Agreements

How to manage your agreements within NCompass.

Agreement Renewals

Agreement Renewals

Overview

Your licencing must include one of the agreement modules (Rental, Maintenance, or Service) and Agreement Reviews to take advantage of these features.

This manual covers only the specific features added in NCompass Advanced Retail version 11.07 and onwards. For more guidance on setting up agreements, please refer to your main user guide or your agreements guide.

The new agreement renewal features in NCompass Advanced Retail version 11.07 and above allow you to set a contract version against the agreement. This can be applied to Rental, Maintenance, HP, and Service agreements, allowing you to reference it back to the original paperwork version.

Setting renewal and review dates allows the automation of reminder emails to the customer and warns system operators about upcoming agreements that require action. This is done by both pushing a reminder into NCompass Today and automatically entering the agreement into Agreement Reviews.

NCompass Today will now show details of any agreements that are due for renewal soon or have charges due for review soon. You can modify these settings in the following sections:

Agreement Renewals

Configuration Options - Force version Selection

When setting up new agreements or editing existing ones, you can force the selection of a contract version. To do this, you need to set the configuration option ‘Require Contract Version for Agreements’.

This can be set in Tools > Configuration.

Type ‘Require Contract Version for Agreements’ in the search box, tick the ‘search all’ checkbox, and click ‘Search’.

Agreement Renewals

Configuration Options - NCompass Today Notifications

NCompass Today Notifications – Charge Review:

  1. Navigate to Tools > Configuration.
  2. In the search box, type ‘NCompass Today - Show Charge Reviews Due in Days’.
  3. Tick the Search All checkbox.
  4. Click Search.
  5. Set the number of days in advance for the charge review warning.
    • Setting the number of days to Zero will disable the advanced warning.
    • Note: Due today and overdue warnings will still be displayed.

NCompass Today Notifications – Show When Renewals Are Due:

  1. Navigate to Tools > Configuration.
  2. In the search box, type ‘NCompass Today - Show Renewals Due in Days’.
  3. Tick the Search All checkbox.
  4. Click Search.
  5. Set the number of days in advance for the renewal warning.
    • Setting the number of days to Zero will disable the advanced warning.
    • Note: Due today and overdue warnings will still be displayed.
Agreement Renewals

Configuration Options - Salesperson For Agreement Renewal Reviews

Setting Salesperson for Agreement Renewal Reviews

  1. Navigate to Tools > Configuration.
  2. In the search box, type ‘Salesperson for Agreement Renewal Reviews’.
  3. Tick the Search All checkbox.
  4. Click Search.
  5. Set the required salesperson globally.
    • If not set, the review will default to the salesperson of the Agreement.
    • This option is used when an automatic review fails to send an email to the customer due to a missing email address or an error in sending.
Agreement Renewals

Setting up contract Versions

The contract ‘Version’ allows the agreement to be tagged with the version of the originally signed agreement.

For example:

Agreement Renewals

Adding and amending Contract Versions

  1. Navigate to Administration > Agreements > Contract Versions

This Admin window allows you to view, add, or amend contract versions. You can also mark a contract version as ‘expired’.

Adding a New Contract Version

  1. Click ‘New’.
  2. Enter a name for the contract version.
  3. Select the type of agreements this version applies to.
  4. Click ‘Save’.

Editing an Existing Contract Version

  1. Select the version you want to edit and click ‘Edit’.
  2. You can:
    • Change the name.
    • Change the agreement type it applies to.
    • Mark the entry as expired.
  3. Once you have completed your changes, click ‘Save’.

Note: Changing the entry name will apply to all agreements where this version is set.

Deleting a Contract Version

  1. Select the version you want to delete and click ‘Delete’.
  2. Click ‘Yes’ to confirm the deletion.

Note: If the entry is in use on any agreements, you will be blocked from deleting it.

Marking a Contract Version as Expired

If an entry is in use on an agreement but you don’t want it to be used in the future, you should mark the entry as expired:

  1. Click the ‘Expired’ checkbox.
  2. Click ‘Save’.

Adding a Contract Version to an Agreement

  1. Start your agreement in the normal way by selecting ‘New XXX Agreement’ from the Agreements menu.

Existing Agreements

  1. Find your agreement by either:
    • Searching for the customer with ‘Customer Enquiry’ from the Customers menu (or pressing F3).
    • Selecting ‘Agreement Explorer’ from the Agreements menu (or pressing F5) and entering the agreement number.
  2. Press ‘Edit Agreement’.

Selecting the Contract Version

  1. Select the contract version from the drop-down selection box.
    • If you’re editing an existing agreement, click ‘Next’, ‘Next’, ‘Save’.
    • For new agreements, ensure you have selected the other required fields (please see your agreement guide) and then click ‘Next’ as normal.
Agreement Renewals

Renewals

Renewal Date

There is a new tab on the agreement setup window (agreement step 1).

Clicking the tab flips the top part of the window to show the new Renewals section.

To set a renewal date:

Auto Renew

  1. To set an automatic renewal:
    • Click the checkbox.
    • Set an extend-by number and a period.

Note: When auto renew is set, the system will automatically move the renewal date on by the selected time period when the agreement reaches its renewal date.

Auto Renew Letters

  1. The system can send up to three different email letters to the customer. They are sent automatically at a set number of days before the renewal date, and once sent, an entry will appear in Agreement Explorer.
  2. The renewal letters are sent as emails from the system's email template system and must be set up in advance of adding the letter to the agreement.
  3. To enable and configure the letters:
    • Click the checkbox to enable letter one.
    • Select the letter template from the drop-down list of templates.
    • Enter the number of days in advance of the renewal date to send this letter.
    • Repeat for letters two and three if required.

Note: If an agreement fails to send a configured renewal notification, it could be due to:

NCompass will automatically create an Agreement Review of type Renewal Requiring Attention. If an open review already exists of this type, a duplicate is not created.

Next Charge Review Date

  1. This is the date when you next need to review the current rate on the agreement.
  2. To set the next charge review date:
    • Click the checkbox and enter the review date or click the calendar icon for a drop-down date picker.

This will trigger an automatic review when the date is reached.

Last Charge Review Date

  1. This allows you to record the date the last charges were reviewed.
  2. To set the last charge review date:
    • Click the checkbox and enter the review date or click the calendar icon for a drop-down date picker.

Agreement Renewals

Agreements Detailed Enquiry

Finding Agreements by Renewal Date

To find agreements that by renewal date go to:

Navigate to Agreements > Detailed Enquiry.

Filters

There are a range of filters available, including a new filter by renewal date:

Filtering by Pending Reviews

You can also filter by agreements that have pending reviews:

  1. Check ‘Yes’.
  2. Select ‘Renewals Requiring Attention’ as the review type.
  3. Click ‘Search’.

Agreement Renewals

Letter Templates

Configuring Renewal Letters in NCompass Email System

Renewal letters are sent out via the NCompass Email system, the template can be configured in the admin menu.

Navigate to Administration > Email Templates.

Assistance

Our Implementations Team will assist you in setting up templates and linking them for you. There is an additional hourly charge for this service.

Adding a New Template

  1. Click ‘New’.
  2. Enter your email template text into the message box.
    • You can add tags from the list. The tags insert customer or agreement information when the email is sent. The list of tags now includes %RENEWALDATE% and %AGNO%

To attach PDF documents (same document for all customers, e.g., general terms and conditions or promotional documentation):

Click on the ‘Attachments’ tab.

Click ‘Add’ to open a file browser and add your PDF documents.

Browse to your file attachment. You can use the normal Windows browsing and selection, including highlighting multiple documents at once.

Once your message and attachments are complete, click ‘Save’.

Deleting an Attachment

  1. Highlight your attachment.
  2. Click ‘Delete’ to remove the attachment from the list.

Editing a Template

  1. Highlight your template from the list.
  2. Click ‘Edit’.
  3. Amend the template as needed.
  4. Click ‘Save’.

Agreement Reviews

Agreement Reviews

Overview

This module is specifically designed to manage agreements, it allows you to tag an agreement for review, this could be for several reasons.

•    Account in arrears
•    Customer has made an enquiry for account balance or discrepancy. 
•    Equipment upgrades
•    Old accounts with static activity 

You can preconfigure a range of review reasons so you can simply pick from a list 

One the agreement is in review; it can be assigned a review date and the member of staff you want to action the review.

The review can be updated and given a new review date or passed to a different member of staff, for example, if you had a customer that had been renting the same equipment for years, you could review the account balance and payment history and if they were suitable for an upgrade, pass the review on to a member of your sales team to process an upgrade, or if there missing payments, assign it to your debt recovery team.

Prerequisites

Agreement Reviews

Configuration

Setting up Agreement Review Types

To set up agreement review types, navigate to the administration menu: Administration > Agreements > Review Types

Each review type serves as a descriptive tag for the review. You can create as many review types as needed. Review types can only be deleted if they have not been used. If a review type is no longer needed, mark it as expired.

Deleting a Review Type

  1. Highlight the entry and click ‘Delete’ (only available if the review type has not been used).

Editing a Review Type

  1. Highlight your entry and click ‘Edit’.
  2. You can update the description or mark it as expired.
  3. Click ‘Save’.

Adding a New Review Type

  1. Click ‘New’.
  2. Enter the description of the review type.
  3. Click ‘Save’.

Note: The Standardise Case checkbox will tidy your text entry automatically on save.

Setting Up Agreement Review Statuses

Agreement review statuses can be set up from the administration menu.

  1. Navigate to Administration > Agreements > Review Statuses.

Deleting a Review Status

  1. Highlight the entry and click ‘Delete’ (only available if the review status has not been used).

Editing a Review Status

  1. Highlight your entry and click ‘Edit’.
  2. You can update the description, change the completion status, or mark it as expired.
  3. Click ‘Save’.

Adding a New Review Status

  1. Click ‘New’.
  2. Enter your description and tick the options you require.
  3. Click ‘Save’.

Required Statuses

You will need at least one status with a completed option. It is recommended that you also have at least one with a cancelled option. There will be defaults for these pre-loaded in your system.

Agreement Reviews

Entering an Agreement into the Review System

Scheduling a Review from the Agreement Explorer Window

  1. Navigate to Agreements > Agreement Explorer or press F5 on your keyboard.
  2. Enter your customer details by clicking the ‘Pick Customer’ button or enter an agreement or customer number directly into the account number box and press ‘Go!’.
  3. Click on the required agreement number in the agreement tree on the left, and then click the ‘More..’ button.
  4. Select the ‘Schedule Review’ option.

This will open the Review entry window.

Enter the Required Details

There are convenient buttons on this screen to take you directly to:

  1. Click ‘Save’.

Note: Review comments are stored directly in customer history, along with the account number.

Agreement Reviews

Processing The Review

Review Enquiry

  1. Navigate to Agreements > Review Enquiry from the Agreements menu.

This will open the Review Enquiry window.

Default Enquiry Search Settings

The following defaults are normally set for the enquiry search:

You can check any required filters and select the available options from the drop-down lists.

Searching for Reviews

  1. Click the ‘Search’ button.

Button Options

There are button options here to take you directly to:

Display Review

  1. Highlight the required review and click ‘Display Review’ (or you can double-click the entry you want).

This will open the review on screen.

Updating the Review

You can update the review by clicking the ‘Edit’ button.

Options for Updating

Note: If you amend the comment, the original comments remain in the customer history. The amended or new comment is also added to the customer history along with the agreement number. If you are adding notes to close a review, there is a separate note field for this.

Closing the Review

A review is closed by selecting a new status that has the ‘Treat as Complete’ attribute. When selecting this type of status, a completion details section will appear automatically.

Steps to Close a Review

  1. Enter a completion date.
  2. Enter the person completing the review from the dropdown.
  3. Enter any completion notes.

Note: Completion notes are automatically added to the customer history as well as to the review completions. If you reopen a review, the completion section will still be visible so that you can see the notes.

Cancelling a Review

Selecting any status that has a ‘Treat as Cancelled’ attribute will mark the review as cancelled. It’s the same process as completing a review.

Steps to Cancel a Review

  1. Click ‘Edit’.
  2. Select a status that’s treated as cancelled. The completion details will be displayed.
  3. Add the reason why the review is being cancelled in the notes section.
  4. Click ‘Save’.

Reopening Reviews

Once a review is marked as complete, it is automatically locked. If you require the ability to reopen completed or cancelled reviews, please speak to your systems administrator.

User Rights for Editing Closed Reviews

If your user rights allow you to edit closed reviews, you will receive a confirmation dialogue.

Once unlocked, the review will stay unlocked until it is given a new completion status.

Agreement Reviews

Agreements Detailed Enquiry

Finding Agreements in Review or Renewal

  1. Navigate to Agreements > Detailed Enquiry.

Filters

There are a range of filters available, including a new filter by renewal date.

Renewal Date Filters

Filtering by Pending Reviews

You can also filter by agreements that have pending reviews:

  1. Check ‘Yes’.
  2. Select ‘Renewals Requiring Attention’ as the review type.
  3. Click ‘Search’.