Enable Retention on a Purchase Order or Subcontract

Objective

To enable retention on a purchase order or subcontract using the project's Commitments tool. 

Background

Depending upon the accounting method set on a purchase order or subcontract, you can enable one or both retention settings on the contract. To learn about setting the accounting method, see How do I set the accounting method for a contract or funding?

		Accounting Method
Retention Type	Definition	Amount Based	Unit/Quantity Based
Completed Work Retention	An agreed-upon percentage amount on a contract is withheld from a subcontractor to ensure the work is satisfactorily complete on the project.
Stored Material Retention	An agreed-upon percentage amount allocated on a contract for stored materials to ensure sufficient materials are available to complete work.

Things to Consider

• Required User Permissions:
  • To enable retention on a purchase order or subcontract:
    •  'Admin' level permissions on the project's Commitments tool.
      OR
    • 'Read Only' or 'Standard' level permissions on the project's Commitments tool with the 'Create Work Order Contract', 'Create Purchase Order Contract', 'Update Work Order Contract', and/or 'Update Purchase Order Contract' granular permissions enabled on your permission template.
• Additional Information:
  • If you want to enable either of these settings on all of the project's new commitments, enable the options in the 'Default Contract Settings' area of the Commitment tool's Configure Settings page. See Configure Settings: Commitments.
  • If you would prefer to apply sliding scale retention to your commitment progress claims, see Enable Sliding Scale Retention Rules on a Commitment's Progress Claims.

Prerequisites

• Create a Purchase Order or Create a Subcontract
• Set the accounting method on the contract. See How do I set the accounting method for a contract or funding?

Steps

1. Navigate to the project's Commitments tool.
2. Click the Contracts tab. 
3. Locate the purchase order or subcontract that you want to enable retention setting(s) on. 
4. Click that contract's Number link to open it. 
   
5. Click the Advanced Settings tab.
6. Click the Edit button.
   
7. Scroll to the Progress Claim section. Then:
   • For contracts using the Unit/Quantity Based accounting method
     Place a checkmark in the Enable Completed Work Retention box. Contracts using the Unit/Quantity Based accounting method can only be used to bill for completed work. This method cannot be used to bill for stored materials.
     
     OR 
   • For contracts using the Amount Based accounting method:
     Place a checkmark in one or both boxes:
     
     • Enable Completed Work Retention.
       AND/OR
     • Enable Stored Material Retention. To learn about this feature, see How do I bill for stored materials in a progress claim? 
8. Click Save.

See Also

• Create a Progress Claim on Behalf of a Progress Claim Contact
• Create an Progress Claim for Release of Retention
• How do I bill for stored materials in a progress claim?
• How do I set the accounting method for a contract or funding?