Contract Management Updates
I'd like to see some time and attention put into enhancing Contract Management. This could easily be accomplished by combining several existing features into an improved Contract Manager. And I think you would greatly increase your MSP ability.
Currently there are 2 built-in options for contract reminders.
The first is just that, creating a reminder on the actual contracts page. The problem is this doesn't show up anywhere. Why doesn't the reminder get listed on the contract page? Now I have no idea if there's actually a reminder or not. Sure I could go do the reminder screen, but that's highly inefficient and defeats the purpose of a contract management page. It also ties the reminder to a specific tech - a TERRIBLE idea, because if that tech leaves and you delete their login account, it doesn't notify ANYONE!
The second way is on the Recurring Invoice page (assuming you're actually using the recurring invoice for the contract). Here, you can set it up as a General Subscription, choose the contract from the drop-down list, and check to have it create a ticket 30 days prior to expiration. This is a better option, but it needs the ability for me to choose the time period. We have it notify 120 days prior, so we can have a month to prepare, and then we actually start working with them 90 days prior. A simple way to change the ticket creation date would solve this.
There should also be a better way to get a quick overview of ALL contracts on the main contract screen - and there are MANY posts about ways to improve that. List expiration on that screen, show missing items so we can see if a contract needs to be finalized, show last time it was 'touched', and on and on.
We also need a template or something for Contract Pricing / Custom Rates. I'm tired of re-typing them every time!
chris
shared this idea
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Gerald Brann
commented
The best contract system I have seen and PERFECT for MSPs is in a old local network only software called ServiceLedger. Some details here:
Track virtually unlimited service contracts per customer
Define different types of contracts and coverage options with pre-defined templates that makes creating contracts fast and easy.
Flexible invoicing options allows you to invoice contracts the way you want to.
Add coverage option allows you to add coverage to a contract at any time and invoice for it.
Cost tracking allows you to track costs associated with the contract.
Full revenue and profitability tracking to let you know how each contract is performing.
Limit coverage by labor or particular labor item, part or particular part item, prepaid dollars or prepaid hours and in combination - there is no limit on how you define the coverage.
ServiceLedger will charge off any work order items to the contract that the contract will cover and any item not covered will be invoiced to the customer.
Reporting allows you to send out contract statements to customers so they know where they stand on their contract, particularly useful for prepaid hours or prepaid dollar contracts.
Contract renewals allows you to easily renew multiple contracts with a click of a button or send renewal notices to your customers(http://www.serviceledger.com/software/features/service-contracts/)
What I loved about it - I could put a contract on a single asset, say a printer, and setup the Scheduled Maintenance section with the PM schedule for that asset, and I'd have automatic tickets for PM Work as needed. The Cost and Invoice tracking in here was amazing. Custom terms could be set, and easy renewals, with a clear record of that renewal.
RepairShopr needs this to make any mark in the MSP world to be a serious contender with AutoTask or some of the others.