Renewing and updating client contracts

Quick answer

Uku does not have a one-click “renew” button. Renewal means one of three things: extending the end date on an expiring contract, replacing the contract with a new one, or using the bulk Contract action on the client list to update many clients at once. Changes to a contract do not affect invoices that have already been generated — only future billing periods are affected.

Who can do this

• Company Owners and Company Admins can renew and update any client’s contracts.
• Company Members holding Client Admin permission on a client can manage that client’s contracts when the Allow contract and invoice management for users with Client Admin permission billing setting is enabled.

Understanding contract dates and expiry

Every contract has a Date from (required) and an optional Date until (end date). When the current date passes the end date, the contract stops generating invoices automatically. The contract status changes to Inactive.

Open-ended contracts — those with no Date until — run indefinitely unless manually deactivated. Most ongoing client relationships use open-ended contracts.

Renewing an expiring contract

If a contract has a fixed end date and you want billing to continue, there are two approaches:

Option A — Extend the end date

Use this when the contract terms stay the same and you only need to extend the period.

1. Open the client’s profile and go to Financials > Contracts.
2. Click the contract to open it.
3. Click Edit.
4. Update the Date until field to the new end date, or clear it to make the contract open-ended.
5. Click Save.

The contract resumes generating invoices on its next scheduled date. No invoices are backdated for any gap period between the old end date and the new date.

Option B — Create a new contract

Use this when you need to update pricing, services, recurrence, or other terms for the new period.

1. Open the client’s profile and go to Financials > Contracts.
2. Optionally set an end date on the old contract so it stops at the right time.
3. Click Add contract to create a new contract with the updated terms.
4. Set the Date from to the start of the new period.
5. Add service rows, recurrence, and invoice date as needed.
6. Click Save.

Both the old and new contracts can co-exist on the same client — the old one will expire on its end date and the new one will start on its start date.

Updating terms mid-contract

If a client’s pricing or services change partway through a contract period:

1. Open the contract and click Edit.
2. Make the necessary changes (update prices, add or remove rows, change the recurrence).
3. Save.

Changes take effect from the next invoice generation. Any invoices already generated and in Created, Sent, or Paid status are not retroactively changed. If a previously generated invoice contains incorrect amounts due to old contract terms, correct it using a credit note. See Credit notes and corrections.

If you manually edit a contract that was created from a template, the link to that template is broken. Future template changes will no longer update this contract. See How to set up and use contract templates.

Bulk-renewing contracts across many clients

When you need to update contracts for a large number of clients at once — for example, applying a price increase across all clients with a specific service — use the bulk Contract action on the client list.

1. Go to Clients in the main sidebar.
2. Select the clients whose contracts you want to update using the checkboxes. Use the Group filter to narrow the list if needed.
3. Open the bulk actions menu and click Contract.
4. Choose one of three actions:

• Add — creates a new contract from a template for all selected clients. Set the start date and optionally an end date. Use this to start a new annual contract period.
• Replace — replaces existing contracts with a new template. You can target all contracts, or only contracts with a specific recurrence or template. Use this when renewing and updating terms simultaneously.
• Append only — adds the rows from a template to existing contracts without replacing them. Use this to add a new service line across many clients.

1. Select the contract template to apply.
2. Click Save.

The bulk action creates or updates contracts in the background. For a large client count this may take a few seconds. Reload the client list to verify the changes.

How renewals affect existing invoices

Contract changes — whether an extension, a term update, or a bulk replace — never affect invoices that have already been generated. The billing engine only looks at the contract at the moment it generates a new invoice.

Invoice status	Affected by contract changes?
Draft	No — already generated; edit manually if needed
Approval	No — already generated; edit before approving
Created / Sent / Paid	No — use a credit note to correct errors
Future (not yet generated)	Yes — the updated contract terms apply

Troubleshooting

The contract is showing as Inactive but the end date is in the future

A contract can be manually set to Inactive regardless of the date range. Open the contract and check its status. If it shows Inactive, click Edit and change the status to Active. Then save.

No new invoice was generated after I extended the end date

Uku generates invoices on the scheduled invoice date defined in the contract. If the contract’s next billing date has not arrived yet, no invoice will be created until then. Check the Invoice date field on the contract to see when the next invoice is due.

I used Replace in the bulk action but some clients still show the old contract

The Replace action only targets contracts that match the criteria you selected (all contracts, or contracts with a specific recurrence or template). If a client’s contract was manually edited and broke its template link, it may not have been matched by the filter. Check those clients individually and update their contracts manually if needed.

I need to correct an invoice that was already sent

Contract changes do not modify sent invoices. To fix an amount on a sent invoice, issue a credit note. See Credit notes and corrections.