Document Templates: your own contracts and documents, filled from the record and sent for signature

As a contracts administrator, I kept our own contracts, orders and claim documents in Word, retyped every value by hand, and hoped nothing went out half filled. Now I load our templates once, and Deep Space fills them from the record, previews them and sends them, every time. Before Custom templates were fragile. A company name with an ampersand could print as &, blank fields printed sample text, and one empty value could quietly stop a claim email going out after it showed as queued. After Your own templates, Word or HTML, are first-class documents in Deep Space. Values print exactly as typed. Blank fields print nothing. Only Published templates can be sent, and if a PDF can't be generated, nothing goes out and you're told why. Impact One source of truth for your wording and one for your data. Fill the record once, and the document, the email and the signing pack all come from it. It works across subcontracts, purchase orders, variations, progress claims, payment schedules, invoices and RCTIs. How it works Worked example: a builder's own 28 page Minor Works subcontract, uploaded as a Word template. The same flow applies to every document type. Step 1. Find your templates Go to Admin > Document Templates. Filter by All, HTML or Word, with counts. Assigned means the template drives Download / Generate PDF by default. Nominated adds it as an extra option in the picker. Step 2. Check the template Open any template. The Template view shows the ${tokens}. Simulated fills your real Company Settings plus sample record values, so you see what a real document will look like before anyone uses it. Every variable is listed with where it comes from. Step 3. Create the record In our example: Commercial > Subcontract Register > New Subcontract. Enter the name, project, subcontractor, trade, scope and value. Step 4. Compliance check Pick a subcontractor that isn't compliant (for example Tax ID not verified or induction not approved) and Deep Space tells you straight away. Continue, or fix it first in the company's Compliance tab. Step 5. Pick the Contract Profile Choose the profile linked to your template. Set the state and the right Act applies automatically, here the BIF Act 2017 (Qld) with 15 business day schedule timelines. Step 6. Live preview Fill the key dates and the document preview renders your template with your values as you type. Step 7. Save Draft The record lands in the register with its number, ready for the document. Step 8. Generate Document On the Documents tab the Assigned, Published template is preselected. Click Generate Document. Step 9. Review the values Company Settings are locked and come from Admin. Values from the record are pulled in automatically and can be edited for this document only. Step 10. Fill In fields Fields that only exist in your template are grouped under Fill In. Saved versions let you reuse values across records. Step 11. Preview the document Numbers, names and amounts (including the amount in words) print exactly as entered. Blank values print nothing, never sample text. Step 12. Internal approval On the Agreement tab, Submit for Internal Approval (a subcontract needs at least one Schedule of Values line). The approver approves in the Approval Route. Step 13. Ready to issue Confirm the document template, use Preview Agreement Pack, then Send to Subcontractor. Step 14. The document pack The pack is generated from the chosen Published template, and the signature field is placed automatically. Step 15. The email The email template is filled from the same record: number, subcontractor, project and value. Step 16. Send for signature Add the signer and Send for Execution. The subcontractor signs first, then you countersign. Also in this release Clone & Edit makes an independent copy ("Copy of X"). The original stays Published. New All · HTML · Word filter with counts on the Templates screen. The Send dialog warns you, and disables Send, if an email template uses a variable nothing fills. Blank values no longer block emails from going out. The Variable Dictionary is republished: 14 document types and 662 variables. Good to know Long Word templates can take around 20 seconds to render a preview.