BetaDirectly create contracts in HubSpot

Please note: if you're a Super Admin, you can opt your account into the Direct Create, Edit, and Renew HubSpot Contracts beta.

Contracts are the centralized source of truth for committed revenue in HubSpot. By managing contracts in HubSpot, you can record and manage existing contract agreements, manually record payments or automatically bill buyers, make updates over the duration of a contract, renew contracts, and accurately report revenue.

After setting up contracts, learn how to directly create and import contracts. If you want use a quote-based process for proposing and approving changes to an existing contract, learn more about creating contracts from accepted quotes. Learn how contracts are used in HubSpot.

When to directly create contracts

You may want to directly create contracts in HubSpot in the following scenarios:

• Centralizing customer agreements: use contracts to centralize buyer agreements and revenue information.
• Import or migrate existing contracts: if you have existing contracts and want to manage them in HubSpot, you can import or migrate them:
  • Import non-billing contracts: import contracts without billing schedules using the import tool.
  • Migrate contracts with billing continuity: to import contracts with billing continuity, learn more about migrating contracts to HubSpot (BETA).
• When managing your CPQ in another system: if you use another system to manage CPQ, you can use contracts in HubSpot as the source of truth for reporting and automation.

Directly create contracts

Directly create contracts from the contract index page or from contact, company, deal, and ticket records. If you want to import or migrate existing contracts, learn more about importing contracts and migrating contracts to HubSpot (BETA).

Create contracts from the index page

1. In your HubSpot account, click More, then navigate to Revenue > Contracts. If More doesn't appear in your account, navigate to Revenue > Contracts directly.
2. In the upper right, click Add contracts, then select Create new.
3. Configure the contract.

Create contracts from other records

1. Navigate to your records:
   • In your HubSpot account, click More, then navigate to CRM > Contacts. If More doesn't appear in your account, navigate to CRM > Contacts directly.
   • In your HubSpot account, click More, then navigate to CRM > Companies. If More doesn't appear in your account, navigate to CRM > Companies directly.
   • In your HubSpot account, click More, then navigate to CRM > Deals. If More doesn't appear in your account, navigate to CRM > Deals directly.
   • In your HubSpot account, click More, then navigate to CRM > Tickets. If More doesn't appear in your account, navigate to CRM > Tickets directly.
2. Click the name of a record.
3. In the right sidebar, on the Contracts card, click Add, then select Create new contract. If you can't see the Contracts card, learn how to add it to the right sidebar.
   
   
   
4. Configure the contract.

The source record is associated with the contract. Associations and line items from the source record are carried over where applicable. For example, if you create a contract from a deal record, 

Configure contracts

Configure the contract information using the contract editor. To preview the contract details and billing schedule, click Preview contract in the upper right. To save the contract as a draft, click Back in the top left. You can edit draft contracts later.

Edit the seller details of the contract

The parties section displays the seller's details of the contract.

• Seller details are based on the contract creator.
• Seller details, including phone number, are populated from the user profile of the user creating the contract. The seller's company is populated from the account's company information.
• You can update the seller's name, phone number, and company information. If you update the seller's details, only the contract and the invoices associated with the contract use the new details. The user profile and company information aren't updated.
• A contract must have a seller's email address and company name to be created.

To edit the seller details, in the Parties section of the contract:

1. To update the seller company details, hover over the company and click the edit edit icon.
2. Update the details in the right panel, then click Save. Changes made to the seller company details only apply to the contract and the invoices associated with the contract. Your account settings aren't updated.

Add a billing company and contact

The parties section also displays the billing company and contacts of the contract.

• A contract must have one billing contact. More billing contacts can be added.
• A contract can have a maximum of one buyer company, one billing contact, and one billing company associated with it.
• Billing contacts are sent invoices and billing details, such as receipts.

To add the billing company and contact:

1. To add a billing company, next to Billing company, click Add. In the right panel, search for and select the company, then click Save. Click the Create new tab in the right panel to create a new company record. 
2. To edit the billing company details, hover over the company and click the edit edit icon. Edits will also update the company CRM record.
3. To replace the billing company, hover over the company and click the replace replace icon.
4. To delete the billing company, hover over the company and click the delete delete icon.
5. To use the same billing address as the company record, under Billing address, select the Same as billing company checkbox.
6. To use a different billing address, click + Add billing address.
7. In the right panel, enter the billing address and click Save. The billing address is updated on the contract and used on associated invoices. The company record is not updated.

Please note: if automated sales tax is turned on, the billing address is used to determine if tax should be added to the contract.

6. Click to expand the Tax IDs section to view any Tax IDs added to the billing company. Edit existing tax IDs by clicking the edit edit icon next to the billing company name, then, in the right panel, click the Tax IDs tab. Add seller tax IDs through the invoices tool.
7. To add a billing contact, next to Billing contact, click Add. In the right panel, search for and select a contact, then click Save. Click the Create new tab in the right panel to create a new contact record.
8. To edit the billing contact details, hover over the contact and click the edit edit icon. Edits will also update the contact CRM record.
9. To replace the billing contact, hover over the contact and click the replace replace icon.
10. To delete the billing contact, hover over the contact and click the delete delete icon.
11. To add additional billing contacts, click + Add additional contacts. Search for contacts and select the checkboxes next to the contacts, then click Save.

Configure contract details

Set up the contract's effective date, owner, payment terms, and PO number. You can also add custom properties and associate the contract with an existing deal.

1. To set the date the contract goes into effect, in the Contract effective date section, click the date picker and select a date.
2. To set the contract owner, click the Contract owner dropdown menu and select an owner.
3. Click the Payment terms dropdown menu and select a payment term. Learn more about payment terms.
4. To include a PO number on the contract, in the PO number field, enter the PO number.
5. To add a custom property, click + Add custom property. Select existing custom contract properties from the list, search for a custom property, or click Create new contract property to set up a new custom contract property.
6. To remove a custom property, click the delete delete icon next to it.
7. To associate the contract with a deal, click the Associate with a deal dropdown menu and select a deal, or click Create a new deal to create a new deal.

Add line items

Add line items to the contract from your product library or add custom line items. 

Please note: when using Stripe as a payment processing option, the total amount due must be more than $0.50, or the equivalent minimum of the settlement currency. Learn more about Stripe's minimum charge amounts.

To add line items:

1. In the upper right, of the line items section click Add line item, then select an option:
   • Select from product library: add a line item based on a product in your product library, including line items created using the HubSpot-Shopify integration.
     • Search by product name, product description, or SKU, or click Advanced filters to refine your search.
     • Select the checkboxes in the right panel next to the products you want to base your line item on. If selecting tiered pricing line items, click View tiers to view the different tiers for the product, before adding the line item.
       
       
       
   • Create custom line item: create a custom line item that's unique to the contract. After selecting this option, use the right panel to enter your line item details. Select the Save line item to the product library checkbox to save the line item to your product library. Click Save or Save and add another.
2. Click Preview contract to preview the contract details and billing schedule.
3. Taxes can be added to individual line items, or you can use automated sales tax when using online payments. To add taxes to individual line items, click the Tax Rate dropdown menu and set tax rates on line items. The Tax amount column updates automatically.
4. If you're using automated sales tax, toggle the Automated sales tax switch on. Automated sales tax will be calculated when the contract is created.
   
   • In the Tax category column, click the dropdown menu and select the tax category for each line item. You can choose different tax categories for different line items. Each line item must have a unique name.
   • If you're shipping an item as part of the contract, you must add a line item for shipping for automated tax to calculate correctly. If you haven't added shipping to your product library, add a custom line item with a Tax category of Shipping.
5. You can edit the columns displayed in the line item table. If you're a Super Admin, you can set which columns to display to all users by default. Learn how to edit columns.
6. Edit the line items in the editor by adjusting the values of each column. 
   
   
   
7. When editing tiered pricing line items, the price updates based on the tier as you adjust the quantity. Click View tiers to edit the quantities alongside the tier table to understand which pricing tier applies.
   
   
   
8. By default, billing for one-time and recurring line items is set to today's date. To charge your buyer for a line item later, click the Billing start date dropdown menu, then select Custom Date. In the right panel, click the date picker and select a start date, then click Save.

9. To add a discount to a line item, in the Unit Discount column, click the dropdown menu and select percentage or currency. Enter the discount amount. Discounts can be set on individual line items, not on the entire contract.
10. To edit the line item's details, or to clone or delete a line item, hover over the line item, click Actions, then select an option:
    • Edit: edit the line item for the contract. The product library won't be affected. 
    • Delete: delete the line item.

9. To reorder the line items, click and drag a line item using the dragHandle drag handle.

10. The Summary section shows how your buyer will be charged:

    • The Subtotal will show only the items due at checkout. Any items that'll be charged at a later date will appear in the Future payments total.
    • All items, regardless of payment due date, will be totaled next to Total.
    • Toggle the Automated sales tax switch off to turn automated sales tax off.

Configure billing and payments

Set up how to bill and collect payments from buyers. Online payments are only available when billing is turned on. 

To set up billing, under Billing and payments:

1. Toggle the Billing switch on to automatically create invoices and bill buyers for recurring line items. Learn more about billing settings.
2. To set how to collect payments, under Collection process:
   • Select Automatic payments to automatically charge invoices on each billing date. Click the Charge method dropdown menu and select an option: 
     • Collect payment method on the first paid invoice: charge each invoice using the payment method entered to pay for the first invoice.
     • Use a stored payment method: charge an existing stored payment method.
   • Select Manual payments if you want the buyer to manually pay the invoice on each billing date. The buyer will be sent the invoice on each billing date to arrange payment.
3. Toggle the Billing switch off if you want to bill and collect payments through an alternative method.

To set up online payments, under Accept online payments:

1. If Automatic payments is selected in the Billing section, online payments will be on by default. If Manual payments is selected, toggle the Accept online payments switch on to allow buyers to pay for invoices online.
   • The pre-filled choices on this screen reflect what's set up in payment settings. Select or clear the Accepted forms of payment checkboxes to choose the payment types to accept.
   • If you have set up fees, under Fees applied at checkout, select the checkboxes next to the fees you want to apply to the contract payment.
   • Select the Collecting billing address for credit card purchases checkbox to collect the billing address of your buyers.
   • Select the Collect shipping address checkbox to collect the shipping address of your buyers.
2. To accept payments through an alternative method, toggle the Accept online payments switch off.

Set the contract language, locale and currency

1. Click Settings in the upper right of the contract editor.
2. Click the Language dropdown menu and select a language.
3. Click the Locale dropdown menu and select a locale. Locale will change the date and address display format for your contract. Changing the contract's locale settings won't update the currency.
4. If you have multiple currencies set up in your account, click the Currency dropdown menu and select a currency.

Finalize the contract

1. To finalize the contract and send the first invoice, in the top right, click Finalize.
2. If prompted, click Finalize in the dialog box to confirm.

Invoice delivery and payment

How you configured line items and billing and payments determines what happens next. Review the table below to understand the process based on your contract settings.

Import contracts

Import existing contracts to manage them alongside contracts created in HubSpot. Include associations with line items, contacts, and deals.

Please note: you can't import contracts with billing schedules using the import process below. If you want to import contracts with billing continuity, learn more about migrating contracts to HubSpot (BETA).

1. Create a custom contract property to use as a unique identifier for the contracts you're importing. For example, you could create a custom property called contract_import_id.
2. When creating the custom property:
   • Set the Field type as Single-line text.
   • Select the Require unique values for this property checkbox.
     
     
     
3. Prepare your import file:
   • Before you start, review the import overview.
   • Add the custom property you created as a column in your import file. Use the custom property as the unique identifier for contract fields, line items, and deals.
   • For contracts with more than one line item, add additional line items as separate rows alongside the unique identifier.
   • Make sure the deal is on a separate row to the contract details. Add the record ID of the deal to a column to associate the deal to the contract during import.
     
     
     
4. Import your file.

Next steps

• Learn more about managing invoices, including including editing, tracking, and exporting.
• Learn more about managing payments, including reviewing transaction fees, managing bank debit authorizations, retrying failed payments, and requesting a new payment method from a contact.
• Learn more about reporting revenue in HubSpot.