Import Contracts from a Spreadsheet

This topic offers guidelines on creating a spreadsheet template in Microsoft Excel for importing existing contracts into Project Center.

You can access the sample contracts spreadsheet template supplied with Project Center in the following location: C:\Program Files\Newforma\Twelfth Edition\Project Center\Templates\Import_Contracts_Template.xlsx

You must be a Project Center administrator to perform this procedure.

Requirements overview

The following fields are common to all workflow-based contract management (CM) items:

Draft Status

If the item being imported does not have any workflow transmittals associated with it (no receive and no closing action), it must either be a draft or expected item. In these cases the following fields are required:

●        Draft Status - Must match a keyword in the workflow status list assigned to this item type in the Edit Project Settings dialog box. Only Workflow Expected or Workflow Draft keyword types are allowed for this field.

●        Expected Date - The date that this item is expected. This field must have a value if the Draft Status field was set to a keyword of type Workflow Expected.

Received Items

If the item being imported is to have a receive action created for it, the following fields are required:

●        Received Date - The date the item was received.

●        Received From - Who the item was received from.

●        Received By - Who received the item into the system.

●        Receive Action - The action for the received transmittal. This must match one of the actions defined in the keyword list that is assigned to this project for this CM item type in project settings.

●        Received Via - This much match one of the physical transfer methods in project settings, or Email or Info Exchange.

●        Receive Remarks - The remarks for the receive action.

Closed Items

If the item being imported is closed, it needs a closing action created for it. The following fields are required unless noted otherwise:

●        Closing Method - This field is required and describes what kind of closing the item had. CM items can be closed directly (Close), closed on a reply (Respond and Close), or on a send (Send and Close). The valid values for this field are closed, responded, or sent. This value will determine the type of closing transmittal action created.

●        Closed By - Who closed the item.

●        Closing Date - The date the item was closed.

●        Closing Action - The action for the closing transmittal. This must match an action defined in the keyword list that is assigned to this project for this CM item type in project settings. Note that there are different keyword list assignments for the various closing methods, so the list that this value is matched against depends on the value in the Closing Method field.

●        Closing Remarks - The remarks for the closing action.

●        Sent To - This field should only be set if the Closing Method field was set to sent. In this case it is required and should be the contact the item was sent to.

Contract fields

The import spreadsheet has the following fields, separated into tables as indicated:

Contract Table

●        ID - (Required) The ID number for the contract.

●        Client Contract Number - The client's number for this contract.

●        Subject - (Required) The subject of the contract.

●        Original Start Date - The original start date for the contract.

●        Original End Date - The original end date for the contract.

●        Current Completion - The revised end date based on approved change orders.

●        Date Executed - The date that this contract was executed.

●        Contract Date - The date the contract was issued to the subcontractor.

●        Type - (Required) The contract type. This must match a keyword in the contract types keyword list assigned to contracts in project settings.

●        Terms - (Required) The contract terms. This must match a keyword in the contract terms keyword list assigned to contracts in project settings.

●        To Company - (Required) The company the contract was sent to. A valid project team member name or email address is required.

●        From Company - (Required) The company sending the contract. A valid project team member name or email address is required.

●        Due Date - (Required) The date the contract is due back from the recipients.

●        Key Contact - The main person to contact regarding the contract at the company receiving the contract. A valid project team member name or email address is required.

●        Form Template - (Required) The name of the template used for the contract. Must come from the list of available contract templates for the current project.

●        Discipline - A list of disciplines for the contract, delimited by semi-colons (;). It must match the discipline list for the project if the user is not allowed to edit the discipline list for contracts.

●        Executed Contract - File path of the scanned copy of the signed contract.

●        Internal Notes - The internal notes for the contract.

●        Email Log - A list of full UNC paths to .MSG files in the project folder separated by asterisks.

●        Supporting Docs - A list of full UNC paths to files of any type in the project folder separated by asterisks.

●        General - General remarks on the scope of work for the contract.

●        Inclusions - Description of the work included in the contract.

●        Exclusions - Description of the work excluded from the contract.

●        Keywords - The keywords that apply to the contract. Separate multiple values with a semicolon. Whether all entries must already be in the project keywords keyword list depends on the project settings for contracts.

●        source descriptor - If items are being imported from another data source and will receive periodic one-way updates from that data source, then this field is a descriptor for that data source.

●        source primary key - If items are being imported from another data source, this is the unique identifier for this item in the external data source. This is used to ensure any updates received from the external data source are applied to the correct item in the Project Center database.

Schedule of Values Item Table

●        Contract ID - (Required) The ID number for the contract.

●        Item # - (Required) The item number for the schedule item.  A unique number is required.

●        Cost Code - (Required) The existing cost code number for the item from the Cost Code activity center.

●        Item Description - Description of the item.

●        Commitment Amount - Original currency amount assigned to this item in the contract.

●        source descriptor - If items are being imported from another data source and will receive periodic one-way updates from that data source, then this field is a descriptor for that data source.

●        source primary key - If items are being imported from another data source, this is the unique identifier for this item in the external data source. This is used to ensure any updates received from the external data source are applied to the correct item in the Project Center database.

To create an import file for contracts and import it

1.     Make a backup copy of your existing spreadsheet with the data.

2.     Edit the spreadsheet and fill in the required data:

• Remove any extra rows.

• Determine how your fields map to Project Center fields (you can rearrange columns to match Project Center columns).

3.     Copy your data columns to the Import_Contracts_Template.xlsx file, replacing the sample columns with your own information.

4.     The Discipline - Delete, Receive Action - Delete, Closing Method - Delete, Received Via - Delete, Draft Status - Delete, Terms - Delete and Type - Delete tabs include the keyword list values for the Discipline, Receive Action, Closing Method, Received Via, Draft Status, Terms and Type fields. Change any of the existing values by simply typing a new value in the same cell.

For information on extending the list with additional values, please refer to Add Keyword Values to a Spreadsheet Template.

5.     Edit the field values based on the information given in the Contract fields section above. Add values to fields where required.

6.     After you finish editing the Import_Contracts_Template.xlsx spreadsheet, import it into a Project Center project by opening the Contracts activity center and clicking Import Spreadsheet from the Tasks panel to open the Select Spreadsheet dialog box, as shown here. Locate the spreadsheet, then click Open.

7.     After it is imported, the Import Log dialog box opens showing any import errors. Fix any errors that appear in the spreadsheet, then re-import it.

The import will not succeed until all errors are addressed.