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Glossary
Sometimes, it can seem as if you’re bogged down in technical terms and buzzwords when it comes to contracts. So we’re here to help you. In this A-Z of contract terms, you can find everything you need to know.
A
Acceptance
This means that your contract has been agreed upon by everyone who needs to sign it.
Account Admin
This is the person who is in charge of an organization’s financial and business documents. A lot of the work involves cross-checking documents to make sure that everything is accounted for and is also compliant.
This is the person who is in charge of an organization’s financial and business documents. A lot of the work involves cross-checking documents to make sure that everything is accounted for and is also compliant.
This is the person who is in charge of an organization’s financial and business documents. A lot of the work involves cross-checking documents to make sure that everything is accounted for and is also compliant.
Acknowledge
This means that all parties involved in a contract confirm that it’s been sent for signing with all clauses as agreed.
Activate template
This means that you’ve selected a template that you want to use to draft a contract. Quite often, there’ll be a button saying something along the lines of ‘Use template’ or ‘Activate template’ as you click on your chosen template.
Active contracts
These are contracts that are in the negotiation phase. Everyone’s agreed to the main terms of the contract in principle, but the final pieces are under negotiation.
Admin
Admin refers to all the little bits and pieces you have to do. For example; if you don’t have contract management software, then you might have to complete a lot of tasks around cross checking versions of contracts, filing them properly, and retrieving them when needed.
Advanced electronic signature
An advanced electronic signature is a type of digital signature that is highly secure and provides legal validity. It uses various methods to ensure that the signature is unique to the signer and can't be replicated or tampered with.
Agreement in principle
This happens before anything is signed. All parties confirm that they’re happy with the service that’s going to be provided, and all the different parts of the final draft of the contract.
Agreement of sale
An agreement of sale refers to a legal document that outlines the terms and conditions of a transaction between a buyer and a seller. It normally includes details such as the purchase price, payment terms, and any contingencies that must be met before the sale can be completed.
Aleatory contract
This is a type of contract that is dependent on a certain event happening. Take home insurance as an example: the buyer has to pay for the insurance each month, but the insurer doesn’t have to do anything unless a certain event, like a house fire, occurs.
API
API is a posh term for the bit of kit that forms the backbone of an integration. It basically allows two apps to talk to each other. In Oneflow terms, this means that you can work in our application and, thanks to our Salesforce integration, automatically see your work in your CRM.
Authentication
Authentication is the process of verifying the identity of a party involved in a transaction. It is an essential component of many contracts to ensure that the individuals involved are who they claim to be. This helps to prevent fraud and protect both parties.
B
Basic contract agreement
Similar to an agreement in principle, a basic contract agreement is a simple legal document that outlines the terms and conditions of an agreement between two parties. The purpose of a basic contract agreement is to make sure that both parties are on the same page and understand their responsibilities.
Breach of contract
This happens when a clause in a contract is broken, or a certain service or product that had been agreed upon isn’t delivered - either on-time or at all. When this happens, litigation can result.
C
Compliance agreement
A compliance agreement is a contract that ensures both parties are meeting legal requirements and following industry regulations. It outlines the specific standards that need to be met and the consequences of failing to meet these standards.
Contract automation
ontract automation is the use of technology to streamline the process of creating, managing, and executing contracts. With contract automation, you can reduce errors, save time, and improve efficiency. By automating routine tasks such as generating documents and tracking changes, you can focus on more important things like building relationships and selling more.
Contract management
Contract management is the process of managing contracts throughout their lifecycle, from creation to renewal or termination. It involves ensuring that both parties are meeting their obligations and that any issues are resolved in a timely manner.
Consulting partner
A consulting partner is a professional who works with a client to provide expert advice and guidance in a specific area. They bring specialized knowledge and skills to the table to help their clients achieve their goals. With their help, clients can make informed decisions and navigate complex challenges and new ways of working with confidence.
Counterparty
A counterparty refers to the party who didn’t draft the contract. They’re the ones who need to get their stakeholders to sign a contract.
CRM
Meaning ‘Customer Relationship Management’, your CRM is your holy grail. It’s where you keep every last piece of information about your customers, and the products and services they have with you, as well as all the paperwork documenting this.
Custom field
This refers to any part of a contract that can be customized. That could mean allowing a customer to choose from a dropdown menu, or multiple choice options, but it can also mean a free text field where a customer states their explicit requirements.
Customization
This is something you can do in Oneflow. It allows you to make your contracts completely unique to you. You can change colors, backgrounds and even GIFs, images and videos to really make your contracts stand out from the crowd.
D
Dashboards
A dashboard in the context of contract management software is a visual representation of key contract metrics and data. It provides users with an at-a-glance overview of contract status, upcoming deadlines, and other important contract-related information. Dashboards help users stay organized, prioritize tasks, and make informed decisions about contract management.
Data privacy
These are laws which help ensure that your data is stored securely, well protected and only handled in ways in which you have explicitly agreed to.
Declined documents
When a document is declined, it means that at least one signatory has decided not to sign it. This can lead to renegotiation.
Document activities
This is a record of what’s happening in a document or contract. It shows any suggested edits that have been made. These records are generally visible to anyone who has access to the document or contract.
Document validity
This is how long a document or contract is valid for after creation. Quite often, contracts come with a period of validity, after which, if they’re unsigned, they cease to be valid and must be redrafted.
Drafts
This is the state that a contract’s in during creation, before it’s ready to send.
E
E-ID
E-ID apps enable you to sign just by typing in a personal code, or even just by using facial recognition. They’re not available in every country. A great example of an E-ID app is BankID in Sweden.
Email notification
When something happens with a contract, for example; it gets signed, you’ll get an email straight to your inbox letting you know that a change has been made, and what that change is.
Extensions
An extension is a small app that adds a specific functionality or ability to a browser.
F
Feed
If you’ve ever used social media, then you’ve used a feed. A feed brings you content and updates according to a specific algorithm.
Field
A contract field refers to a specific part of a contract. For example; a signing field refers to the part of the contract where the signatures need to be made.
Field update
A field update means that an edit has been made to a specific part of the contract.
Filters
These help you streamline your search process in your contract archive. For example; if you need to find a contract signed by John Hancock in December 2022, then you can set the filters to only show contracts containing ‘John Hancock’ and ‘2022’.
Form templates
These are pre-made forms that contain pre-written text and layout, making it easy to get a form up and running.
G
GDPR
This is an EU-level law in place across the EU27, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. There's also an identical version of it in the UK.
GDPR compliance
If an organization is GDPR compliant, then it’s following the GDPR rules in the way intended.
H
Help center
If you have a problem, or something is unclear to you, then the help center is always there to provide assistance.
I
Insights
Insights give you info about your contracts, from their sign rate, and time of signing, to their likelihood of renewal.
Integration
An integration means that 2 programs talk to each other. For example; Oneflow’s integration with Salesforce means that you can work in Salesforce, and your contracts will automatically be updated in Oneflow.
L
Lease contract
A lease contract is a legally binding agreement between a landlord and a tenant. It typically covers the rental period and payment terms, as well as any restrictions or conditions that apply to the use of the property.
Legacy agent
This is an agent who passes from one company to another after the original company goes bust, or is bought out.
Lifecycle
This is the journey of the contract from start to finish. It refers to the entire contract process, from its initial drafting, right the way through to its renewal.
M
Message templates
Like form templates, message templates let you create pre-written messages that are good to go with just a click.
Metrics
These are data points that help provide real-time insights into how something is performing.
N
NPS
Meaning Net Promoter Score, an NPS is calculated based on how likely customers who are responding to a survey are to recommend your company and/or product.
P
Participants
In this context, these are the people involved in the actual signing of the contract, both from your side and the counterparty’s side.
Pending documents
These are contracts that have yet to be signed, notarized or have been given final signoff in some way.
Placeholder
You can use placeholders to make it clear where an edit needs to be made or approved, where personal info needs to be entered, or where you need to click to sign your contract.
R
Release
This is when we drop a great new feature, integration or update. You’ll be notified as soon as a release happens.
Request
A request to sign is sent out as soon as you’re happy with a contract and have reached that stage.
S
Section menu
This is a fantastic Oneflow feature that lets you add multiple choice options for quantities or price plans directly into a contract, making your contracts more flexible, and self-service friendly than ever before.
Service level agreement
This is any type of agreement that sets a minimum level of service expectations between a customer and a provider or supplier of some kind. The provider or supplier is committing to provide a service that meets at least these minimum standards.
Sign rate
This refers to the percentage or fraction of your contracts that end up fully signed and closed.
Support request
If you run into an issue when using the Oneflow platform, if you can’t find a specific function that you need, or you need some extra help getting started, then you’ll reach out to the customer support team. If you do this, you’ll have made a support request.
Suspended ticket
When a support ticket is made for a problem that already has a ticket, or is in the process of being sorted, then said ticket is suspended.
T
Tags
This is a part of both the archive and search functions of Oneflow. If you tag your contracts, this means that you can easily search for and find any contract based on a number of identifiers, such as the name of one of the signees, the date it was signed, or what the contract pertained to.
Template
With templates, you can find a ton of different types of contracts that are ready to go, directly in the platform. The best part is, they come with all of the dynamic capabilities of a Oneflow contract. Can’t find the template you’re looking for? Ask our AI Assist feature to help you get started.
Testing
Before we put a new feature or integration out, we test it thoroughly. But, when it comes to testing, why not take the time to find out how it can directly impact your work, and help optimize your workflows.
Time to sign
This is how long it takes for your contracts to be signed, on average.
U
User group
A user group grants access to multiple users in one go. In Oneflow terms, this means that multiple members of your team can instantly gain access to a workspace, without having to add them one at a time.
W
Workspaces
Workspaces are Oneflow's way of organizing documents and templates into relevant categories. Think of it as having different sub-accounts in which you can manage your documents and resources. Each workspace comes with its own templates, document archive, and address book.