Using contracts

[tcrick1]

I think I'm missing something with contracts.
When I think of defining a contract, I think of it as generic (not applying to a specific client). I want to be able to create a contract that defines the service (off-site backup), the price ($50) and billing cycle (monthly).
Then, I want to be able to apply that contract to a specific client (ABC Company) along with a beginning and ending date, along with some other possible specifics.
Every time I try to add a new contract, it requires that I enter an account for the contract.
However, when I read the Wiki on contracts, it doesn't even mention Account as one of the fields.Is that right?
Do I have something configured wrong?

The other reason I wanted to use contracts is that I have a group of clients I want to change the billing rate for. I was hoping I could create a generic contract with the customer rates and assign that contract to all of these clients. However, it would take me longer to create a contract for every client than it would to just configure custom pricing for each.
I may have a mental block here, as I am really struggling to understand how contracts are supposed to be helpful. I would appreciate any help you can offer.

[Support Team]

Re: Using contracts

First of all note that Contracts are optional - you can use the Global system contract which is automatically created for every Account, instead of you defining a Contract each time. However if you do want to use contracts then yes you do need to specify the Account which the Contract applies to. You also need to create Items which are the products or services you actually sell and when adding a charge you select the relevant Item along with pricing - you can also define Custom Pricing for the Account or Contract. For details on monthly recurring billing see this page. Additionally you can use Contract-Price Charges to charge for an amount agreed upon in a contract.

If you want to have basically the same contract for multiple clients you can create it once and then simply copy it and update the relevant parts for each client. You can also create an Activity Template to simplify this process of creating a new contract based on your predefined requirements.