Contract Relationships

A master services agreement has three statements of work, one of which was amended last quarter. An NDA was signed before a vendor agreement, and a renewal replaced the original term. If these connections only exist in someone’s memory or a spreadsheet, anyone picking up the file has to reconstruct the picture from scratch.

Contract relationships let you link any two contracts in Pactly and label how they relate. Both sides of the link are created automatically, so navigating from an amendment back to the original agreement (or from a parent to its children) is one click.

Pactly supports five relationship pairs. When you create a relationship in one direction, the inverse direction is added to the other contract automatically.

• Parent/child is best for structured hierarchies where one agreement governs several sub-agreements (MSA with work orders, framework agreement with purchase orders).
• Amends is for formal contract amendments that modify specific terms of an existing agreement. If the new document restates the entire agreement rather than modifying clauses, renews may be more appropriate.
• Renews applies when a new agreement replaces an expiring one for a subsequent term. This is different from an amendment, which changes terms within the current term.
• Is added info for covers schedules, exhibits, side letters, or reference documents that support a main contract but are not amendments or sub-agreements.
• Is related to is the catch-all for contracts that should reference each other but do not fit the other categories, such as an NDA linked to a subsequent commercial agreement with the same party.

Step-through All steps

Step 1 of 2

1

Open the Relationships tab

Open the contract you want to link from. In the right sidebar, click the Relationships tab. Any existing linked contracts and form entries appear in a list.

2

Add and configure the relationship

Click Add Relationship. Choose the relationship type from the dropdown (e.g., "renews", "amends", "is a child of"). Search for the target contract by name, reference number, or party name. Click Create to save.

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The relationship appears in the sidebar of both contracts immediately. On the target contract, the inverse label is displayed (e.g., if you selected “amends” on Contract A, Contract B shows “is amended by”).

There is no limit on the number of relationships a contract can have, and you can link any combination of contract types (template, playbook, or external).

To remove a relationship, open the Relationships tab in the sidebar and click the remove icon next to the linked contract. Removing the link from either side deletes it from both contracts.

Once relationships are in place, the Relationships tab in the sidebar becomes a navigation hub. Each linked contract is displayed with its relationship label and contract name. Click any linked contract to open it directly.

This is particularly useful during reviews: if you are reading an amendment, you can jump to the original agreement, check a related NDA, and return, all without leaving the contract record or running a search.

Link each work order as a child of the master agreement using “is a child of.” The MSA’s relationship panel then lists every active work order, making it straightforward to audit the full scope of a vendor engagement. If a work order is later amended, link the amendment to the work order (not the MSA) to keep the hierarchy clean.

Link each amendment to the original agreement using “amends.” When reviewing the latest terms, you can walk back through the full amendment history from a single starting point. If Amendment 2 modifies terms introduced by Amendment 1, consider linking Amendment 2 to both the original agreement and Amendment 1.

Link renewal contracts using “renews” to create a chronological chain. This helps track how terms have evolved across contract periods and confirms which agreement is currently in force. For long-running vendor relationships, the chain makes it clear which agreement is the active one.

Link an NDA to the commercial agreement it protects using “is related to.” This makes it easy to verify confidentiality coverage is in place when reviewing the commercial terms.

Use “is added info for” when a standalone document (pricing schedule, service level agreement, data processing addendum) supports a main contract but is tracked as its own record in Pactly. The main contract’s sidebar then shows all supporting documents in one list.

• Link at creation time. The relationship is easiest to establish when you know the context. Waiting creates a backlog of unlinked contracts that is harder to clean up later.
• Agree on type conventions with your team. Decide when to use parent/child versus amends. For example, if your team treats DPAs as children of the MSA rather than amendments, apply that consistently so the hierarchy is predictable.
• Check for existing links before adding new ones. Open the Relationships tab first to see what is already linked. Duplicate links between the same two contracts are not possible, but choosing the wrong type and then adding a second link with the correct type creates clutter.

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