You can easily track review cycles from X-Author Contracts while agreement documents are out for review. As a negotiator, you have full control over each Review cycle and its sub-cycles (each separate combination of review recipient and document). You have the option to close only selected cycles, or to close all cycles and end negotiations. You can also close a cycle and check-in agreement documents as reviewer versions on behalf of internal or external reviewers.

NOTE

The role of "negotiator" is not set by X-Author Contracts and should not be considered a restriction for tracking review cycles. Any user who has permission to edit the agreement record and agreement documents associated with the record can potentially track and manage a Send for Review. You can manage this in Salesforce by applying proper security settings and sharing rules for users connecting to your org through X-Author Contracts.

There are two main ways to track and manage review cycles in X-Author: Track Review Status and Check-In. Both are described in detail in the following sections.

Track Review Status

Tracking review status in X-Author works based on document context. That is, the Track Review Status action is only available if the currently opened document has been sent for review, and is, therefore, part of a Review Cycle. The open document can be generated or checked out–the only prerequisite is that it must have already been sent for review.

To track review cycle status for the current document:

  1. Click Track Review Status from the Review section of the X-Author Contracts tab. The Review Cycle status window is displayed.
    The Review Cycle Status screen displays the most current Review Cycle, comprised of individual cycles representing each recipient/document combination which is still out for review. The main purpose of this screen is to give the contract negotiator a tool to view a snapshot of the review process at any point in time and to give the negotiator the means to close cycles if it is deemed necessary.

  2. To switch between Review Cycles, use the drop-down menu above the table on the far right of the screen. Each Send Cycle represents a separate Send for Review action taken by the negotiator. Additional Send Cycles beyond the first are often created when one or more documents are sent out for a subsequent round of reviews. If the document(s) have only been sent for review a single time, there will be only one Send Cycle.

  3. To close only certain cycles, click the check box next to each cycle you want to close and click Close Selected Cycles. Cycle Time Status for these cycles changes to "Closed"–the documents will no longer be tracked for the selected recipient(s).
  4.  To close ALL cycles, click the check box at the top of the table to select all and click Close Selected Cycles. All cycles that are included in this Send Cycle are now closed. Click Cancel to exit back to your Word document. You can now continue to work with the agreement or click Send for Review to begin a new Review Cycle with new recipients.

Closing Cycles from Track Review Status

When a negotiator closes one or more cycles, this only means that tracking of the individual recipient/document combination is closed. This does not necessarily mean that contract negotiation or the review has come to an end. All it means is that one or more cycles will no longer be tracked by the system. Internal reviewers can still check in any of these documents from Outlook as part of the review process, and document versions can still be checked out, redlined, and checked back in until the agreement is finalized. Tracking of Review Cycles in this manner gives visibility to the negotiator and the ability to close cycles in a timely fashion. If you want to close cycles and check in a new document version, refer to the steps in the next section instead.

Manage Review Cycles at Check-In

For any given document that has been sent for review, there are three possible outcomes which result in the document being checked in to Apttus Contract Management:

  • an internal reviewer attaches the document to an email in Outlook and selects the option to check in the document (see Responding to a Send for Review Request)
  • an internal or external reviewer attaches the document to an email sent to the contract negotiator. The negotiator checks in the document as that reviewer's version (revision) on their behalf.
  • an internal or external reviewer attaches the document to an email sent to the contract negotiator. The negotiator checks in the document as a negotiator (minor) version.

Once one or more contract documents have been sent as replies by reviewers, the negotiator can check them in using X-Author.

To manage review cycles and check in a reviewed document:

  1. Save the document attached in email by the reviewer to your local drive (or other offline location).
  2. Open the document in Word and log in to X-Author Contracts.
  3. Review feedback and changes in the document and click Check-In. The Check-In Document screen is displayed.

  4. Select a check box under Review Cycle Recipient / Closure and appropriate Check-In options (if available) and click Finish to complete Check-In of the document. Consult the following table to decide which Review Cycle options work best for your situation.

    ActionRecipientDescriptionClosed CycleDocument Version
    Recipient unknown; check-in as NegotiatorUnknown, external reviewer.Choose this option if you have received the document but are not certain which reviewer sent the reply. Or choose this option if you received the document from an external reviewer but would like to check in as a Negotiator.None.Negotiator (minor). e.g., "1.1.0"
    someone@example.comInternal or external reviewer.

    Choose this option if you intend to check in the document on behalf of a reviewer. This option is best for any of the following situations:

    - An internal reviewer has been absent for an extended period of time or is not planning to check-in as a reviewer.

    - An internal reviewer was unable to use Outlook to check-in the document.

    - An external reviewer has reviewed the document and sent it as an attachment back to the negotiator.

    Check-In options are disabled when a specific reviewer is chosen under Review Cycle Recipient / Closure. All check-ins on behalf of reviewers will be checked in as Redlined versions in the same document format.

    		Cycle for the specific reviewer/document combination.Reviewer (revision). e.g., "1.0.1"
    Close all open cyclesAnyChoose this option to check-in the document as a negotiator and close all open cycles. This option may be best if you need to initiate a new send for review with the same or additional recipients, you no longer need any further reviewer versions, or if you do not have time to wait for the remaining reviewers to respond.All cycles.Negotiator (minor). e.g., "1.1.0"

If you do not see the Review Cycle options on the Check-In Document screen it means that you do not have a cycle-tracked document open in Word. A document that has been sent for review is assigned certain properties that identify it as part of a review cycle. Make sure you have the correct version of a tracked document open when intending to manage cycles at check-in.

Cycle Status at Agreement Activation

When an agreement is activated, all open Review Cycles are automatically closed. Reviewers will no longer be able to check-in documents using Outlook and negotiators can no longer manage existing cycles (Merge Event Details and Document Version information is still accessible on the agreement record).