Create/Manage Relationship Types and Entity Properties

This article will walk you through how to create and manage relationship types.

In Ironclad CLM, entities serve as a single, unified hub for all the companies you work with. Entities include companies, individuals, partners, and vendors you regularly do business with. Ironclad CLM lets you store essential information to streamline future contracts and keep all contract details in one place.

To utilize entities, you must first configure your relationship types. A relationship type defines how you interact with your entities. Ironclad comes preconfigured with three types of relationships:

• Customer: Used for companies you sell goods or services to.
• Partner: Used for companies that you partner with.
• Vendor: Used for companies you buy goods or services from.

You can also create additional relationship types in Data Manager.

Next, configure the properties you want to include for each relationship type. Entity properties are data points you want to collect and track. For each relationship type, you can set required properties, remove properties, or view property details. Data Manager provides a central location to manage all your entity properties.

Create a Relationship Type

1. Click on your profile icon located in the top right corner of Ironclad. Navigate to Company Settings > Data Manager.
2. From the dropdown at the top, select Relationship Types.
3. Click Create relationship type.
4. In the Name field, enter the name of the relationship type. This field is required.
5. In the Description field, enter a description of the relationship type.
6. Configure the properties included in the relationship type. By default, all entities, regardless of type include the following properties: Name, Status, and Business Type.

   1. To add a property, click Add property, search for the property, and select the property to add it to the relationship type.

      NOTE To add a new entity property to the relationship type, you must first create the entity property in Data Manager. To avoid losing your progress, we recommend saving your relationship type first, then creating the entity property, and finally adding it to your new relationship type.

   2. To remove an existing property, locate the property you want to remove and click the three stacked dots next to it. Click Remove from type > Remove, and the property is removed.

   3. To set a property as required, locate the property you want to mark as required and click the three stacked dots next to it. Click Set as required, and the property is marked as required.

7. Click Save.

Edit an Existing Relationship Type

1. Click on your profile icon located in the top right corner of Ironclad. Navigate to Company Settings > Data Manager.
2. From the dropdown at the top, select Relationship Types.
3. Click the relationship type you want to edit. You can then edit the name, description, and properties.
4. Configure the properties included in the relationship type:

   1. To add a property, click Add property, search for the property, and select the property to add it to the relationship type.

      NOTE To add a new entity property to the relationship type, you must first create the entity property in Data Manager. To avoid losing your progress, we recommend saving your relationship type first, then creating the entity property, and finally adding it to your new relationship type.

   2. To remove an existing property, locate the property you want to remove and click the three stacked dots next to it. Click Remove from type > Remove, and the property is removed.

   3. To set a property as required, locate the property you want to mark as required and click the three stacked dots next to it. Click Set as required, and the property is marked as required.

5. Click Save.

Create an Entity Property

1. Click on your profile icon located in the top right corner of Ironclad. Navigate to Company Settings > Data Manager.
2. From the dropdown at the top, select Entity Properties.
3. Click Create entity property.
4. In the Name field, enter the name of the property. This field is required.
5. In the Type dropdown, select the property’s data type. This field cannot be modified after creation.
6. In the Description field, enter a description of the property.
7. Click Save.

Edit an Existing Entity Property

1. Click on your profile icon located in the top right corner of Ironclad. Navigate to Company Settings > Data Manager.
2. From the dropdown at the top, select Entity Properties.
3. Click the entity property you want to edit, and then click Edit (indicated by a pencil).
4. Edit the property’s Name and Description. You cannot edit the property’s data type or schema.
5. Click Save (indicated by a check mark) and confirm your changes. Any changes to the entity property will be applied to all usages of it across Ironclad.

Next Steps with Entity Management

To continue with entity management, we recommend walking through the following help center articles:

• Entities Overview
• Create and Manage Entities
• Configure Entities in Workflow Designer
• Use Entities in Workflows
• Connect Entities and Records 
• Entity Permissions Overview 
• Import Entities into Ironclad