Contracts & Pricing in Jules
How Jules structures commercial contracts and pricing models for recyclable commodity trading.
Contracts & Pricing in Jules
Product documentation — How Jules structures commercial contracts, quality streams, and pricing models that feed into operations.
Table of Contents
- Overview
- Contract Types
- Contract Lifecycle
- Quality Streams
- Pricing Models
- Equipment & Services
- Financial KPIs
- From Contract to Operation
- Key Business Rules
- Glossary
Overview
A contract in Jules represents a commercial agreement with a counterparty (supplier or customer). It defines the terms under which trading will occur: what materials, at what price, for what period, and under which logistics conditions.
Contracts serve two purposes:
- Record keeping — documenting the agreed terms with a counterparty
- Prefilling — when creating operations, contract terms are automatically applied to save time and ensure consistency
What makes a contract?
| Dimension | Description |
|---|---|
| Direction | Purchase (BUY) or Sale (SELL) |
| Company | The counterparty (supplier or customer) |
| Site | The physical location involved |
| Market type | Export or Local |
| Contract type | Trading, WM Spot, or WM Recurring |
| Period | Start date and end date |
| Streams | One or more quality lines with pricing |
Contract Types
| Type | Code | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Trading | TRADING | Standard commodity trading contract |
| WM Spot | WM_SPOT | Waste Management — one-off spot deal |
| WM Recurring | WM_RECURRING | Waste Management — recurring arrangement |
Offer Type
Contracts can also be classified by offer type:
| Offer Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Spot | One-time deal at current market conditions |
| Recurring | Ongoing arrangement with regular shipments |
Contract Lifecycle
Contracts follow a four-status lifecycle similar to operations:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| IN_PROGRESS | Contract is being negotiated or drafted |
| CONFIRMED | Terms are agreed and locked |
| CLOSED | Contract has been fully executed |
| CANCELLED | Contract was abandoned |
Key actions
- Duplicate — Create a copy of an existing contract (useful for renewals with minor changes)
- Share — Send the contract to the counterparty via email or portal
- Generate Offer PDF — Produce a formatted PDF of the contract terms
Quality Streams
A contract contains one or more streams (quality lines), each defining the commercial terms for a specific material grade.
What's in a stream?
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Quality | The material grade (e.g., HMS 1&2, OCC, LDPE Film) |
| Quantity | Contracted volume (in tonnes or other units) |
| Cost / Price | The agreed price per unit |
| Price type | SPOT (fixed), INDEX (formula-based), or TREATMENT |
| Incoterm | Commercial delivery terms (FOB, CFR, CIF, EXW, etc.) |
| MQC | Minimum Quality Commitment per container |
| Equipment | Container type (e.g., 40' HC) |
| Payment terms | Payment conditions |
| Tolerance rate | Allowed quantity deviation (e.g., +/- 5%) |
| Estimated logistic cost | Expected transportation cost |
| Temporary price | Flag indicating the price may change |
Pricing Models
Jules contracts support three pricing models at the stream level:
1. Spot Price (Fixed)
A fixed price agreed upfront.
Price = 320 USD / T
2. Index Price (Formula-based)
Price derived from a market reference index.
Price = Index Value + adjustments
The index reference and formula details are specified on the stream, then carried forward to operations when they are created from the contract.
3. Treatment Price
Used in waste management contracts where the pricing reflects a treatment fee rather than a commodity price.
Treatment fee = X EUR / T for processing material Y
Equipment & Services
Beyond quality streams, contracts can include:
Equipment
Defined via ContractToEquipment, specifying:
- Equipment type (e.g., container type)
- Equipment position
- Equipment price
- Quantity and modalities
Services
Defined via ContractToService, covering additional services like:
- Inspection
- Sorting
- Custom processing
Each has its own pricing, modalities, and terms.
Financial KPIs
For WM (Waste Management) contracts, Jules calculates financial KPIs that summarize the contract's performance over a given period:
| KPI | Description |
|---|---|
| Turnover | Total revenue generated |
| Operation Margin | Margin on core operations |
| Transport Margin | Margin on transport services |
| Equipment Margin | Margin on equipment services |
| Service Margin | Margin on additional services |
| Recycling Margin | Margin on recycling activities |
| Treatment Margin | Margin on treatment activities |
| Recycled Tons | Volume of recycled material |
| Tons Treated | Volume of material treated |
| Truck Turns | Number of truck rotations |
These KPIs can be filtered by date range for period-specific analysis.
From Contract to Operation
When creating an operation, Jules can prefill fields from a contract:
The prefill mechanism copies:
- Company and site
- Quality streams (become operation qualities)
- Pricing (spot, index, or treatment)
- Incoterm and payment terms
- Equipment and logistic material
- MQC and tolerance rates
Note: Contract prefill also works at the company and site level (
CompanyToContractPrefill,SiteToContractPrefill), allowing default contract terms to be configured per trading partner or location.
Key Business Rules
1. Contract numbering
Contracts do not have an auto-generated Harold number. They use a reference number that can be manually set by the user.
2. Multi-stream contracts
A single contract can contain multiple quality streams, each with its own pricing and terms. This is common when a counterparty supplies or buys several material grades.
3. Bills (WM contracts)
For Waste Management contracts, bills track the actual costs incurred against each stream. A bill records:
- The billed amount vs. the cost amount
- The quantity processed
- Which stream element it relates to (quality, equipment, service, treatment)
Bills can be created individually or in bulk, and cancelled when needed.
4. ERP synchronization
Contracts support push sync with external ERP systems, allowing contract data to be synchronized bidirectionally.
5. Sharing
Contracts can be shared with counterparties via email templates, with the last shared date tracked on the contract.
Glossary
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Bill | A cost record tracking actual amounts billed against a WM contract stream |
| Contract | A commercial agreement defining trading terms with a counterparty |
| Equipment | Container type and configuration associated with a contract |
| Financial KPIs | Performance metrics calculated for WM contracts (margins, volumes) |
| Index price | A price derived from a market reference (LME, Platts, etc.) |
| MQC | Minimum Quality Commitment — the minimum weight per container |
| Prefill | Automatic population of operation fields from contract terms |
| Service | An additional service (inspection, sorting) included in a contract |
| Spot price | A fixed price agreed at the time of the deal |
| Stream | A quality line within a contract, carrying its own commercial terms |
| Treatment price | A fee for processing/treating material (common in waste management) |
| Tolerance rate | Allowed percentage deviation from contracted quantity |
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