Contract Management Software User Manual

Contract Management Tracking Software

User Guide

The Information in this document is subject to change without notice. Any example companies, organizations, products, people and events depicted herein are fictitious. No association with any real company, organization, product, person or event is intended or should be inferred. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), or for any purpose, without the express written permission of CobbleStone Systems, Inc.

Contents

CMTS Overview

System Requirements

Disclaimer of Warranty

Install Procedure

Multi-User Environment

CMTS User Guide

Navigating Through CMTS

Employee Input Form

Vendor Input Form

Contract Entry/Edit Form

Scanning Images

Income & Expense Tracking

Exporting Data

Creating You Own Report Using MS Access

Appendix A

Where to Find Information

CMTS Overview

Contract Management Tracking Software offers contract managers, administrators, and professionals the ability to easily track, renew, cancel or report on their contracts. Oftentimes, organizations have to engage in many contracts, such as, elevator maintenance, software license, telephone service, or sub-contractor contracts. Overtime it may be difficult to keep track of the renewal, review, or cancellation dates that make up the individual contracts. Moreover, a loss of productivity and increase expenses may arise from an inefficient contract administration process. Contract administrators may find that they are overwhelmed with the number of contracts they must track, report on, renew and cancel. They may find that it is inefficient to use a standard filing system via filing cabinets. Contract Management Tracking Software provides a simple solution to solve these problems.

CobbleStone Systems Contract Management Tracking Software provides a client-server, Windows-based solution to the contract management process. It can run on a single desktop, laptop computer or be used on a Local Area Network (LAN) in a multi-user environment. It can track important information pertaining to contracts such as: dates, notes, titles, employees, income, expenses, vendors, digital image of the actual contract (scanner not included), voice message, auto dial, early notification of expiring contract, and offers an automatic renewal feature. In the sections to follow you will find the System Requirements, Installation Procedures, as well as the User Guide.

CMTS System Requirements

System Requirements

An IBM-compatible PC with a 486DX/66 or higher processor (Pentium or higher recommended).
Microsoft Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP operating system.
A hard disk with 12 MB of RAM of free space (16 recommended).
30 MB of hard-disk space required.
VGA or higher-resolution monitor.
Mouse or compatible pointing device.

Optional

Scanner with Scanner Software
Modem
Soundcard with audio recording and playback device

CMTS Installation Procedures

Installing Contract Management Software from CD ROM

Insert the CD ROM of the Contract Management Software disks in your disk drive.
Click the Windows Start button, and then click Run.
Type drive:\setup.exe, and then click OK. For example, if you inserted the CD ROM in your D drive, type d:\setup.exe. If you're installing from a network drive, click the Browse button to locate the Setup file.
Follow the Installation Wizard to complete the installation process.

Installing Contract Management Software from the Internet at http://www.cobblestonesystems.com

Create a temporary Folder on your hard drive.
Download Contract.exe file to a temporary location on your hard drive.
Double click on the self-extracting Contract.exe file (all installation files will unzip).
Double click on Setup.exe to install.
Follow the Installation Wizard to complete the installation process.

Starting Contract Management Software (After the Installation is Complete)

Select "Start" on your Windows Desktop, select "Programs", "Contract Management Software", "Contract Management Software". This is the preferred method of starting Contract Management Software.

Uninstalling (Removing) Contract Management Software

Select "Add/Remove Programs" in the Windows Control Panel. Select "Contract Management Software" from the list and select "Add/Remove". Follow the uninstall wizard.

Note: All data will be removed upon uninstalling Contract Management Software.

Multi-User Environment

Working in a Multi-User Environment

To use Contract Management Tracking System in a multi-user environment there are several steps one must take.
1. Purchase and installed CMTS on each computer (select the default options upon installation).

2. Select a shared network folder or directory and a copy and paste the "Contract.mdb" file in the shared folder.   The Contract.mdb file can be found among the installations files.

3. Edit the shortcut to CMTS (on each PC) as follows:

    a. Locate the shortcut via your File or Windows Explorer in your "Start", "Program Files" location as seen below.



    b. Right mouse click on the Contract Management Software shortcut and select Properties. The following window will appear.

    c. Edit the Target string as follows:

        There are several parts to the Target String.   The entire string appears like this:

"C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Microsoft Access Runtime\msaccess.exe" /runtime "C:\Program Files\Contract Management Software\contract.mdb"

    The first part of the string [ "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Microsoft Access Runtime\msaccess.exe" /runtime] tells your operating system to user the "msaccess.exe" in a runtime setting.

    The second part of the string ["C:\Program Files\Contract Management Software\contract.mdb"] tells the access engine what "contract.mdb" file to use.

    To use a network version of CMTS we must alter the second part of the target string. For example, if you have a network shared drive entitled "N" for N drive and the "Contract.mdb" file is on the following path "N:\cmts\contract.mdb" then replace the second string with the new string that identifies the path to the shared Contract.mdb file on your network. NOTE: You can also use the UNC.   For example, "\\servername\path\contract.mdb". Also, be careful and make sure all of the string is type properly.

Starting Contract Management

1. Click Start button, Programs, Contract Management, Contract Management.

Navigating through the Interface

The Main Menu is the best way to navigate through Contract Management. It features buttons that correspond to each topic of Contract Management. For example, the Employee button will allow the user to view the Employee information, such as, entering a new employee or finding/editing an existing employee.

Contracts Option

The Contracts, Vendors, Employees and Reports Buttons will show their respective options.

The Add New Contract Button will bring the user to the Contract Input Form (see Contract Input Form).

The Find Contract Button will bring the user to the Find a Contract Form (See Find a Contract Form).

The Check Expiring Contracts Button will show the user all the Contracts that are currently expiring.

The $$$ Button allows quick access to entering or editing the income or expense for each contract. This will be discussed about in greater detail later.

Contract Warning System:

Every time your open the contract management system your system will scan all expiring contracts based on the "End Date" and the "Notify Days" that was entered into your contracts. To open the contract just double click the line item with your mouse.

Vendors Option

The Add Vendor Button will bring the user to a the Vendor Input Form (see Vendor Input Form for more details).
The Find a Vendor Button will allow the user to find a previously entered Vendor (see Find Vendor Form).

Employees Option

The Enter New Employee Button will allow the user to view the Employee Input Form (see Employee Input Form). This is used to enter a new Employee into the database. Start off by entering all Employees first.
The Find Employee Button will allow the user to find previously entered Employees.

Reports Option

Select a Report from the list and click the corresponding button. Note: A default printer must be specified before viewing reports.
The Report Page allows the user to select a Report from the list and Preview the Report. The user has the option to print the reports.

Contract Expiring Message

If you have Contracts Expiring, you will be notified when you start the program. At this point you may choose either to view the contracts or not.

Employee Input Form

The Employee Input Form allows the user to enter or edit information pertaining to employees. (It is recommended that the user enter all Employee and Vendor information before entering contract information)

The Find Employee Button will allow the user to find previously entered Employees.

Find Employee Dialog

The Find Employee Page gives the user the option to select an employee from a list and click GO. This will bring the user to the Employee Input Form.

Vendor Input Form

The Vendor Input Forms allows the user to enter or edit Vendor Information.
The Phone Button allows the user to dial a Vendor from their PC.
The Binocular Button will bring the user to the Find a Vendor Page (see Find a Vendor Page).
The Trash Can Button will delete the current Vendor.

Find Vendor Form

The Find a Vendor Page allows the user to select a previously entered Vendor from a list. Click GO to view or edit the Vendor information.

Contract Entry & Edit Form

The Contract Input Form automatically displays how many days the contract has left and when the contract was entered.
The user can enter the following information: The Contract Title, Vendor (select from list), The Product, The Contract Start and End Date (Year 2000 Compliant), Employee Contact (select from list) and Signed By information.
The Contract Code can be used to track Contracts by specific codes. You may also print Contracts by Code.
The Image Button will show the Insert/Edit Scanned Image Screen.
The $$$ Button will show the Income/Expense Tracking Screen.
You may enter Deposit and Withdraw information in the Income/Expense Tracking Screens. Contract Balance is automatically calculated.
Auto Renew Feature. By selecting "Yes" in Renewed option at the top of the form, the database will start an "auto renew" wizard prompting you for the new Start and End Dates of the current Contract. The newly created contract will be automatically entered into the database. To find the new contract use the Find Contract Form.
The Notify Me field informs the database of when to notify you when the contract is expiring.
The Employee Button enables the user to go to the Employee Information Form.
The Image Button allows the user to add or view the scanned image of a Contract (see Contract Image Form).

Find Contract Form

To find a Contract by Vendor, select a Vendor from the list and click the corresponding button.
To find a Contract by Employee, select an Employee from the list and click the corresponding button.
To find a Contract by Product, select a Product from the list and click the corresponding button.

Scanned Image

The Image Page allows the user to enter Objects such as Scanned Images, Voice Messages, Word Documents, spreadsheets or any other supported Object File.

To insert a scanned file do the following:

First scan the image of a Contract using your scanner and scanner software (scanner not included with CMTS). Save it to a file location with a name you are familiar with.
From the Menu Bar of the Contract Image Form select Insert, then Object to add Images or Messages to a contract. Note: additional software or hardware may be required.

Double click on the Scanned Image Object to activate it.

Enter/Edit Income and Expense Transactions

To enter or edit an Income, Expense or Hourly Tracking for a particular Contract go to the Contract you would like to edit or add transactions to and select the "$$$" button. The form above will appear. Enter each line item. The totals will appear at the bottom. Note: a Contract ID is required for each line. This can be found at the top of the Contract Form.

Exporting Data

CMTS allows you to export data so you may create custom reports in a spreadsheet format. To export data you may select the "View All Contract Data" button from the Reports Option. You can export the data by selecting "Tools", "Office Links’, "Analyze with Excel". Or you may select the database records you want to export and press control "Ctrl" and "C" on your keyboard. Next, open the program you want to paste the data into and select Paste or "Ctrl" and "P" on your keyboard. Note: Spreadsheet Software Not Included.

Creating You own Reports Using MS Access

Items Required:

Microsoft Access installed on your computer.
The location of your "Contract.mdb" file. The file will be either on your hard drive or on the network.
The appropriate network permissions. Contact your network administrator for help.

Part A:

Open MS Access, create a new database. Select a name for your new database. Remember the name, you will use this database as your interface to CMTS.
In MS Access select "File" from the Menu.
Select "Get External Data", and then select "Link Tables".
Browse to the location of your "Contract.mdb" file. By default the file is stored in the following location "c:\program files\Contract Management Software\Contract.mdb".
Select the "Contract.mdb" file.
Select the "Select All" button. Next, select "OK". The links to the tables should appear in your new database.
Next, import the "Contractual Query" by selecting "Get External Data", "Import Data" from the Menu.
Browse to the location of your "Contract.mdb" file.
Select the "Contract.mdb" file.
Select the "Queries" tab from the top of the form.
Select the "Contractual Query". Next, select "OK". The queries will now be imported to your new database.
You can now use the Microsoft Access Report Writer by selecting the "Reports" Tab and then selecting the "New" button.
Refer to your MS Access documentation or the MS Access help file to create your own custom reports.

Create a Report with an MS Access Report Wizard:

In the Database Window of your new database, click the Reports Tab.
Click New.
In the New Report dialog box, select the wizard that you want to use. A description of the wizard appears in the left side of the dialog box.
Click the table or query that contains the data you want to base your report on.
Click OK.
If the resulting report doesn’t look the way you want, you can change it in Design view.

Contact Information

If you have a question about our products or would like a demo and pricing please contact us.

Telephone

1-866-330-0056

Electronic mail

General Information: click here to contact us