Module: Contract Lifecycle Management v1.5.0
End-to-end contract lifecycle tracking, stages, and governance for BIXCRM
Screen-by-screen guides (each tab explained)
Click a menu item below for step-by-step instructions on that Contract Lifecycle Management screen:
How to use in BIXCRM (daily operations)
- Sign in to the admin area with a role that includes Contract Lifecycle Management permissions.
- Open Contract Lifecycle Management (sidebar) or search for Contract Lifecycle Management in the admin menu.
- Start on the Dashboard (if available) to see open tasks, pending approvals, and KPIs.
- Review Settings after upgrades — new options may need defaults for your company.
- Create or import master data first; most modules block transactions until masters exist.
- Run the main business flow (create → submit → approve → post/complete) using the screens listed in Admin menu below.
- Use Reports / Analytics screens to reconcile stock, finance, compliance, or SLA metrics.
- For integrations (API, EDI, gateways, tax), confirm credentials in Settings and monitor logs or webhook delivery screens.
- Train staff with role-based access — give approvers approve permissions only, operators create/edit on their area.
- If something fails overnight, check BIXCRM cron ran and open the module log / failed queue screen if present.
Admin menu — where to work
Open the Contract Lifecycle Management section in the admin sidebar. Screens your staff may use (depending on role):
- Amendments
- Approvals
- CLM
- CLM Dashboard
- Contracts
- Lifecycle Stages
- Milestones
- Renewals
- Reports
- Settings
Detailed guide — features, workflows, API & FAQ
Features (Complete — Phases 1–6)
- Lifecycle Stages — Draft, Review, Negotiation, Approval, Active, Renewal Due, Expired, Terminated
- Contract Registry — Full CRUD with client, project, value, dates, and contract types
- Core Contract Sync — Optional auto-link to BIXCRM core contracts via hooks
- Stage Transitions — Full audit trail with notes and staff tracking
- Milestones & Obligations — Delivery, payment, review, renewal notice tracking per contract
- Amendments & Version Control — Contract changes with diff view, attachments, core sync
- Renewals — Renewal proposals, approval workflow, decision tracking, RR sync
- Approval Workflows — Multi-level sign-off, configurable rules, stage gates, email alerts
- Reports — Expiry register, stage pipeline, value by client/type, milestone tracker, RR links
- REST API — Token-authenticated read access to contracts and related data
- Webhooks — Outbound events for stage changes, expiring contracts, and renewals
- CSV Export — Export any report with applied filters
- Automation — Cron for milestones, expiry alerts, auto-expire, renewal stage moves
- Dashboard — KPI cards, stage chart, pending approvals, expiring contracts
- Permissions — Granular staff capabilities per feature
REST API
Base URL: {your-crm}/contract_lifecycle_management/clm_api
Authentication: X-CLM-API-Key: {token} or Authorization: Bearer {token}
Enable under Settings → Enable REST API, then generate keys under API Keys.
Webhooks
Configure subscribers under Settings → Webhooks. Events:
contract.stage_changedcontract.expiringrenewal.approved
Payloads are JSON with HMAC-SHA256 signature in X-CLM-Signature.
Database Tables
| Table | Purpose |
|---|---|
| ------- | --------- |
clm_lifecycle_stages | Stage definitions |
clm_contracts | Lifecycle contract records |
clm_stage_transitions | Stage change audit trail |
clm_milestones | Contract milestones & obligations |
clm_amendments | Contract amendment versions |
clm_amendment_attachments | Amendment file attachments |
clm_renewals | Renewal proposals & decisions |
clm_approval_rules | Configurable approval workflow rules |
clm_approvals | Approval requests & decisions |
clm_api_keys | REST API token hashes |
clm_webhooks | Outbound webhook subscribers |
clm_webhook_deliveries | Webhook delivery log |
clm_logs | General activity log |
Features
End-to-end contract lifecycle tracking, stages, and governance for BIXCRM
- **Lifecycle Stages** — Draft, Review, Negotiation, Approval, Active, Renewal Due, Expired, Terminated
- **Contract Registry** — Full CRUD with client, project, value, dates, and contract types
- **Core Contract Sync** — Optional auto-link to BIXCRM core contracts via hooks
- **Stage Transitions** — Full audit trail with notes and staff tracking
- **Milestones & Obligations** — Delivery, payment, review, renewal notice tracking per contract
- **Amendments & Version Control** — Contract changes with diff view, attachments, core sync
- **Renewals** — Renewal proposals, approval workflow, decision tracking, RR sync
- **Approval Workflows** — Multi-level sign-off, configurable rules, stage gates, email alerts
- **Reports** — Expiry register, stage pipeline, value by client/type, milestone tracker, RR links
- **REST API** — Token-authenticated read access to contracts and related data
- **Webhooks** — Outbound events for stage changes, expiring contracts, and renewals
- **CSV Export** — Export any report with applied filters
- **Automation** — Cron for milestones, expiry alerts, auto-expire, renewal stage moves
- **Dashboard** — KPI cards, stage chart, pending approvals, expiring contracts
- **Permissions** — Granular staff capabilities per feature
Permissions
Granular staff capabilities are registered on activation. Assign them under Setup → Staff → Roles for the Contract Lifecycle Management capability group.
Typical capabilities include view, create, edit, delete, plus module-specific actions (approve, export, settings, API access).
Cron Jobs
Background tasks (if enabled) run through BIXCRM's main cron. Example crontab (every 5 minutes):
* * * * * php /path/to/bixcrm/index.php cron/index > /dev/null 2>&1
Check module settings for scheduled jobs (alerts, sync, reports, retention).
After activation — configuration checklist
- Go to Setup → Modules and activate Contract Lifecycle Management.
- If prompted, click Upgrade Database or reload admin — migrations run automatically.
- Assign permissions under Setup → Staff → Roles.
- Open the module menu and configure settings.
- BIXCRM 3.0+
- PHP 7.4+ (8.1+ recommended)
- MySQL 5.7+ / MariaDB 10.3+ (InnoDB)
- PHP extensions: mysqli, json, mbstring, curl, fileinfo
One-time setup (first time only)
- Setup → Modules → activate Contract Lifecycle Management.
- Setup → Staff → Roles → assign Contract Lifecycle Management permissions (view, create, edit, delete, approve, export, settings as needed).
- Open Contract Lifecycle Management → Settings and complete company defaults, prefixes, integrations, and notification options.
- Create master data (warehouses, products, templates, accounts, routes, etc.) before processing live transactions.
- Enable BIXCRM cron (
php /path/to/bixcrm/index.php cron/index) for sync, retries, alerts, and scheduled jobs. - Optionally enable REST API / webhooks in module settings if you integrate external systems.
BIXCRM Knowledge Base — usage guide generated from module README and documentation.