Once a project has wrapped up and its retention has been fully released — or whenever a contract is no longer something you're actively managing — you can close it in Retention Track. Closing tidies up your contracts list without deleting anything, and you can reopen a contract at any time.
In this article we walk you through:
What closing a contract does
Which contracts can be closed
Closing a contract
Finding closed contracts
Reopening a contract
Common questions
What closing a contract does
Closing a contract does three things:
It hides the contract from your contracts list by default, so your list stays focused on the work that's still live.
It stops claim reminders for that contract — Retention Track will no longer email you when a Practical Completion or Defects release date comes around.
It keeps everything — invoices, payment claims, retention history and financials are all preserved exactly as they were. Closing only changes whether the contract shows in your list; it never deletes data.
Note: Closing a contract is free, and so is reopening it later. You're never charged again for a contract you've already activated.
Note: If the contract still has an outstanding payment claim, closing shows a warning listing the claim(s) and the amount due, and asks you to confirm. You can still go ahead — just know that an outstanding claim on a closed contract is no longer tracked on the Payment Claims page. See Monitoring Your Payment Claims.
Which contracts can be closed
Only active contracts can be closed — these are contracts you've already activated. A draft contract can't be closed, because it hasn't been activated yet; if you don't need a draft, you can simply leave it as a draft. A contract that's already closed can be reopened at any time.
You'll need permission to update contracts in the workspace to close or reopen a contract.
Closing a contract
There are two places you can close a contract.
From the contracts list
In the left sidebar, click Contracts.
Find the contract you want to close and click the ⋯ (more actions) button at the end of its row.
Click Close contract.
Confirm in the dialog that appears.
From the contract page
Open the contract.
In the action bar at the top of the contract page, click Close Contract.
Confirm in the dialog that appears.
Note: Closing always asks you to confirm first, and the change is recorded in the contract's history so there's a record of when it happened.
Finding closed contracts
By default, your contracts list hides closed contracts so you only see the work that's still live. To see closed contracts, use the Status filter at the top of the contracts list:
Open (the default) — shows active and draft contracts, hiding closed ones.
Active, Draft or Closed — shows only contracts with that status.
All — shows every contract, including closed ones.
Choose Closed to see just your closed contracts, or All to see everything together. For more on searching, filtering and sorting the list, see Finding Your Contracts: Search, Filters & Sorting.
Reopening a contract
Reopening returns a contract to active, brings it back into your default contracts list, and resumes claim reminders. To reopen:
In the contracts list, set the Status filter to Closed (or All) so the closed contract is visible.
Either click the ⋯ menu on its row and choose Reopen contract, or open the contract and click Reopen Contract on the banner at the top of the page.
Confirm in the dialog that appears.
Note: Reopening is free — the contract was already activated, so there's no charge to bring it back.
Common questions
Does closing or reopening a contract cost anything?
No. Both are free. You're only ever charged once, when a contract is first activated. Closing and later reopening that same contract never costs anything.
Will I still get claim reminders for a closed contract?
No. Reminders pause while a contract is closed. If you reopen it, reminders resume from that point.
Does closing a contract delete its invoices or claims?
No. Nothing is deleted. All of the contract's invoices, payment claims and retention history are kept — closing simply hides the contract from your default list. Everything is exactly as you left it when you reopen.
Can I close a draft contract?
No — only active contracts can be closed. A draft hasn't been activated yet, so there's nothing to close. If you no longer need a draft, you can leave it as a draft and filter it out of view using the Status filter.
I closed a contract and now I can't find it — where did it go?
It's still there, just hidden from the default list. Set the Status filter at the top of the contracts list to Closed or All to see it again.
What happens to an outstanding payment claim if I close the contract?
The claim isn't deleted, but it stops being tracked as outstanding — it won't appear on the Payment Claims page or in your outstanding totals while the contract is closed. Reopen the contract to bring it back. That's why closing warns you first if a claim is still open.