This is the second part to getting started with self assessed projects on Payapps. If you haven't already, you will first need to create a project before you create a contract. To learn about how to create a project, click here.

This article is specifically for subcontractors using Payapps' Self Assessed functionality; processing claims for counterparties outside of Payapps. If you are a Contractor wanting some information about how to create a contract, click here for some further information

Note: If your client is also using Payapps, you will not have to complete these steps. Instead, wait for an email from your client inviting you to the project that they will have created on their side. 

To begin, open your Project and click the Add New Contract button on the right side of the page. 

Next, fill in the contract details:

The first field allows you to select your contract role. Select the role ‘Claimant’ which will allow you to self-assess your claims.

The second field allows you to add a counterparty organisation. This will be the other company you are working with on the contract. Type in the name of the company and the field will display a drop-down list of existing organisations that you can select.

If the organisation is not listed, you will have the option to add a new organisation:

Note: you can add your own email as the representative email if you’d like the Claim PDFs to be sent to you first for you to forward to your client.

Finally, you can add a name for your contract. This will default to the name of the project, followed by the name of the counterparty, but this can be edited to whatever you like.
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Contract Date is the date the contract has been published or has gone live.   Proposed Commencement is the start date for the actual works to commence. This determines the start of the claim period on the claimants first claim, so If there are retrospective claims that will be submitted for previous months, the commencement date can be set to allow for this.  Proposed Completion is the date you expect works to conclude. This field is simply for posterity - works can continue beyond this date and it can be updated later if required.

Defect Liability is the number of days that must elapse between practical and final completion before the final portion of retention can be requested by the claimant. enter 0 if you do not wish to enforce a defect liability period.
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Next are the retention settings:

Retention Basis indicates the way in which you want to withhold retention, this can either be set to Percentage, where a certain percentage of the contract value is withheld per claim indefinitely until a particular threshold is reached, Max Value, which allows you to add a specific dollar amount limit, rather than a percentage of the total contract value, and Bank Guarantee, which negates the retention settings altogether.

Retention Release Trigger determines the Minimum Approval percentage of the contract that needs to be completed before retention release can be requested by the claimant.

The Initial Release Amount determines the percentage of retention released upon practical completion (with the remainder being available after the defect liability period has concluded).

Next up are a few additional settings, some of which being optional, which you can enable to provide more detail within the contract.  

Settings provides three more fields:

The First Claim Sequence Number determines the numbering from the first user submitted claim onward. For example, if you have already processed one claim on your contract prior to publishing it on Payapps.com, you can change this number to 2. If this is not required, leave this field at its default starting position of 1. 

The Country field allows you to select which country your work is taking place in. This will also determine the following field (State, Region or Province, depending on which country is selected).
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​Send email on Claim submission will dictate whether or not an email is sent when you submit a claim. You may choose to have this disabled if you're generating invoices using another accounting system. 

In this section you can define the activities and costs of the project by inputting the contract lines. 

First, select whether this is a lump sum contract or a schedule of rates. This can be selected at the top right of the contract section.

You can choose to either add the contract lines straight onto the page or you can download the import template and complete the contract in excel for uploading. This template file will generate in the format of the selected contract type (Lump Sum or Schedule of Rates)

Input a section title by double clicking on the Add a title for your section. This is what you will see at the top of their claim. 

Note: Additional sections can also be added by selecting the +Add new section Located below the Total (ex GST) value.

Once your sections are defined, you can begin adding in the contract lines. Lines are standalone items that can be created freely under sections. The total value of all 'lines' will wrap up under the section. There will be one line already in the section. More lines can be added by pressing the + Add New Line button

If you need to provide context for you contract lines. you can also add a note by pressing the + Add New Note button. Notes cannot contain an assigned amount. 

Headings are used as an additional level within Sections. You can use Headings to organise your contract line items and provide for a more contract detail. The total value of headings and associated lines will appear on the section summary they fall under. To add a heading, press the +Add New Heading button

To edit or remove any lines/headings you can do so by selecting the menu option on the right of each line.
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To move lines, you can do this by selecting and holding down the two parallel lines to the left side of each contract line and dragging the line to the desired place.
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Sections can be removed by selecting the cogwheel to their right.
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Once this has been completed you can save the contract at the top right.

You are now ready to submit claims. 

Still having trouble?  Contact support via the chat, phone 1300 252 463 or email support@payapps.com