This article details common contract hierarchies use cases in Ironclad. Tailor this content to fit your company’s needs.
Master Service Agreements (MSA) and Statements of Work (SOW)/Order Forms
Master Service Agreements (MSA) that govern a relationship with a counterparty and Order Forms or Statements of Work (SOWs) are common contract types that require contract relationships. These contracts directly reference and modify each other so they belong in a contract family.
Generally, we recommend the MSA to be the parent record and the SOWs and Order Forms to be child records. The MSA may have many Order Forms and SOWs underneath it, but each Order Form and SOW is generally only governed by a single MSA.
Amendments
Amendments are another contract type that belongs in a contract family because they directly modify or reference another contract. Generally, we recommend setting the amendment contract to be the amendment record and the original contract that is being amended or renewed as the parent record.
Business Associate Agreements (BAA), Data Processing Agreements (DPA), and Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA)
Business Associate Agreements (BAA), Data Processing Agreements (DPA), and Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA) are contracts that govern your privacy and confidentiality policies with a counterparty. They usually do not directly reference other contracts so they can be evaluated by themselves. On the other hand, you might want to know when you have one of these contracts in place when you are reviewing your overall relationship with a counterparty. For this use case, we recommend a flat Related Record relationship.