SpotDraft helps you streamline your contract management by enabling you to link related documents to your contracts in a structured way. This helps you easily access all relevant information, improving efficiency and clarity. There are two ways to link documents within SpotDraft:

1. Uploading Supporting Documents

Supporting documents are any files that provide context or information about a contract but don't require their own signature, lifecycle, or individual management in SpotDraft. These supporting documents are always associated with a parent contract and do not exist as separate records on the contract repository. Examples include:

• Invoices:  Link the invoice related to a particular contract for easy reference. 
• Screenshots: Attach screenshots of emails or other documents that provide evidence or approval. 
• Maps or Diagrams: Link visual aids relevant to the contract's subject matter. 

How to Upload Supporting Documents

1. Navigate the contract you want to upload a supporting document with. You can do this by searching for the contract from the repository and clicking on it.
2. Go to the “Manage” tab under the contract title

3. Locate the "Related Documents" section and click the "Add Documents" button.

4. Click on Upload. A modal will open.
5. You can either drag and drop the file into the upload window or click "Select Files" to browse your computer
6. Click "Upload" to add the document to your contract.

Supporting documents are only accessible within the context of the specific contract they are linked to. 

Note:

Supported File Types: SpotDraft supports the following file types: DOCX, DOC, JPEG, JPG, PNG, PPT, PPTX, XLS, XLSX, PDF, GIF, TXT, ODP, KEY, ASICE, ADOC, BDOC, EDOC, EML, MSG.

File Size Limit: Your file must be 20MB or smaller.

2. Defining Relationships Between Contracts

If you need to create a formal relationship between two contracts within SpotDraft (e.g., a parent contract and a child contract), you'll use the "Define Relationship" feature.  This is useful for:

•  Parent/Child Relationships: For example, if a master services agreement (MSA) has a related non-disclosure agreement (NDA), you would link them as "Child" (NDA) to "Parent" (MSA).
•  Amendments and Addendums:  These are specific types of child contracts that modify an existing contract.  SpotDraft will automatically label these as "Amendment" or "Addendum" relationships.

How to Define Relationships

1. Navigate to the contract you want to relate with another contract. You can do this by searching for the contract from the repository and clicking on it.
2. Go to the “Manage” tab under the contract title

3. Locate the "Related Documents" section, and click the "Add Documents" button.

4. Click on the “Define Relationship” button
5. From the list, choose the contract you want to relate to this contract and hit the “Add” button. You can use the search bar to find specific contracts.

6. Choose the type of relationship: Child, Parent, Amendment, or Addendum. Tip: you can switch the order of contracts to create a meaningful relationship

7. Click "Save" to confirm the relationship between the contracts.

Important Note:

While you can create complex contract families with many related contracts, you cannot create cyclic relationships (where a contract ends up as a descendent of itself). 

Best Practices for Choosing Linking Methods

• Related Documents for Contracts:  If a document requires its own signature, lifecycle, or independent management, it should be uploaded as a separate contract in SpotDraft and then linked to the original contract.
• Supporting Documents for Other Documents: If a document doesn't require a signature and is intended to support the original contract (e.g., an invoice or a screenshot), upload it as a supporting document.

Examples:

• Related Documents:  An amendment to a sales contract should be uploaded as a related document, labeled as "Amendment". 
• Supporting Documents: A screenshot of an approval email that provides evidence for a contract should be uploaded as a supporting document.