What is this page about: Light tracks contracts as multi-period agreements with customers, grouping their line items and driving invoicing over the contract period. This page explains where to find the Contracts list, what the lifecycle states mean, how to create a contract, what's in a contract's detail tabs, how to change a contract after publishing, and how termination works.
On this page
- What is a contract in Light?
- Where can I find the Contracts list?
- What do the contract lifecycle states mean?
- How do I create a contract?
- What's in a contract's Lines and Invoices tabs?
- How do I duplicate a contract line?
- How is Total Contract Value displayed?
- Can I edit a contract after it's published?
- How do I terminate a contract?
- Frequently asked questions
- Related articles
What is a contract in Light?
A contract in Light is a multi-period agreement with a customer. A contract groups line items, the products, quantities, prices, taxes, discounts, and amortization schedules being sold, and drives invoicing over the contract's start and end dates.
Where can I find the Contracts list?
You can find the Contracts list by navigating to Revenue & Invoicing → Contracts in Light.
The Contracts table can show ten columns, in this order: Customer, Entity, Status, Description, Start date, End date, Renewal date, ARR, Activated at, Terminated at. By default, only Customer, Entity, Status, Description, Start date, End date, Renewal date, and ARR are visible. Activated at and Terminated at are hidden by default, and you can turn them on from the column settings above the table.
By default, the Contracts list shows only Active and Draft contracts; Terminated contracts are hidden. The status filter above the table offers three options, Active, Draft, and Terminated, so clear or adjust it to bring Terminated contracts into view.
Can I take actions from the Contracts list?
Yes. Each row in the Contracts list has a ⋮ (three-dot) menu with the same actions as the contract's own ⋮ menu, so you can act on a contract without opening it. Which actions appear depends on the contract's status and your permissions:
- Publish (shows as Republish when you're publishing changes to an edited contract)
- Edit
- Add invoice
- Renew
- Reset
- Cancel termination
- Discard draft
- Terminate
- Delete
What do the contract lifecycle states mean?
A contract in Light moves through three states:
- Draft: the contract has been created but not yet published.
- Active: the contract is in effect. If a termination is scheduled for a future date, the contract stays Active and shows a red Terminates in… label next to its version until that date.
- Terminated: the contract has ended.
How do I create a contract?
To create a contract in Light, use the create-contract dialog, which collects only a few fields up front. Line items, payment terms, and other configuration are added afterwards in the contract details view.
-
Click + Create contract
-
Fill in:
- Contract period: start date and end date
- Description
- Entity: the company entity this contract belongs to
-
Click Create
The contract's currency is set from the entity's local currency, and you can change it on the contract's detail page. For the full walkthrough from customer and billing details to publishing, see Creating and publishing a contract.
Contracts can also be created from a customer's detail page. This opens the same create-contract dialog. The customer is not pre-filled, but gets linked to the contract automatically after it's created.
What's in a contract's Lines and Invoices tabs?
Every contract in Light has two detail tabs:
- Lines: the contract's line items (products, quantities, prices, taxes, discounts, amortization)
- Invoices: the invoices issued against the contract
Line items are added and edited only in the Lines tab, not in the create dialog.
How do I duplicate a contract line?
Duplicating a line copies an existing contract line so you only change what's different, instead of building a similar line from scratch.
- Open a Draft contract, or start a working version of an Active contract.
- Go to the Lines tab.
- Open the line's action menu and select Duplicate.
- Edit the fields that differ on the new line.
Light saves the copy straight away and adds it to the end of the line list. The copy keeps the original's product, billing recurrence, start and end dates, price, quantity, discount, tax code, ledger account, amortization template and dates, and custom properties. A duplicated line starts unpublished, so it takes effect when you publish the contract.
How is Total Contract Value displayed?
The Total contract value stat card on a contract's detail page shows either the net (ex-VAT) or gross (incl. VAT) amount. Hover over the card and click the edit (pencil) icon next to the title to switch between Net and Gross.
This is a company-wide setting, not a per-contract one: changing it updates how total contract value, collected amount, and residual amount are displayed across all contracts, for both invoiced and scheduled periods. Net is the default. Switch to Gross if you need contract values to line up with an external system like Salesforce.
Can I edit a contract after it's published?
Yes, through a working version. A published contract can't be edited directly.
- Open the published contract and click Edit. This opens a working version and raises the version number.
- Make your changes:
- Contract fields: contract period, renewal date, description, reference, PO number, net terms, invoice lead days, payment to, Contract ARR and custom properties.
- Lines already published: custom properties only (department, cost center, project code, etc.). Price, quantity, tax code, dates and description stay locked, and a published line can't be deleted.
- New lines: fully editable.
- Click Publish to apply the changes, or Discard draft to drop them.
If the changes would affect invoices that already exist, publishing is refused with "Cannot publish because the changes would affect existing invoices:". To change a price or quantity mid-term, see Amending and renewing a contract. See Custom Properties for more on custom properties.
How do I terminate a contract?
- Open the contract and choose Terminate from the ⋮ menu.
- Set the Termination date.
- Choose a Termination reason: Renewed, Finished or Other. The Termination reason description field becomes editable when you pick Other.
- Confirm.
What happens next depends on the termination date:
- Today or in the past: the contract moves straight to Terminated, with the terminated date recorded.
- In the future: the contract stays Active and shows a red Terminates in… label until that date, then moves to Terminated. Until then you can choose Cancel termination from the ⋮ menu to keep it running.
Terminating stops the schedule. Draft invoices dated after the termination date are archived, and a terminated contract lists only the invoices that were actually raised.
Clearing deferred revenue on termination
If the contract's lines carry revenue release schedules, ending it early can leave deferred revenue on the books. In that case termination has two steps:
- Termination review shows the ledger impact. The Include projected invoices toggle, on by default, decides whether invoices that would still be raised before the termination date count towards it.
- Journal entry creation shows the clearing entry that zeroes the remaining deferred revenue. Review it and post it.
A contract that needs no clearing entry terminates in a single step.
Frequently asked questions
What does ARR mean on a contract?
Contract ARR ("Annualised contract value") is the contract's estimated annual value. You enter it yourself and it doesn't recalculate when lines change. It's shown in the Contracts list's ARR column, and you change it through Edit on a published contract.
Is Total Contract Value shown net or gross of tax?
By default, Total contract value is shown net of VAT. You can switch it to gross (VAT included) using the edit icon on the Total contract value card in a contract's detail page. This applies company-wide across all contracts and also affects how collected amount and residual amount are displayed.
Can I change a contract's price or tax code after it's published?
Not on a line that's already published. Its price, tax code, quantity, and description stay locked, and only its custom properties can change. Contract-level fields (contract period, renewal date, net terms, PO number, reference, Contract ARR) can be changed through Edit. To change a price mid-term, reset the contract or terminate it and create a new one. See Amending and renewing a contract.
Can I duplicate a line on an Active contract?
Yes. Start a working version of the contract, then use Duplicate from the line's action menu. The copy starts unpublished and takes effect when you publish the contract.
What happens if I schedule a contract termination for a future date?
The contract stays Active with a red Terminates in… label until the termination date arrives, then it moves to Terminated. You can choose Cancel termination from the ⋮ menu any time before that.
Why don't I see Terminated contracts in the Contracts list?
That's expected. The Contracts list shows only Active and Draft contracts by default, and Terminated is hidden. The status filter above the table lets you choose Active, Draft, or Terminated, so clear or adjust it to see Terminated contracts.
Where do I add line items to a contract?
Line items are added and edited in a contract's Lines tab after the contract is created, not in the create-contract dialog.
If I create a contract from a customer's page, does it pre-fill the customer?
No. Creating a contract from a customer's detail page opens the same create-contract dialog as anywhere else, and it doesn't have a customer field. The customer gets linked to the contract automatically right after you create it.