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Contract Variations

Create, send, and manage changes to a customer contract

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A contract variation records an addition, deduction, or other agreed change after a contract has been created. Each variation keeps its own line items, customer-facing amount, payment or deduction timing, notes, PDF, and status.

If contract variations are enabled for your organisation, you can create them from both current and earlier contracts.

Before you start

  • Open the correct customer contract and confirm that you are changing the right scope.
  • Check whether the change is an addition or deduction.
  • Confirm the cost, sell amount, quantity, and when payment or deduction is due.
  • If you plan to email the variation, make sure the customer contact has a valid email address.

See Contracts for the main contract workflow.

Create a variation

  1. Open the contract summary.
  2. Open the actions menu and choose Create variation.
  3. Under Add line item, choose a source:
    • From contract starts with an item already in the contract and treats it as a deduction.
    • From products adds an item from your product list and treats it as an addition.
    • Manually adds a blank line for a one-off change.
  4. Review each line under Line Items. Click the name, quantity, cost, or sell value to edit it, then confirm the change.
  5. Remove any unwanted line with the remove icon.
  6. Enter Payment/Deduction Due.
  7. Add Notes when the customer needs more context.
  8. Review Cost variation and Sell variation.
  9. Click Next.

At least one line item is required. Next creates the variation and opens Send contract variation.

Send the variation

  1. On Send contract variation, choose the recipients and sender.
  2. Review the subject and message.
  3. Keep the variation review button in the message. Neptune will ask you to add it if it is missing.
  4. Send the message.

After a successful send, Neptune returns to the customer’s documents and the variation is Sent. It changes to Signed only after the customer accepts it.

Customer review and acceptance

The customer opens the secure variation review link from the email. The page shows the variation line items, Payment/Deduction Due, notes, total, and a link to view the related contract.

To accept the variation, the customer:

  1. Reviews the changes and total.
  2. Types their full name under Please sign here to accept the Variation.
  3. Selects the acknowledgement that they accept the details of the variation.
  4. Clicks Accept Variation.

Only the customer using the secure review link can sign. Successful acceptance changes the variation to Signed, stores the signature details, and notifies the consultant. If another staff member created the variation, Neptune also notifies that person.

If Invoices is enabled for your organisation, a signed variation can show an invoice suggestion based on its sell total. See Invoices.

Review and manage a variation

Open the variation from the customer’s Documents tab or from Sales Docs → Contract Variations.

The variation page shows:

  • the variation ID and status;
  • each line item and its cost and sell amount;
  • payment or deduction timing;
  • notes;
  • the total cost and sell variation; and
  • a PDF action.

The send button appears while the variation can still be sent. Available actions depend on its status. Use the status shown beside the variation ID to confirm its current state before taking another action.

Current and earlier contract variations

The visible creation steps are the same for current and earlier contracts. Neptune opens the correct customer-facing review page for the contract the variation belongs to.

Organisation-wide and customer document lists can contain both current and earlier variations. When the current sales flow is available, earlier entries are identified in the list. Continue opening those entries through their existing link; do not recreate them.

Common issues and limits

  • Create variation is missing: Open the contract summary and use its actions menu. Also confirm that sales documents are available for your organisation.
  • A contract item creates a negative amount: From contract is designed for deductions. Review the line before saving.
  • A product creates an addition: From products is designed for additions. Edit the values if the agreed amount is different.
  • The total is wrong: Check every line’s quantity, cost, and sell amount. The customer-facing variation amount is based on the sell values.
  • Next does not continue: Add at least one line item.
  • The email cannot be sent: Keep the required variation review button in the message and confirm that a recipient has a valid email address.
  • The customer cannot sign: Confirm they opened the secure customer review link. Staff previews cannot accept the variation.
  • The signature form is no longer shown: A signed variation shows its accepted result and signature details instead.
  • The variation is not in the client portal: The portal shows eligible current sales documents only after they reach a customer-visible status. See Client Portal.
  • An earlier variation looks different: Neptune still supports it through its existing page and customer review flow.