Create and Manage Obligations

This article will walk you through how to create and manage obligations. If you want to learn more about enabling obligations in your environment, please reach out to your Ironclad representative.

Once a contract is signed, obligations define required actions for each party, ensuring compliance and outlining consequences for non-fulfillment. Each obligation has an owner, status, and type.

Ironclad offers the ability to create, manage, and track obligations using predefined types and properties. You can create structured obligations from archived contract records using predefined out-of-the-box obligation types. To ensure accountability, you can assign ownership to other Ironclad users and modify key details such as type, name, description, status, and owner. A centralized Obligation dashboard provides a comprehensive view of all obligations, allowing you to filter by key properties and save custom views for quick access.

Obligation Properties

Obligation properties are pieces of information you need to collect to inform and categorize your obligation. You will use them throughout the obligation’s lifecycle to create the obligation, track the obligation, and filter the obligation.

Obligation Types

Obligation Types are required properties that lets you categorize each obligation by its type. It helps you search, filter, sort, and manage saved views more efficiently. The available Obligation Types are a suggested list of common contractual obligations, designed to help you classify obligations in a way that best fits your organization’s needs.

Create an Obligation

1. Click the Obligations tab.
2. Click New Obligation located in the top right corner.
3. Enter a Name, Description, Type, and Status.
4. Select an Assignee from the dropdown of Ironclad users.
5. Search for and select an associated Contract.
6. Select the Frequency in which the obligation should be completed.
7. Select the obligation’s Due Date.
8. Click Create. The obligation is created and added to your Obligations dashboard.

Edit an Existing Obligation

1. Click the Obligations tab.

2. Click on the obligation you want to edit. A summary pane displays on the right.

3. Click Open overview page indicated by two arrows. The contract the obligation is associated with displays.

4. Click the Obligations tab located on the right.

   

5. Locate the obligation you want to edit, and then click the three stacked dots located next to the obligation > Edit.

6. The Edit obligation pane displays on the right. Edit the obligation, and then click Save.

   

Filter Obligations

You can filter obligations on the Obligations Dashboard similar to how you filter workflows and records on the Dashboard. There are three default filters displayed on the Entities tab: Relationship, Status, and Business Type.

To start basic filtering, click All to display the filtering dropdown. Select a filter from the dropdown. You can filter by obligation properties, dates, and obligation types.

After you select a filter, you need to select a condition for that filter. Conditions are dynamic to the data type of the filter. Check out the table below for more information on each type of data:

After selecting a filter, begin typing and if applicable, the filter’s autocomplete helps you find a list of matching filter options along with the number of obligations that each option maps to.

Search Obligations

You can complete advanced searches in your Obligations dashboard using syntax that is similar to search commands and connectors. You can use boolean search, proximity search, and exact search to customize your queries. You must include a space before each of your search connectors or operators. You must include a space after all search connectors or operators except for -, (), and “”. The Dashboard searches through both the document text and properties.

Add a Column to the Obligations Dashboard

You can add additional columns to the Obligations Dashboard by clicking Add column indicated by a plus sign.

Save a Custom View

You can create a custom view in two ways: either start with a blank view and add filters, or configure filters first and then create a view based on those parameters. Both methods produce the same result but offer flexibility depending on your needs.

1. To create a blank view:

   1. Click Add view indicated by a plus sign.

      

   2. Enter a name for your view. Your new, blank view is located under the My Views section of the Views sidebar.

   3. Add filters to your view.

   4. Click Save and update view. Your custom view is updated.

2. To create a view based off of your already configured filters:

   1. Click the Save button, located next to the filters at the top.

      

   2. Click Save as new custom view.

   3. Enter a name for your view. Your new view is located under the My Views section of the Views sidebar.

Export Obligations

You can export the columns on your Obligations dashboard for views or selected obligations. Exports are available in 3 file formats: spreadsheet (.xlsx), comma-separated values (.csv), and JSON lines (.jsonl).

1. In the top right corner, click the three stacked dots > Export view.
2. In the Data column dropdown, select whether you want to show Visible columns or All columns.
3. Select which Format you want to export the obligations in.
4. Toggle on/off whether or not you want to be sent an email with the spreadsheet when the export is complete.
5. Click Export.