Significant Events - Contracts

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The Significant Events related item stores information about all the events, tasks or milestones that are considered significant to the contract. Significant Events can help office administrators and users to track progress to completion. Emails can be added to notify or remind those responsible for a task or action.

There are two major components for all Significant Events:

1) The Significant Event, which includes the event details, occurrence, completion details and email details.

2) Email sub-item, to create email notifications for the event.

You may be able to perform a number of actions for the Significant Event, such as:

•        Create sub-tasks for a milestone event using a parent event

•        Create an event that occurs more than once by specifying the recurrence interval

•        Batch the Significant Event details to other records

•        Add a Calendar widget to a dashboard that displays events to which the person is linked. See: Calendar widget

 

Notes for administrators

•        Access to events can be controlled by event category in Users > Roles > Role Sig Event Access. See: Role Sig Event Access

•        Custom events can be set up as categories to be selected in the Event dropdown. See: Set up an event category below.

•        You can also configure the Application Trigger to automatically create or update Significant Events based on defined criteria.  See the video.

If your institution uses Finance Significant Event functionality (via a product key), additional elements are available. See: Significant Event elements for financial activities
Menu path: RME > Contracts > Contract (Search) > Contract > Significant Events

 

Create a Significant Event: Video

This video shows you how to create a basic Significant Event.

 

Create a Significant Event

  1. In a Contract record, go to the Significant Events related item.

  2. At the top right of the grid, click Add.

  3. There are two possible layouts for this page. Select the section in this help page that is appropriate for the layout:
    a) Standard Significant Event: Fields

    b) Significant Event elements for financial activities
    The layout includes sections for Fund Scheme Details, Cost Centre, Journal Details, Invoice Details, Acquittal Details, Deliverable Details, and Document.  

  4. Fill in the event details, using the table below as a guide.
    - If the event occurs more than once, indicate how often in the Interval field and define either the No. of Times or End Date.
    - Add details about who is responsible for the event in the Responsible Party and Responsibility fields, if needed.
     These fields also determine if the event is shown in the Calendar widget for the defined person, or committee members (depending on the module).

  5. In the toolbar, click Save.

  6. To add an email for the event, open the Email sub-item and click Add. See: Email - Significant Event

  7. Ensure that access is given to all the roles that will use the Significant Event. See: Role Significant Event Access

Standard Significant Event: Fields

The field tables below display the default labels for standard Significant Events (not financial events).

Fields are divided into sections in the default page layout, which groups fields about a particular area together. The page can be customised by your institution so the layout and sections may vary.

Event details

Default Field Label

(in alphabetical order)

Description

Action Date *

Mandatory

Date the event will occur, or has occurred

If there is an attached email, this is also when it will be sent or has been sent.

Completion Date

Date the event occurred or was completed

The adjacent read-only Day(s) field automatically displays a calculated number of days between the Date of Action and Completion Date when values are entered.

Currency

Custom list used to indicate the currency that has been used for the Invoice Amount

Source

Est. Completion Date

Estimated completion date for the event

The adjacent read-only Day(s) field automatically displays a calculated number of days between the Date of Action and Est. Completion Date when values are entered.

Event *

Mandatory

Event category, from a list of events defined as categories for the module

Access to all events in this dropdown may be controlled by Role Sig Event Access by your administrator.

Source

Event Name *

Mandatory

Detailed name for the event

Event Type *

Mandatory

Event group, from a defined list of general system event groups

Examples: Email, Meeting, Milestone, Progress, Task

Source

Parent Event

Event that is the parent event to the event you are creating

When specifying a parent event, the record will be shown in a timeline as a sub-event.

Example: If the parent event is a progress review meeting, then the sub-event can be a reminder email for the progress review meeting

Access to existing Significant Events listed in this dropdown may be controlled by type via Role Sig Event Access.

Progress Notes

Long text field for notes about the progress the event

Status

Default: Active

Indicates the status of the event

Default options: Active, Closed - Reminder Sent, Completed, Not Completed

Source

Status2

Hidden by default; RME administrators can choose to display this field via Page Views

Intended for custom use and may be renamed

   
   

Occurrence

These fields are used to define how often the event occurs.

Default Field Label

(in alphabetical order)

Description

End Date

Only enabled if a recurring event is selected in Interval

Last day the recurring event will occur

You can edit this if required to change it to either an earlier date or later date. If a later date, additional events will be created until this date based on the recurrence specified in Interval.

Interval *

Indicates if the event is a recurring, from the following options:

•        Once only (default)

•        Weekly

•        Fortnightly

•        Monthly

•        Quarterly

•        Half Yearly

•        Yearly

Other fields are enabled depending on your selection, such as End Date, No. of Times

No. of Times

Only enabled if a recurring event is selected in Interval

Number of times this event will re-occur after the first event (a record will be created for each occurrence and displayed in the confirmation popup)

Example: If the Interval is Monthly and you want the event to occur for 4 months, enter 3.

 
 

Completion Details

These fields are used to record information about the completion of the event.

Default Field Label

(in alphabetical order)

Description

Completion Details

Details about the completion of the event, if needed

Responsible Party

Corresponding entries that match the Responsibility field selected above for the contract

Example: If you choose Committee, the dropdown will display all the committees linked to the record.

This will be blank if there are no matching entries for the record.

Calendar widget

If a Calendar widget  is configured for the Contract module for a Significant Event, the event will be displayed in the widget for a person or members of a committee or other party defined in this field. If no one is defined in this field, the Significant Event will not display in a Calendar widget.

Responsibility

Default: Not Specified

Entity that is responsible for completing the event

This populates the list in the Responsibility Party dropdown.

Example options: Committee, Linked Personnel, Not Applicable, Personnel (the latter provides a lookup in the Responsible Party field to search for an add a person from the Personnel module).

Source
 

 

Significant Event elements for financial activities

When the Finance Significant Events feature is used by applying the product key, additional elements display in the default layout for this Project Significant Event Page View PRO005 to support financial activities.

Element summary

As a summary, additional elements displayed in the default page layout when the Financial Significant Event product key is applied include:

•        Event type dropdown: Additional category items are included in the list for Acquittal, Invoice, Journal and Deliverable

•        Status dropdown: An additional category item is included in the list for Cancelled

•        Linked Projects field

•        Currency field (CUST_LIST_CAT_FK) in the top section of the Significant Event is changed to Old Currency in default Page View layouts to distinguish it from the Currency field in the Invoice Details section. For financial events, use the Currency field in the Invoice Details section.

•        Sections are added for: Fund Scheme Details, Cost Centre, Journal Details, Invoice Details, Acquittal Details, Deliverable Details, and Document.

Custom page layout

The default page layout for Project Significant Event Page View PRO005 dynamically changes when the Financial Significant Events product key is applied to display elements for financial events. If you need to customise the layout, avoid changing the section structure; only remove fields that you don't use, or relabel them if needed.  

If you have previously customised the Project Significant Event Page View, your custom page layout is retained after the Financial Significant Events product key is applied. The above Linked Project? field and sections will not automatically display. You can either continue using your custom page layout and add the checkbox and sections to support financial events via Page Views and the Page Layout Designer, or use the default layout.

Significant Event widget

To support these types of invoicing events, a Significant Event widget can be added to a dashboard. This widget is designed to enable users to view high level information about Contract Significant Event records involved in research project invoicing. Users can access linked records and Significant Events via the widget. There is also a bulk update function that can be assigned to specific roles.

eForm relationship

These fields are designed to work with corresponding Significant Event Related Item Controls (RICs) in eForms for the Contract domain. Form users enter details in the RIC in an eForm. When the Push to Database Tables workflow activity is executed for eForms with this RIC, details will be pushed to the Significant Event related item, either as a new record or an update to an existing one. Details are populated as entered in the eForm, so an update may override previous details.

Integration with other systems

To integrate financial Significant Event data with other external systems, such as a finance system, field data is available in the following ways:

•        ­ Advanced Search for the module

•        ­Reporting Views so fields can be included in reports

•        ­Significant Event emails, including a URL for the event (excluding multi-select grids in the following sections: Cost Centre, Journal Detail, Excluded Consumable and Capital Items, Intellectual Property Owner, and Document Full Path)

•        ­RME Web API (field-level details are available in the system under RME > System > Documentation > Web API Routes >  Project Significant Event)

•        ­RME API – Read Only (field-level details are available in the automatically-generated documentation)

Prerequisites

To use financial event functionality effectively, set up the following required dependencies:

•        Set up cost centres and link those that you want pre-populated in specific Significant Events. See: Cost Centres

•        Set up category items to support financial events under RME > Setup > Categories > Common Categories:

•        Invoice Status - To indicate the stage of invoicing, such as invoice generated, invoice requested, invoice sent

•        Ownership Type - To identify who owns the deliverables, such as external, internal or joint

•        Taxation Type - To identify what type of tax will be applied to the invoice, such as export or GST taxable, which may be defined by your Finance team

Financial Significant Event: Fields

The field tables below display the default labels when Financial Significant Event functionality is used via the product key.

Fields are divided into sections in the default page layout, which groups fields about a particular area together. The page can be customised by your institution so the layout and sections may vary.

Event details

Default Field Label

(in alphabetical order)

Description

Action Date *

Mandatory

Date the event will occur, or has occurred

If there is an attached email, this is also when it will be sent or has been sent.

Completion Date

Date the event occurred or was completed

The adjacent read-only Day(s) field automatically displays a calculated number of days between the Date of Action and Completion Date when values are entered.

Currency

Custom list used to indicate the currency that has been used for the Invoice Amount

Source

Est. Completion Date

Estimated completion date for the event

The adjacent read-only Day(s) field automatically displays a calculated number of days between the Date of Action and Est. Completion Date when values are entered.

Event *

Mandatory

Event category, from a list of events defined as categories for the module

Access to all events in this dropdown may be controlled by Role Sig Event Access by your administrator.

Source

Event Name *

Mandatory

Detailed name for the event

Event Type *

Mandatory

Event group, from a defined list of general system event groups

Examples: Acquittal, Deliverable, Email, Invoice, Journal, Meeting, Milestone, Progress, Task

Source

Linked Projects

Projects associated to the contract

Source

Parent Event

Event that is the parent event to the event you are creating

When specifying a parent event, the record will be shown in a timeline as a sub-event.

Example: If the parent event is a progress review meeting, then the sub-event can be a reminder email for the progress review meeting

Access to existing Significant Events listed in this dropdown may be controlled by type via Role Sig Event Access.

Progress Notes

Long text field for notes about the progress the event

Status

Default: Active

Indicates the status of the event

Default options: Active, Cancelled, Closed - Reminder Sent, Completed, Not Completed

If Cancelled, future emails will not be sent. You cannot create new emails if the status is Cancelled.

Source

Status2

Hidden by default; RME administrators can choose to display this field via Page Views

Intended for custom use and may be renamed

    
    

Occurrence

These fields are used to define how often the event occurs.

Default Field Label

(in alphabetical order)

Description

End Date

Only enabled if a recurring event is selected in Interval

Last day the recurring event will occur

You can edit this if required to change it to either an earlier date or later date. If a later date, additional events will be created until this date based on the recurrence specified in Interval.

Interval *

Indicates if the event is a recurring, from the following options:

•        Once only (default)

•        Weekly

•        Fortnightly

•        Monthly

•        Quarterly

•        Half Yearly

•        Yearly

Other fields are enabled depending on your selection, such as End Date, No. of Times

No. of Times

Only enabled if a recurring event is selected in Interval

Number of times this event will occur (a record will be created for each occurrence)
  
  

Completion Details

These fields are used to record information about the completion of the event.

Default Field Label

(in alphabetical order)

Description

Completion Details

Details about the completion of the event, if needed

Completion Notes

Additional notes related to the completion of the event

Responsible Party

Corresponding entries that match the Responsibility field selected above for the contract

Example: If you choose Committee, the dropdown will display all the committees linked to the record.

This will be blank if there are no matching entries for the record.

Calendar widget

If a Calendar widget  is configured for the Contract module for a Significant Event, the event will be displayed in the widget for a person or members of a committee or other party defined in this field. If no one is defined in this field, the Significant Event will not display in a Calendar widget.

Responsibility

Default: Not Specified

Entity that is responsible for completing the event

This populates the list in the Responsibility Party dropdown.

Example options: Committee, Linked Personnel, Not Applicable, Personnel (the latter provides a lookup in the Responsible Party field to search for an add a person from the Personnel module).

Source

Requirements Completed

Indicates if the requirements for the Significant Event, such as deliverables or milestone tasks, have been done

This can be useful if office staff are a checkpoint at this stage. They may, for example, review the details and then, if confirmed, change the event status to Completed.

For invoicing events, it can be used as a manual trigger for the next manual stage of the process, such as requesting that the Finance team generates an invoice (this is outside RME).

This can be used in the Significant Event widget or Advanced Search to find events with completed requirements.
  

Fund Scheme Details

This grid displays the fund scheme/s and organisation/s providing funding.

For more about the Financial Significant Events feature, see: Significant Event elements for financial events above.

Prerequisite: At least one fund scheme (optionally, organisation) must be defined in the Project record.

Default Field Label

(in alphabetical order)

Description

Fund Scheme

Fund Scheme linked to the project

Fund Scheme Organisation

Organisation linked to the fund scheme of the project

 

Cost Centre

This grid displays all the cost centres set up in the Project record, Cost Centre related item. You can select one or more cost centres and define an amount for each. A cost centre in this grid may be automatically selected if it has been configured as such in the Cost Centre related item.

If a value, such as a fund scheme name, is longer than the current column width in the grid, you can either adjust the grid column widths to display it in full, or mouse over it for a tooltip of the full value.

For more about the Financial Significant Events feature, see: Significant Event elements for financial events above.

Prerequisite: At least one cost centre must be set up in the Project record, Cost Centre related item, otherwise the grid will be blank.

Default Field Label

(in alphabetical order)

Description

Amount

Only editable if the cost centre is selected

Amount for the selected cost centre

Cost Centre

Unique code for an internal account used by the finance system for each funding organisation in reference to a project

Fund Scheme

Fund Scheme linked to the project

Organisation

Organisation for the fund scheme

Line Item

Income category of the fund scheme

Selected

Indicates the cost centre is used for the financial event

If a cost centre is used in the Journal Details grid but you de-select it in the Cost Centre grid, a message will display to ask if you want to proceed. If you do, the cost centre will be removed from Journal Details.

 

Journal Details

This grid is intended for use when the Event Type is Journal. It displays details about transfers of funding or expenses from one internal account to another. Transfers are made to ensure that transactions are listed against the correct account.

If a value is longer than the current column width in the grid, you can either adjust the grid column widths to display it in full, or mouse over it for a tooltip of the full value.

For more about the Financial Significant Events feature, see: Significant Event elements for financial events above.

Prerequisite: At least one cost centre must be set up in the Project record, Cost Centre related item, otherwise the grid will be blank.

Default Field Label

(in alphabetical order)

Description

Amount

Amount to be moved from one cost centre to another

Copy from Selected Cost Centre

Whether to copy selected cost centres from the Cost Centre section grid to this grid

Cost Centre From

Cost centre from which the amount will be moved

Cost Centre To

Cost centre to which the amount will be moved

 

Invoice Details

These fields are intended for use when the Event Type is Invoice. They collect information to use for the invoice.

For more about the Financial Significant Events feature, see: Significant Event elements for financial events above.

Default Field Label

(in alphabetical order)

Description

Address

Where the invoice will be sent for the funding organisation selected in either the Invoice To or Linked External Organisation fields

Contact Email

Email address for the contact person related to the address selected in Address

Source

Contact Person Name

Name of the contact person for the address selected in Address

Source

Contact Person Position

Role of the contact person for the address selected in Address

Source

Currency

Currency to use on the invoice

Source

Invoice Amount

Cost that has been billed for this event, exclusive of GST

Invoice Description

Long text field for a detailed description of the invoice

Invoice Status

Status of the invoice related to the event, such as Invoice Generated, Invoice Requested, Invoice Sent

This field was previously Significant Event Status. It only displays as Invoice Status if the category name was not re-labelled to another name.

Source

Invoice To

Only displays if the selection in the Select invoice to is Fund Scheme Organisation

Fund scheme/organisation that will be invoiced

Linked External Organisation

Only displays if the selection in the Select invoice to is Linked External Organisation

External organisation that will be invoiced

PO Number

Number of the individual purchase order that applies to the invoice request

PO Required?

Whether a purchase order is required for an invoice

Source

Select invoice to

Indicates who will be invoiced

The selection dynamically displays additional fields:

•        Fund Scheme Organisation displays the Invoice To field

•        Linked External Organisation displays the Linked External Organisation field

Taxation Type

Tax type for the invoice, such as Export or GST Taxable, which may be defined by your Finance team

This may be automatically populated from the core record of the organisation selected in the Organisation Code field if a Taxation Type is recorded.

Depending on your institution's settings for this page, you may be able to edit it.

Source

Withholding Tax?

Identifies if the invoice is subject to withholding tax

Source

 

Acquittal Details

These fields are intended for use when the Event Type is Acquittal. They are designed to display receipts and expenditure for nominated accounts.

For more about the Financial Significant Events feature, see: Significant Event elements for financial events above.

Default Field Label

(in alphabetical order)

Description

Exclude Annual Leave from On-cost?

Whether annual leave is excluded from on-cost, as defined in the applicable Fund Scheme Level rules for the primary fund scheme, On-Cost Variation section

Excluded Consumable and Capital Items 

Lists the account codes that should not be charged to the cost centre during the acquittal, as defined in an applicable Fund Scheme Level rules for the primary fund scheme, Excluded Consumable and Capital Items field

External Template Available?

Indicates if there is an external template to use, if there is one available

Notes for Acquittal

Long text field for a detailed description of the event

This field is renamed from Progress Notes and moved from the event details to the Journal Details section when invoicing functionality is used via the Financial Significant Events product key.

On-cost Percentage Variation

On-cost percentage defined in the applicable Fund Scheme Level rules for the primary fund scheme, On-Cost Variation section

Previous Financial Acquittal

Indicates if it is a previous financial acquittal

Reportable In-kind

Indicates reportable in-kind

Reporting basis - Cash/Accrual

Indicates the basis of reporting

•        Yes - the reporting basis is Cash/Accrual

•        No - the reporting basis is not Cash/Accrual

Return Unspent Funds Required

Indicates if unspent funds need to be returned

 

Deliverable Details

These fields are intended for use when the Event Type is Deliverable. They are designed to collect information about goods, products, services, work, work products, items, materials and property to be created, developed, produced, delivered, performed or provided by, on behalf of, or made available through the project.

For more about the Financial Significant Events feature, see: Significant Event elements for financial events above.

Default Field Label

(in alphabetical order)

Description

Intellectual Property Owner

Identifies who owns the deliverable

Ownership Percentage

Ownership by the institution as a percentage value

Cannot be more than 100.

Ownership Type

Identifies they type of owner of the deliverables - external, external or joint

 

Document

These fields are used to upload a document that supports the financial activity. Only one document can be added for each Significant Event. For more information about documents, see: RME core - Document upload and management.

For more about the Financial Significant Events feature, see: Significant Event elements for financial events above.         

Default Field Label

(in alphabetical order)

Description

Document

Depends on the selection in Document Type, as follows:

Document Type is ...

Action

Result

Soft Copy

Use the upload control to locate and select the file for upload or drag-and-drop the file

The Document Name field will be populated with the document name from the file.

If File System in System Preferences is set as the storage type for uploaded documents, the document path will also be automatically populated in the Document Full Path field.

Path

Enter the full document link (URL)

The full link will be displayed as a link in the Document Link field.

The Document Name field will be populated with the document name from the entered link.

Hard Copy

Enter details about the document location as free text

The Document Name field will be populated with the entered details.

 

The System Preferences for linked documents will be applied, as defined in RME > System > System Preferences >  System tab > Linked Document Settings.  See the linked help page for maximum character limits.

Document Full Path

Only for Soft Copy; Read only

Full document path in the file system auto-populated from the Document field if File System is the storage type for uploaded documents in System Preferences

Document Link

Only for Path; Read only

Link to the document auto-populated from the Document field

Document Name

Name of the document, auto-populated from the Document field but can be edited

Document Type

Type of document, such as Hard Copy, Path or Soft Copy (see descriptions in the Document field above)

Source

 

Email

You create emails for a Significant Event in the Email sub-item in the Significant Event page. To create a new email, open the item and select Add.

  

Set up an event category

The options listed in the Event dropdown indicate the type of event for the module. For Project Significant Events, set up custom events in RME > Setup > Categories > Contract Related Categories > Contract Significant Event Types.

This is in contrast to the options listed in the Event Type dropdown, which are generic and used across core records. These are set up in RME > Setup > Categories > Significant Events > Significant Event Type.

  

Manage Significant Event records

You manage related items in the core page. Click the Add, Delete and Export links at the right of the related item in Contracts.

To edit a Significant Event, go to the Significant Events related item on the core details page. Double-click the event in the grid to open the details. Modify the details, using the table above as a guide, then click Save. If editing a recurring Significant Event, the following fields will be updated for all other uncompleted events in the series: Date of Action, Event, Event Name, Est. Completion Date and Parent Event.

 

Related topics

•        Contract search

•        Contract

•        Application Trigger

•        Batch a Significant Event

•        Calendar widget

 

Product Key: Modules - Contracts

Page ID: CON015.htm