Contracts
Create, activate, pause and cancel recurring contracts and memberships — with automatic subscription invoicing and SEPA direct debit
→ Open contracts in SimpliServ · Open contract settings
Contracts let you model recurring services: memberships, maintenance contracts or subscriptions with a fixed term, notice period and regular billing. On activation SimpliServ creates the first invoice and a subscription invoice plan that writes the follow-up invoices automatically.
Setup
Under Administration → Contracts you define the basics:
| Area | Content |
|---|---|
| Contract wizard | Enable wizard: Create contact then opens a guided flow that creates customer and contract in one go |
| Creditor details | Creditor ID, Account holder, IBAN and BIC for the SEPA payment run |
| Tariffs | Tariffs with VAT rate, per tariff terms (contract duration, notice period, starter package) and payment options (interval, price, due day) |
| Contract statuses | Your own statuses with flags such as Active, Paused, Cancelled, Expired and Default |
| Cancellation reasons / Rest period reasons | Pick lists for cancellation and rest periods |
The status flags drive billing: on activation, pause, cancellation and at term end SimpliServ automatically sets the status with the matching flag. Without a creditor ID no direct debits can be collected.
Create a contract
Start a new contract
In the Contracts list click New contract (permission Contracts → Create).
Enter contract data
In Contract details enter customer, title, status, Payment method (SEPA direct debit, Cash or Bank transfer), start date and signing date.
Set the term
Under Term & renewal choose the term, Auto-renew, the renewal period and the notice periods.
Billing and SEPA
Under Billing set price, Billing interval, Starter package and Due day. For SEPA choose an existing mandate or create one with New mandate; the mandate reference can be generated automatically.
Save
Save only creates the contract. Save & activate activates it right away.
If the Contract wizard is switched on, Create contact in the contact list walks through Personal data, Contact & address, Contract data (tariff, term, payment option), for SEPA Bank details, and Summary. At the end customer, mandate and contract are created and the contract is activated.
What happens on activation
Activate on the detail page (permission Contracts → Activate, only while the contract has never been active):
- A contract number is assigned, a missing signing date is set to today
- Minimum term until and Term end are calculated from start and term
- For SEPA the mandate is ensured
- An invoice for the first period is created, plus a subscription invoice plan that bills every further period
- Starter package and one-time items go on a separate invoice
- The contract gets the default status for active contracts
The detail page then links Recurring invoice plan and Source invoice.
Pause (rest period)
Pause (permission Contracts → Pause) opens the Pause contract dialog: choose start, end and Extend term.
- If the rest period starts today or earlier, billing is suspended immediately, otherwise it is Scheduled
- After the end, billing resumes; with Extend term the term end moves by the rest days
- All rest periods are listed in the Pauses card
Cancel
Cancel contract (permission Contracts → Cancel) opens Cancel contract: Effective date, Cancellation type (Ordinary or Extraordinary), reason and notes.
- If the effective date is before the term end, the term end is brought forward to it
- Auto renewal is switched off, the subscription invoice plan ends on the effective date
- From the effective date on, the contract has the status with the Cancelled flag
Term end and renewal
SimpliServ checks all contracts every morning:
| Situation at term end | Result |
|---|---|
| Auto renewal on, not cancelled | The term end moves by the renewal period |
| Fixed term or cancelled | Billing stops, status Expired or Cancelled |
| Contract is currently paused | No renewal and no expiry until the rest period ends |
List
The list shows Contract no., Customer, Title, Status, Price, Start and Term end. Delete several contracts via the selection (permission Contracts → Delete).
Related topics
- Recurring invoices — the subscription invoice plan behind every contract
- Payment runs — collect SEPA direct debits
- Contacts — create and maintain customers
How is this guide?
Contact groups & types
Create and maintain customer types and customer groups and use them as a navigation source – including the default contact type and the global deadline setting.
Deadline & SLA
Show the handling deadline per ticket as a traffic light, inherit the deadline from default/group/customer/ticket, pause the clock automatically or manually and warn assignees on a breach.