Finalize: Creating a New Request Template Workflow

Overview

Templates form the basis of all agreement and request workflows in Finalize.

Templates allow Administrators to configure specific rules and actions for end users to take in order to generate an agreement that has language and approvals that are compliant with company policy.

For example, an Administrator can configure a template to facilitate:

1. Drafting of a MNDA with company approved language and automatically assigned business approvers.
2. Creation of an Order Form with approvals relevant to the business unit and purchasing amount.
3. Submission of a request for a non-standard contract to be reviewed and then generated by the Legal Team.

Some templates can be configured specifically to interact with Finalize's native Salesforce integration. These templates are managed within the Finalize web application but will only be available to users trying to draft an agreement in Salesforce, for more information, reference our article on Salesforce Finalize: Pricing Table Configuration. 
Note: Access rules cannot be added to Request Forms. 

Process

Select the Templates tab from the navigation bar to go to the Templates page. The Templates page is where templates are created and managed. 

Creating New Templates

To create a new template, click + ADD A TEMPLATE in the upper right-hand corner of the Templates page. 

Finalize will then ask you to select a particular template type to use as the basis for your workflow. 

Our Paper

Our Paper Templates are broken into two types - Templates and Requests:

Templates

Our Paper Templates are used to create a workflow based on an existing document with pre-approved company language. As part of this option you are able to configure modifications to this document to be specific to each new agreement workflow created. For example:

1. You can configure a workflow to modify a standard MNDA to be specific to a particular counterparty you are working with.
2. You can configure a workflow to modify a standard Order Form to have details particular to a given transaction.

These templates are referred to throughout Finalize and Reporting as Draft templates.

Requests

Request Templates are used to allow users in Finalize to submit a request for Legal Approval. This is an important differentiation from Our Paper Templates used to allow non-authorized users to still interact with the Legal Team via Finalize, but allows the Legal team to determine what documentation can be created in accordance with company policy. For example:

1. An IT project manager can submit a request for an exception to purchase a non-approved scheduling tool.
2. An Office Manager can submit a request to have legal review updates to the company's work from home policy. 

In both examples above the Legal team can make the final decision to either move forward and create, or to put the request on hold and not create a formal agreement to work on.

These templates referred to throughout Finalize and Reporting as Request forms. 

For a video tutorial click HERE

Note: Access rules cannot be added to Request Forms. 

Creating Draft Templates

Template Name and Information

To create a Request form, start by naming it and providing a description. These details should help inform Drafters of the purpose of the Request form when creating new agreements. 

• If custom categories have been configured, mark the checkboxes of relevant subcategories to classify the template. 
  • Custom categories become essential methods of classification when you have many templates.
  • These custom categories help Drafters quickly filter and locate the templates they need when creating new agreements.
• If applicable - apply a tag to the template.
  • Users will be able to select from the list of available tags currently stored in Analyze.
  • Any agreement drafted from this template will automatically created with these tags auto-applied to the agreement.

Click SAVE AND CONTINUE once complete.

Approval Workflows

Next, create To-do tasks. To-do tasks are a way to set reminders to LinkSquares users to complete an agreement-related task. 

To configure a To-do task, click the + icon next to To-dos. 

From here, rename the task, enter a description of the task, and select an optional attachment.

• Assign the To-do task to one or several users. If more than one user is added, any user added to this task can approve it. 
• You are also able to select an option to make the task owner dynamic, based on who drafts the agreement.
  • Selecting the "Agreement author" radio button will mean this task is automatically assigned to the agreement author once the agreement is created.
• By default, To-do tasks do not have a due date. 
  • Select the "Set a due date" radio button and enter the number of business days if the tasks needs a pre-configured SLA for completion. 
• You must enter text into the text field to save the task. 

Click SAVE once complete. 

Task SLAs

By default, no tasks have a pre-configured due date or SLA. To add a pre-configured Due Date or SLA do the following for each task:

• Select the "Set a due date" radio button.
• Enter the number of business days the task must be completed in once an agreement is created from this workflow.
  • This number should not exceed 270 days.
  • Finalize assumes five business days (Mon-Fri) per week.
  • The task due date is excluded from this calculation.

For example:

• If the task is configured to be due in one business day and the agreement is created on a Thursday, the task will be due on Friday.
• If configured to be due in two business days and the agreement is created on a Thursday, the task will be due on Monday.
• If configured to be due in three business days and the agreement is created on a Thursday, the task will be due on Tuesday.
• If configured to be due in seven business days and the agreement is created on a Thursday, the task will be due on a week from Monday.

Assigning Request Ownership and Assignees

Designate a Request Assignee

You can add one - or many - users as pre-configured request assignees. If you assign many users Finalize will default to the round robin method once an agreement is created to determine which user to automatically assigned to the request.

When agreement owners are configured in a round-robin format within the template creation process, this means that starting at the top, each individual will take their turn at being an Agreement Owner every time a new agreement is drafted from the template. Once every individual has taken their turn, the sequence will restart.

By enabling the toggle, determine whether assignees can reassign their responsibilities.

Note:

• Drafters and Sign-only users are ineligible for Request form ownership.
• Only the Request form assignee(s) can reassign their responsibilities when the toggle is enabled — not the user who made the request.

Assign Request Form Collaborators

Assigning default collaborators means that users will be automatically added as agreement collaborators every time an agreement is drafted from the template. Agreement collaborators have complete visibility into the agreement.

Any Finalize user can be added as a collaborator. If the assigned default collaborators have collaborator email notifications enabled within Finalize App > Notifications, they will receive a notification once an agreement has been created.

Click SAVE AND CONTINUE once complete.

Adding High-Level Agreement Detail Fields

Agreement detail fields are collection fields for information that your team wants to track throughout the approval process. This would be centered around information not found within the agreements.

While filling out this section, consider what information related to the agreement the stakeholders involved in the review and approval process need to know. 

Examples of agreement detail fields are as follows.

Note: An additional question - "What is the agreement name?" - will automatically populate when the template is selected by Drafters. 

If needed, leverage the optional INSTRUCTIONS field for any special instructions such as Agreement Naming conventions to follow.

1. To create the questionnaire, drag and drop an answer type (e.g., text, paragraph, date, etc.) from the options within the Answer panel section on the right-hand side of the page. 
2. Enter the question or request you want to ask the Drafter within the Type question here field.
3. Enter any possible responses within the Type option here fields. 
4. Repeat this process until you have sufficiently created questions.

Click the ellipsis icon to duplicate or delete a question. Single-selection answer types can be quickly modified to Multiple-selection answer types via the ellipsis icon, and vice versa. 

Agreement detail field responses will be required by default. Uncheck the Required checkbox to make a response optional.

Mark the Include 'Other' option checkbox to include an Other response in which Drafters can enter an alternative response to those outlined. 

Optionally, map agreement detail fields to Analyze terms. When the agreement is created and signed, the field will be ingested into Analyze as a mapped term. Mapping to Analyze terms helps with reporting capabilities.

Reorder questions by selecting the drag handle icon on the left-hand side of the question. Place it on top of the drag handle icon of the desired question location. 

Answer Types

• Text: This free text area allows Drafters to input one line of text (limit of 80 characters). This is best used for shorter text such as counterparty or name.
  • Text responses can be mapped to Analyze terms. This can be helpful to use for terms that LinkSquares AI does not already track automatically. Team or industry-specific agreement details or values (e.g., ARR, audit cadences, contact information, etc.) could be mapped information you want to track and report on within Analyze at a later date.
• Paragraph: This free text area allows Drafters to input more than one line of text (limit of 1,200 characters). It is useful for inputting large amounts of data or fields that require multiple lines. This is best used for longer text areas such as descriptions of services or clause names.
  • Paragraph responses can be mapped to Analyze terms.
• Date: This field provides Drafters with a calendar view to make it easier to select the correct date. Dates will be displayed in the following format: 
  • Month abbreviation, Day with leading zeroes, Year
  • Example: Sep-14-2022.
  • Date responses can be mapped to Analyze terms.
• Numbers: This is a field for Drafters to input numeric values like agreement value or recurring ARR.
  • Number responses can be mapped to Analyze terms.
• Multiple-Selection: This is a picklist where Drafters can select multiple values. This is useful when more than one standard data point must be selected.
  • Multiple-selection responses can be mapped to Analyze multiple list terms.
• Single-Selection: This is a drop-down menu where Drafters can select one value. This can be useful for selecting the sales representative or other related internal processes where you know what values must be selected and kept uniform.
  • Single-selection responses can be mapped to Analyze single-list terms.
• File: This is for any file that you want to be added. Drafters can upload a singular file.
  • Note: Password-protected files are unsupported. 

Alternatively, if there is a file that users should complete and upload to the question, attach it below the Type question here field. 

• URL: This allows Drafters to add a web link.

Click SAVE AND CONTINUE once complete.

To learn more about best practices for mapping agreement detail fields, reference our article on Mapping Tokens and Agreement Detail Fields Best Practices.

Review

A review page will appear once the workflow has been completed.

To review the details from the creation process (assignees, collaborators, agreement detail fields, etc.) at a later time, select the desired template from the Templates page.

• To edit the template, click the pencil icon in the upper right-hand corner.
• To clone the template, click the clone icon.
• To delete the template, click the trash icon. 
• To unpublish the template, disable the Published toggle.
  • Disabling this toggle will hide the template so that Drafters (including Salesforce Drafters) will not be able to create new requests.  

Once published, this template can be used to draft new requests. 

Note: 
We do not track version changes when a template has been updated. The only information we track is the last updated date and the last person to make updates.