Orders

🎯 Objective of this section

The Contracts module is used to capture, manage, and evaluate all awarded services within a construction project.
This is where contracts, change orders, and contract data are stored and linked to cost planning (DIN 276).
This creates a consistent connection between planning, procurement/award, invoicing, and forecasting.

Structure of the list view

The list view shows all awarded contracts in the project in tabular form.
It provides a quick overview of contract amounts, remaining budgets, and creditors.

Typical columns:

Title – contract description or standardized title
Contract no. – internal or ERP number
Creditor – commissioned company
Contract date – date of award/commissioning
Cost planning selection – linked item from cost planning
Cost group selection – assigned 100-level cost group (DIN 276)
Contract net / Change order net / Contract + CO net – financial KPIs
Payment status / Outstanding commitment – payment progress and remaining obligations

💡 Tip:
Using filters and groupings (e.g., by creditor, cost group, or trade), you can evaluate awards in a targeted way and identify open commitments.

Contract detail view

A contract’s detail form contains all relevant information about the award, including securities/retentions and change orders.

A) Service

Contract description – freely selectable
Set contract title – automatically generates a standardized title from prefix, description, and number
(ensures unique titles in lists, invoices, and workflows)
Cost planning selection – link to an item from cost planning
(enables correct allocation in reports and forecasts)
Cost group selection – assignment to the 100-level cost group (e.g., 300 Building construction)
(required for evaluations and status reports)

💡 These links ensure that contracts are automatically visible in forecasting and cost tracking.

B) General

Contract no. – internal award or ERP number
Creditor – company from the global contact directory
Contract date – date of signature
Funding type – assignment to budget or funding/grants

C) Costs

Contract net – net amount of the main contract
Change order net – total of all change orders
Contract + CO net – total amount including change orders
Payment status net – total of all paid invoices
Outstanding commitment net – remaining open amount (obligation)

💡 Note:
These values are calculated automatically from the linked invoices (Chapter 9).
This keeps the financial view always up to date.

D) Securities and retentions

After the General section, the “Securities & Retentions” section follows.
The following fields are maintained here:

Retention [% / amount]
Performance bond [% / amount]
Warranty bond [% / amount]

Using the button “Switch to Securities & Retentions”, you can open the detail view,
where the amounts are stored.
These values then appear automatically in the contract details and are considered when processing invoices.

💡 Example:
For a contract of €100,000 net and a retention of 5%
smenso automatically deducts €5,000 from invoices if no bond is stored.

E) Change orders

Change orders are created as sub-records directly below the main contract.
They have the same fields as the main contract, but are of the type “Change order”.
Benefits:

clear assignment to the main award
automatic inclusion in “Contract + Change order net”
transparency in cost tracking and forecasting

F) Workflows and approvals (optional)

A contract can go through defined workflow stages, e.g.:

1️⃣ Draft
2️⃣ Approved for sending
3️⃣ In progress
4️⃣ Completed

Each stage can include an approval process – e.g., technical or commercial review before sending or posting to the ERP system.

New contract – step by step

1️⃣ Open the “Contracts” tab
2️⃣ Click “New”
3️⃣ Enter the contract description
4️⃣ Set contract title → smenso creates a standardized title
5️⃣ Cost planning selection → select the appropriate item
6️⃣ Cost group selection → define the corresponding 100-level cost group
7️⃣ Add general information (no., creditor, date)
8️⃣ Enter contract net amount
9️⃣ Maintain securities & retentions
🔟 Save

💡 Tip:
Always set Cost planning and Cost group selection first before entering amounts—
only then will the contract be correctly included in reports and forecasts.

Interaction with other modules

Module – Function

Cost tracking – pulls planned values from the “current LPH”
Forecast – adopts contract totals for cash flow planning
Invoices – automates calculation of payment status and outstanding commitments
Status reports – shows a financial assessment based on the contract situation

Best practices

Use standardized titles (“Set contract title”)
Always maintain the link to cost planning
Assign the 100-level cost group (required for correct reports)
Create change orders as sub-records
Manage securities centrally – deductions are applied automatically in invoices
Use workflows – for approvals and tracking

🔗 Related topics

💡 Practical note:
By clearly assigning contract, cost group, and invoice, a continuous data chain is created from planning through to invoicing—
ideal for controlling, change-order management, and reporting.

Articles in this section