Contracts gives you one place to track agreements, the people involved, key dates, renewal terms, and reminders. You can add an existing file, upload a contract, or have ActiveMerge create a contract record when you generate a document from a contract-enabled template.
Access and limits
Contracts is available on Plus, Business, and Ultra plans. Plus includes up to 150 contracts. Business and Ultra do not have a contract-count limit. Removing a contract from Contracts frees a Plus slot; the file remains in Files.
Add a contract
Upload a contract
Open Contracts, choose a PDF, DOC, or DOCX file up to 20 MB, and select Upload contract. The document is saved in Files and added to Contracts. Choose a Contracts folder first if you want to file the upload there.
Add a file from Files
In Files, use the Add to Contracts action on a file, or select several files and add them together. Bulk add accepts up to 100 files at a time. Files that are already in Contracts, in the trash, or folders are skipped and reported.
Create contracts from generated documents
To track generated agreements automatically, open a saved template’s Contract settings and enable This template creates a contract. When a document from that template is saved to Files, ActiveMerge creates a matching contract record. Contract templates are saved to Files so each record can link to its document.
In the template settings, map placeholders for counterparties, effective date, expiry date, and contract value. You can also set details that apply to every generated contract, such as type, term, notice period, currency, renewal behavior, default tags, and reminder days. Review the suggested placeholder matches before saving. Details that are missing or can’t be read can be filled in on the contract later. If no counterparty is mapped, signers may be used as counterparties when available.
Complete or edit contract details
Select a contract in the list to open its details. You can update its title, folder, type, status, tags, counterparties, dates, term, renewal settings, notice period, value, and currency. Add up to 20 counterparties. Separate tags with commas; tag names are matched without regard to letter case.
An expiry date can be calculated from the effective date and term. A notice deadline is calculated from the expiry date and notice period. An expiry date supplied directly by a user or template is preserved; the term only fills an expiry date that has not been set directly.
The Needs info marker appears when a contract has no counterparty, effective date, or expiry date. Fill in those details to clear it.
Statuses
| Status | How it is set |
|---|---|
| Draft | The initial status. A declined, cancelled, or expired signature request returns the contract to Draft. |
| Awaiting signature | Set when a signature request is sent for the contract’s file. |
| Active | Can be set manually, or is set when all signers complete the signature request. |
| Expiring | Set for active contracts as the expiry date or notice deadline enters the reminder window. |
| Expired | Set after the expiry date passes when the contract does not renew automatically. |
| Terminated | Set manually when the agreement ends early. |
The expiry date is treated as the final day of the agreement; it becomes Expired the following day. Statuses tied to signing or contract dates are managed automatically.
Automatic renewal and reminders
Enable Renews automatically and provide a renewal term or a term. When an active contract passes its expiry date, ActiveMerge advances the expiry date by that period. If no usable term is set, it cannot calculate a renewal and the contract becomes Expired instead.
ActiveMerge can email reminders for both the expiry date and the notice deadline. For contracts made from a template, reminder days come from that template. Other contracts use the default schedule of 90, 60, and 30 days before each date. Reminders go to the contract owner. Only active and expiring contracts receive them.
If a contract is added after its normal reminder dates have passed, ActiveMerge schedules a catch-up reminder when the date is still upcoming. Editing a contract’s dates or reminder settings updates its unsent reminders. Sent reminders remain in the activity history.
Organize and find contracts
- Folders: Create folders in the Contracts sidebar and assign contracts from the details panel. Choose Unfiled to see contracts without a folder. Deleting a folder leaves its contracts in Contracts and makes them unfiled.
- Tags: Add comma-separated tags to a contract or configure default tags on a contract template. Select a tag in the sidebar or filter list to find matching contracts.
- Views: Use the built-in views for All contracts, Needs info, Awaiting signature, Active, Expiring soon, Expired, and Possible duplicates.
- Filters: Search by contract title or counterparty. Combine filters for type, status, tag, folder, and expiry within 30, 60, 90, 180, or 365 days.
- Saved views: Apply filters, name the current view, and save it for quick access. You can save up to 25 views and delete them from the sidebar.
Review possible duplicates
ActiveMerge flags contracts that share an effective date and first counterparty. If both were generated from the same template, the template must match too. This is a review aid; it does not delete or merge records.
Open Review the duplicates to compare their details. Remove a record from Contracts if it should not be tracked there; its file stays in Files. Choose Keep both if the agreements are different. A matching contract added later can cause the group to be flagged again.
Remove a contract
Open the contract and choose Remove from Contracts. This removes the tracking record from the Contracts list, while the document remains in Files. A contract that was removed cannot be re-added from that same file; upload or save a separate copy if you need a new tracking record.
Troubleshooting
I can’t add a contract. Contracts requires Plus or higher. Plus users can track up to 150 contracts; removing a tracking record or upgrading frees capacity.
A generated contract is missing. Confirm that Contract settings are enabled on the saved template and that the generated document was saved to Files. If the template fields could not be read, the record may need to be added or completed manually.
The status or reminder hasn’t updated yet. Signing and date-based changes are automatic. Date processing and reminder emails run on the scheduled daily job, and also refresh when you create or edit a contract.
An expiry date doesn’t follow the term. Directly entered and template-mapped expiry dates are kept. Clear the expiry date if you want ActiveMerge to calculate it from the effective date and term.
A contract is marked as a possible duplicate. Compare the records and choose Keep both when they are separate agreements, or remove the extra record from Contracts if it should no longer be tracked.