<style>p { margin: 0; }span.fr-emoticon.fr-emoticon-img { background-repeat: no-repeat !important; font-size: inherit; height: 1em; width: 1em; min-height: 20px; min-width: 20px; display: inline-block; margin: -0.1em 0.1em 0.1em; line-height: 1; vertical-align: middle; } span.fr-emoticon { font-weight: normal; font-family: "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "NotoColorEmoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Android Emoji", "EmojiSymbols"; display: inline; line-height: 0; } blockquote { border-left: solid 2px #5e35b1; color: #5e35b1; margin-left:0; padding-left:5px;}blockquote blockquote{ border-color: #00bcd4; color: #00bcd4;}blockquote blockquote blockquote{ border-color: #43a047; color: #43a047;} table.grid{ border-collapse: collapse;} table.grid td, table.grid th { border: 1px solid #ddd;} .fr-fic.fr-dib{ display: block; margin: 5px auto;}.fr-fic.fr-dib.fr-fir{ text-align: right; margin: 5px 0 5px auto;}.fr-fic.fr-dib.fr-fil{ text-align: left; margin: 5px auto 5px 0;}.fr-fic.fr-dii{ float: none; margin: 5px auto;}.fr-fic.fr-dii.fr-fil{ float: left; margin: 5px auto;}.fr-fic.fr-dii.fr-fir{ float: right; margin: 5px auto;}img.fr-dib.fr-fir { margin-right: 0; text-align: right;}img.fr-dib.fr-fil { margin-left: 0; text-align: left;}img.fr-dib { margin: 5px auto; display: block; float: none;}img.fr-bordered { box-sizing: content-box; border: solid 5px #CCC;}img.fr-shadow { box-shadow: 10px 10px 5px 0px #cccccc;}img.fr-rounded { border-radius: 10px; -moz-border-radius: 10px; -webkit-border-radius: 10px; -moz-background-clip: padding; -webkit-background-clip: padding-box; background-clip: padding-box;}</style><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><strong>In this guide we will cover:</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><strong>- Auto-Generating Agreement References</strong></span></p><p style="margin-left: 20px;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><strong>- Agreement Type Prefixes</strong></span></p><p style="margin-left: 20px;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><strong>- Setting Next Contract Reference</strong></span></p><p style="margin-left: 20px;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><strong>- Manual Overrides</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><strong>- Generate Agreement Reference Per Client</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><strong><br></strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><strong>Related Guides:</strong></span></p><ul><li style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold;"><strong><a href="https://usehalo.com/halopsa/guides/1975" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 11pt;">Creating Agreements and Contracts</a></strong></li><li style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://usehalo.com/halopsa/guides/1843/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 11pt;"><strong>Agreements (Contracts)</strong></a></li></ul><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">When creating a new agreement, the reference field is always mandatory as it is the identifier for the agreement in your Halo environment. The reference can either be auto-generated or manually entered and, if auto-generated, a number of overrides/defaults can be set to control the behaviour of the generation. This guide will outline the ways of generating agreement references and the hierarchy the different settings take. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><strong><em>Note: The words 'agreement' and 'contract' are used interchangeably within Halo to refer to the same thing, as such they will also be used interchangeably within this guide.</em></strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Auto-Generating Agreement References</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">When auto-generating a reference for an agreement, you have the option of either allowing the default system behaviour to dictate how the reference is formatted or you can override it to format according to your specific referencing conventions. The following diagram in Figure 1 illustrates <span style="font-size: 11pt;" data-pasted="true">the hierarchy of settings when creating a new agreement reference. </span></span></p><p><br></p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6ImJmMTQzMWY2LWU2NjEtNDZmYy04MGNkLTZjOGJiMTA5M2UwOCJ9.FpqgsTj0FbvqaDRWXqhMUKh0GZC399m6TK67mHZo-p4" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="714" style="width: 716px; height: 640.935px;" height="641"></p><p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Fig 1. </strong></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;" data-pasted="true"><strong>A hierarchy diagram for generating agreement references in Halo</strong></span></p><p><br></p><p>The rest of this section outlines the default behaviour for auto-generation of references, and the settings that can override this behaviour. </p><p><br></p><p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Default Behaviour</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">When creating a new agreement, you will notice that there is a "Generate" button next to the "Contract Reference" field. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6ImZiMjM1MDgyLWI5ZDYtNGM0Ny1hODA5LWY4ZjBjZTVlZTVmNiJ9.qxI_HFS9KZV950luUWnzR2icRHdpSf1mI2V_TC5oV_E" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="1005" style="width: 1007px; height: 505.444px;" height="505"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Fig 2. The button for auto-generation of agreement references</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">When you select this button, Halo will auto-generate the agreement's reference for you. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Without any overrides or prefixes set in settings or against the contract type, this auto-generation will use the first few letters of the client's name and then add a numerical value afterwards. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6IjExNjU2MTNjLWRmMDktNGM4MC05NDNiLTRjYjdmY2U2ZjQ5OSJ9.Pi_mQsc_HHMYCg2f4foDsFQlcA442T8uWM08tCSwCPI" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="1009" style="width: 1011px; height: 554.112px;" height="554"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Fig 3. Auto-generation of an agreement reference</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">For each new agreement generated for the client, the values will count up numerically in order to create a new agreement reference each time. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6IjQyYmI2OTkzLTQ1NjYtNGNhZi1hNjc3LTZiNTFiODZhZDg2ZSJ9.ZnZyLpSkXOyK_k44zt8QZsSI87R34sgu9UlF8MYzkNs" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="1002" style="width: 1004px; height: 360.561px;" height="361"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Fig 4. A unique agreement reference will be generated each time</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Agreement Type Prefixes</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">An agreement prefix can be set at the contract type level if, <span style="font-size: 11pt;" data-pasted="true">instead of allowing the default behaviour of using the first few letters of the client name,</span> you want to control the letters set at the beginning of the agreement reference. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">To set this up, navigate to Configuration > Contracts (Agreements in some instances), and scroll to "Miscellaneous Settings" where you will find the "Contract Type" button. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6IjEzYmYyOTRjLTNkZGMtNDlhMC04NmQ4LTI3ZmJmMWQ5YWFjMSJ9.70QKhuNjFlybHclH4kGkSaImDcdc_5RGm-xtOKko14w" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="891" style="width: 893px; height: 635.619px;" height="636"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Fig 5. Navigating to the contract types area in Halo</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Select this button to take you into the Contract Types area where you can create new contract types or edit existing ones. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6IjBjYWUxMzA4LWMwNTctNDQ4Yi1hMmJkLTRmNDJjODk2NGFhNyJ9.HoV8oVA94tVBTRkTk-ZQV4iqabJYa-5gNpm_W3h8Vb4" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="1027" style="width: 1029px; height: 445.9px;" height="446"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Fig 6. The contract types area in Halo</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">When editing a contract type, you will see a "Prefix" field. Whatever you enter here will be automatically applied to all new contracts of that contract type.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6IjlkZjJkMzRmLWQyOWItNGI5ZS05YjVkLTU3YmI1OWQwMDg0NCJ9.hf79ykFlEyNu5yJsjph7srSb6ajLGfx9hzVQp1NwbQI" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="700" style="width: 702px; height: 452.766px;" height="453"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Fig 7. Setting the prefix for a contract type</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><strong><em>Note: Prefixes entered here can contain any type of character or symbol.</em></strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Now when I auto-generate the reference for a new contract for the same customer that was used for the example in Figure 2, instead of using the first letters of the client name, Halo has used the prefix set in the contract type. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6IjJiNmE0NzMzLTNkOTEtNDQ1MC05MzMyLWZjMGNkMjhmNzA3MyJ9.bfSstW9j1CU2irVp81zpHXqstZbwKfQSTME97UeiDXU" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="903" style="width: 905px; height: 583.571px;" height="584"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Fig 8. Auto-generating a contract reference using the prefix for the contract type</strong></span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">If you want to learn more about creating agreement types, please refer to this guide: </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><a href="https://usehalo.com/halopsa/guides/1975/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Creating Agreements and Contracts</a></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Setting Next Contract Reference</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">It is possible to set a global default for all agreement references generated in Halo. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">To do this, navigate to Configuration > Contracts, and scroll to the "Defaults" section where you will see a "Next Contract Reference" field. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6IjY2NWRkZTA0LWQ0YmQtNGYxOC04OTRkLTcxN2RkYmIyMDg4NyJ9.0H_A0R9DA939jXiUuINGDo2N1FY_PVFSE3-gXocwasI" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="980" style="width: 982px; height: 541.477px;" height="541"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Fig 9. Setting a globally defaulted agreement reference</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Setting this field will set every new auto-generated agreement reference in the system for every client to follow this pattern, counting up numerically with every new agreement created. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6IjY1ZTVkYTljLTJmY2EtNDE3ZS1iYWZjLTJhYmMxNjJmMjlmNiJ9.EFk7ldALbFtpnW2g4y8PUqnATv8ruuYBkB1dwk4ksPQ" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="967" style="width: 969px; height: 445.966px;" height="446"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Fig 10. Globally defaulted agreement references</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><strong><em>Note: This global default will override any prefixes set for contract types meaning those prefixes will not be used.</em></strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p data-pasted="true"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Manual Overrides</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Although agreement references are mandatory, auto-generation of those references is not. As such, you are able to manually enter a reference and this will override any defaults set.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">For example, I have manually set the reference for the new agreement in Figure 11 to "ABC1122".</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6IjYxYWYyODIxLWRhODgtNDhiOS04MGVkLTc1ZTY2Y2U3NjAwYSJ9.m361Pb14n50QapKTTwevBSC7bQI3S8RcmKVXoM21E1o" width="962" style="width: 964px; height: 572.34px;" height="572" class="fr-fic fr-dii"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Fig 11. Manually entering the reference for a new agreement</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Despite the contract type for the new agreement having a prefix set, the manually entered reference will override it. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6IjM5ZGRlYWZmLTQ4M2YtNGE3ZC04MmMyLTRlMmE0ZjY5MWVjNiJ9._cUGn751MVCCv4cxJiwD3QgN6DGdRV_6OA5ghS1qbCM" width="826" style="width: 828px; height: 223.857px;" height="224" class="fr-fic fr-dii"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Fig 12. A manually entered agreement reference will override all defaults set</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Similarly, if you edit an existing agreement and change the reference, that will also override anything set there.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Generate Agreement Reference Per Client</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">If I were to try and manually enter an a reference for a new agreement that already existed as the reference for another existing agreement, Halo would not allow the agreement to be saved and would return the error demonstrated in Figure 13. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6IjBlOTllMWEwLTQ1ZGEtNDQ3Yy1iYjRlLTE4ZWI0ODVlMDhjZSJ9.JlEA5RC6Z3Ggns5NjDHWprtrtrIdmZymj4tyKZecN3U" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="856" style="width: 858px; height: 518.67px;" height="519"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Fig 13. By default, all agreement references in Halo must be unique</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">As the reference is the main identifier for a contract, this is the default behaviour of Halo in order to prevent duplicate agreement references and the confusion that could result from that. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">However, it may be the case that you only need unique referencing to be enforced within each client, not across all clients, meaning that a duplicate reference is allowed if it is for a different client.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">To force Halo to allow this, navigate to Configuration > Contracts, and scroll to the "Defaults" section. Enable the checkbox setting labelled "generate contract reference per client". </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6ImQ2NWI0ODFjLWViOTMtNDIyMi04YjliLThjOTBjYzU3ZjhhYSJ9.tA40or0i8O4OLcFRfTYKQkI8s0Xr3GbxeO8eoC-FN20" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="957" style="width: 959px; height: 464.278px;" height="464"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Fig 14. The setting to generate unique contract references per client</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">With this setting enabled, duplicate references are possible as long as the contracts are against separate clients. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6IjM2NzU1OWU4LWRlN2MtNGY2OC1iODBkLTNlZjk1YjUyNjllYSJ9.aZapOL194yQFXTCuWVAiqUIjnUIWpKWtRCwzFr4FTXg" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="903" style="width: 905px; height: 325.636px;" height="326"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Fig 15. Auto-generated references with the setting in Figure 11 enabled</strong></span></p><p><br></p>
