Contract Permission Settings Explained

How to Access Contract Permissions

To configure or review Contract Permissions in UniPhi:

Go to Hamburger Menu > Configuration > Contracts (top left of the screen).

Navigate to the Permissions sub-navigation tab.

This screen allows Administrators to control how contracts behave from a governance, financial, and workflow perspective.

Only users with Admin licence access can modify these settings.

Permissions Screen Layout

The Contract Permissions screen is structured in four main columns:

Permission – The rule being controlled.

Description – Explanation of what the rule does.

Cost Type Columns – Internal Cost, Project Cost, Internal Revenue.

These determine whether a permission applies to that specific cost type.

This is important because contract commitments and claims sit against chart of accounts codes. These cost types align with how your organisation structures financial reporting and budget control.

A permission is not simply enabled globally — it can be selectively applied depending on the financial context of the contract.

Minimum Access (where applicable) – The minimum role required for certain permissions.

To edit a permission, simply click the Edit button on the right-hand side of the relevant permission row. This will allow you to enable or disable the rule for each cost type and save your changes.

Overview

The Contract Permissions screen in UniPhi controls how the Contract module behaves from a governance and financial control perspective. These settings do not manage user access (that is handled through licences and roles).

Instead, they determine what the system will allow or prevent during contract commitment, variation approval, claims processing, and financial management.

Each permission can be configured for different cost types, such as Internal Cost, Project Cost, and Internal Revenue, allowing organisations to apply stricter governance where required.

Signoff and Approval Controls

Several permissions enforce formal approval before changes are recognised in the system.

If Approved Extensions of Time Require Signoff is enabled, a contract EOT document must be formally signed before the contract duration can be extended. This ensures time impacts are reviewed and authorised rather than adjusted informally.

Similarly, Approved Variations Require Signoff ensures that variation documents must go through formal approval before they change the contract value. This protects against unapproved scope or cost changes being introduced into the contract.

The setting Committed Contracts Require Signoff prevents a contract from moving into Committed status until a deliverables document has been signed off. This is a critical governance checkpoint because once a contract is committed, it represents a financial obligation.

Together, these settings create structured control over contractual change and financial exposure.

Claiming Controls

Several permissions manage how claims are processed against contracts.

If Cannot Claim Uncommitted Contracts is enabled, claims cannot be made against contracts that are still in draft status. This ensures financial transactions only occur once a contract has been formally committed.

The permission Claim Only Approved Variations ensures that variations must be in Approved status before they can be included in a claim document. This prevents contractors from claiming pending or disputed variations.

Claims Cannot Exceed Contracted Amount provides a hard financial safeguard. It prevents deliverables, variation items, and material items from being claimed above their approved contractual values. This is an important protection against overclaiming and supports financial audit requirements.

Where enabled, Contractor’s Invoice Number Mandatory requires that progress claims include the contractor’s invoice number. This aligns the claims process with accounts payable controls and improves reconciliation accuracy.

Commitment and Budget Protection

UniPhi includes permissions that prevent contracts from creating unapproved financial exposure.

The setting Contract Commitments Cannot Exceed Budget ensures that a contract cannot be signed off if the resulting committed value exceeds the approved budget for any chart of accounts code. This is a key governance control that links the Contract module directly to the Cost module and prevents overspending at the commitment stage.

Once a contract reaches Committed status, additional protections can apply. If Committed Contracts Lock Deliverables is enabled, deliverable values cannot be changed and new deliverables cannot be added. This enforces scope discipline and ensures changes are processed through formal variations.

If Committed Contracts Lock Supplier is active, the supplier cannot be changed once the contract is committed. This protects procurement integrity and ensures that supplier changes follow proper approval processes.

System Behaviour Settings

Some permissions control how the contract screen behaves rather than enforcing financial rules.

When Disbursements Enabled is turned on, the Disbursements panel becomes visible within the contract edit screen. This is useful when managing reimbursable or pass-through costs.

The option New Contracts Generate PO Number automatically creates a purchase order number when a new contract is created. The next PO number can be configured in system settings. This setting is particularly useful where UniPhi integrates with financial systems.

Special Role-Based Permissions

Two permissions in this screen relate to minimum access levels.

Manage Other Commitments allows users with at least Project Manager access to manage transactions imported via accounting integration.

View Assignment Cost and Margin requires Administrator access and allows visibility of cost and margin data when drilling into deliverables or variations. This is typically restricted due to commercial sensitivity.

How These Permissions Work Together

These permissions collectively create a layered governance framework. They control when contracts can be committed, when variations become financially active, how claims are validated, and how budgets are protected. When configured correctly, they ensure that:

• Financial commitments cannot exceed approved budgets

• Claims cannot exceed agreed contract values

• Variations and extensions require formal approval

• Scope and suppliers are protected after commitment

  
  

This structure ensures auditability, financial control, and contractual discipline across the portfolio.