requests and the Previous Contract Line field on their change request lines are populated with the contract number and contract line number of their preceding change requests and change request lines.
- The record of the change request that you are applying is deleted.
Change Request Workflow
The change request workflow is as follows:
- Change request is created.
- Change request is approved.
- Change request is applied to the original purchase contract.