ContractBlock

IMPORTANT  The SOAP API entered a limited enhancement phase in Q4 2020. Access to version 1.6 will eventually be deactivated. At this time, there is no end-of-lifecycle date.

The ContractBlock entity describes an Autotask Contract Block. The Contract Block represents a block of hours purchased for a Block Hours type Contract. With a Block Hours Contract, the customer pre-pays for a block of hours and then the pre-paid hours are reduced as billable work is performed. The contract maintains the balance of hours. You can create a Block Hours type Contract without creating an associated ContractBlock entity, but time cannot be charged against the contract.

NOTE  A Contract Block specifies a single per hour rate. Autotask Block Hour Factors accommodate work performed against the contract by resources with different role rates. The ContractFactor entity describes a block hour factor.

Entity details

You can also retrieve this information with the Web Services API call The getEntityInfo() SOAP API call.

Entity Name: ContractBlock
Can Create:
Can Update:
Can Query:
Can Delete:  
Can Have UDFs:  

Fields that cannot be queried

The following fields from this entity will return an error when queried.

  • HoursApproved

Conditions and requirements

General

  • Resources with security levels that specify limited or no contract visibility cannot create, update, or query this entity.
  • If the Multi-currency Installed Module is enabled, the following field will return the relevant Customer Currency values instead of the Internal Currency values: HourlyRate

NOTE   The API does not currently support automatic cost creation when creating a contract block. To create contract costs automatically the contract blocks must be added through the User Interface.

Special field attributes

Field Conditions and Requirements

ContractID

ContractID must reference a Contract where ContractType is Blocks Hour type.

Hours

On update(), ContractBlock.Hours must be >= ContractBlock.HoursApproved.

ContractBlock.Hours and ContractBlock.HourlyRate must be >= 0.

IsPaid

IsPaid is no longer required. It is now Read Only. On creation, IsPaid will automatically be set to 0 and then updated by triggers.

StartDate, EndDate

ContractBlock.StartDate must be < ContractBlock.EndDate.

ContractBlock.StartDate and ContractBlock.EndDate must be within the StartDate and EndDate of the Contract referenced by ContractBlock.ContractID; that is, you cannot create a ContractBlock outside of the Contract dates.

StartDate and EndDate only support date values. The API will not store non-date values (such as time) in these fields.

Field definitions

The following table describes the standard Autotask field objects for this entity.

  • To retrieve more detailed information specific to a particular Autotask implementation, use the Web Services API call The getFieldInfo() SOAP API call.
  • For information on entity UDFs, use getUDFInfo().
  • For String datatypes, the number in parentheses ( ) indicates the maximum number of characters allowed.
  • LT indicates Local Term.

For more information about fields marked as picklists, review our Understanding picklists article.

Field Name Label Datatype Read Only Is Required Reference Name Picklist
ContractID Contract ID integer   Contract  
DatePurchased Date Purchased datetime      
EndDate End Date datetime      
HourlyRate Rate double      
Hours Hours double      
HoursApproved Hours Approved double      
id id long    
InvoiceNumber Invoice Number string (50)        
IsPaid Paid string (10)    
PaymentNumber Payment Number string (50)        
PaymentType Payment Type integer      
StartDate StartDate datetime      
Status Status integer