> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getveles.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Contract Phase
> Understand Contract Phases: the durable commitment intervals that represent the current and historical state of a customer agreement.
A Contract Phase is a commitment interval on the Contract that represents a contiguous time period during which a defined set of commercial terms is (or was) in effect. Contract Phases are the durable-state counterpart of [Quote Phases](/get-started/calculator/phases) and [Order Phases](/get-started/orders/order-phase) -- they carry the same structure but represent what has actually been committed, not what was modeled or executed.
The Contract is not a snapshot of a single deal. It is the accumulated result of every Order activated over time. Contract Phases reflect that history: some are active (the current commitment window), some are historical (past commitment windows preserved for audit), and some are future (upcoming commitment windows from ramp or multi-year deals).
***
## How Contract Phases are created
Contract Phases are produced when an [Order is activated](/get-started/orders/overview#order-creation-vs-activation). Each Order Phase creates or modifies a Contract Phase on the associated Contract.
```text theme={null}
OrderPhase (activated) → ContractPhase (created or modified)
```
The behavior depends on the Order's [commercial classification](/get-started/orders/overview#commercial-classifications):
### New Business
Each Order Phase creates a new Contract Phase from scratch. For a 3-year ramp deal with three Order Phases, the Contract will have three Contract Phases -- one for each year of the commitment.
### Amendment
New or modified Order Phases are applied to the Contract prospectively. The system appends new Contract Phases for future commitment windows or adjusts existing future Phases. Previously executed Phases remain intact.
For example, if a customer on a 3-year deal amends their Year 2 commitment, only the Year 2 and Year 3 Contract Phases are affected. The Year 1 Phase (already executed) is untouched.
### Renewal
The system creates new Contract Phases that replace or succeed the expiring ones. The prior Contract Phases are preserved as historical records, maintaining a complete audit trail of the commercial relationship.
Renewal Phases may contain updated pricing (with uplift), adjusted quantities, or modified terms. The transition from old Phases to new Phases marks the boundary between contract periods.
***
## What a Contract Phase contains
| Field | Description |
| --------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Start date** | When this commitment interval begins (or began). |
| **End date** | When this commitment interval ends (or ended). |
| **Status** | Whether the Phase is **active** (current), **future** (upcoming), or **historical** (past). |
| **Contract Lines** | The product-level entitlements for this interval. See [Contract Lines](/get-started/contract-management/contract-line). |
| **Parent Contract** | The Contract this Phase belongs to. |
| **Originating Order Phase** | Reference to the Order Phase that created or last modified this Contract Phase. |
***
## Phase lifecycle
Contract Phases move through a natural lifecycle as time passes:
The Phase exists on the Contract but its start date hasn't arrived yet. Common in multi-year and ramp deals where future commitment windows are defined upfront. Future Phases can be modified by amendment Orders.
The current date falls within the Phase's start and end dates. This Phase defines the customer's current entitlements. The Contract Lines within this Phase are what the customer is paying for and entitled to receive right now.
The Phase's end date has passed. It is no longer active but is preserved on the Contract as a permanent record. Historical Phases cannot be modified -- they represent what was committed during that period. Finance can reference historical Phases to reconstruct the state of any account at any point in time.
***
## Contract Phases and amendments
When an amendment Order is activated, the Contract mutation engine evaluates which Phases are affected:
**Historical Phases** are never modified. They represent executed commitments and are preserved for audit integrity.
**The active Phase** may be modified if the amendment takes effect during the current commitment window (e.g., adding seats mid-term). Proration is typically applied for the remaining duration of the active Phase. See [Proration Logic](/get-started/contract-management/proration-logic).
**Future Phases** can be modified, replaced, or extended. An amendment might adjust pricing in a future Phase, add new products to an upcoming commitment window, or extend the Contract by appending additional Phases.
Amendments always operate as a forward-looking delta against the current Contract state. They modify active and future Phases prospectively. They never rewrite historical Phases or recompute past pricing.
***
## Contract Phases and renewals
At renewal, the system handles Phase transitions in one of two ways:
**Term extension.** The existing Contract's final Phase is extended or a new Phase is appended with updated terms. The Contract remains a single continuous record.
**Successor contract.** A new Contract is created and the active lines are migrated forward into new Phases. The prior Contract and its Phases are preserved in full as a historical record.
In either case, the historical Phases from prior commitment periods remain intact. The complete pricing history -- every rate, every quantity, every Phase boundary -- is preserved across the full lifespan of the customer relationship.
***
## Example: full lifecycle
A customer signs a 2-year deal, then amends mid-way through Year 1, then renews:
**Initial deal (New Business Order activated):**
| Contract Phase | Status | Products |
| -------------------- | ------ | ------------------------- |
| Year 1: Jan-Dec 2026 | Active | Platform: 50 seats × \$40 |
| Year 2: Jan-Dec 2027 | Future | Platform: 50 seats × \$40 |
**Amendment in June 2026 (adds Analytics):**
| Contract Phase | Status | Products |
| -------------------- | ------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Year 1: Jan-Dec 2026 | Active | Platform: 50 seats × $40, Analytics: 50 seats × $ 15 (prorated from Jun) |
| Year 2: Jan-Dec 2027 | Future | Platform: 50 seats × $40, Analytics: 50 seats × $ 15 |
**After Year 1 completes:**
| Contract Phase | Status | Products |
| -------------------- | ---------- | ---------------------------------------------------- |
| Year 1: Jan-Dec 2026 | Historical | Platform: 50 seats × $40, Analytics: 50 seats × $ 15 |
| Year 2: Jan-Dec 2027 | Active | Platform: 50 seats × $40, Analytics: 50 seats × $ 15 |
**Renewal (extends for Year 3 with 5% uplift):**
| Contract Phase | Status | Products |
| -------------------- | ---------- | ------------------------------------------- |
| Year 1: Jan-Dec 2026 | Historical | Platform: 50 × $40, Analytics: 50 × $ 15 |
| Year 2: Jan-Dec 2027 | Historical | Platform: 50 × $40, Analytics: 50 × $ 15 |
| Year 3: Jan-Dec 2028 | Future | Platform: 50 × $42, Analytics: 50 × $ 15.75 |
Every Phase is preserved. Finance can reconstruct the exact commercial state at any point in the relationship.
***
## What's next
The product-level entitlements within each Contract Phase.
The full Contract object model and mutation logic.
How mid-Phase changes are prorated.
The execution-layer Phases that produce Contract Phases.