# Your first collection contract

Create a collection contract for a debtor and an owner, spread its amount over installments, send the signing link, start the collection, and see how a contract ends once everything is paid.

**Collection** keeps the contracts under which you collect a debt on behalf of its owner: who owes, to whom, how much, in which installments, and the signatures of both sides. This walk-through takes one contract from its creation to the start of the collection, then shows where a contract ends. The demo contract you create here is `Collection demo: Office rent, unit 7A`: Tariq Al-Wahmi owes 6,000 to Palm Court Trading Co.

## Before you start {#before-you-start}

- Creating contracts needs the **User** access right on **Collection**, or a higher one. [Create a user and set access rights](/docs/general-settings/create-a-user-and-set-access-rights) shows where it is given.
- The debtor and the owner are contacts: create them first in [Contacts](/docs/contacts) when they do not exist yet.
- The contract offers the payment methods of the company. The demo has **Bank transfer** and **Cash**; [Payment methods](payment-methods) adds others.

## Step 1: open the contracts {#open}

Open **Collection/Collections**. The list shows each contract with its reference, the user it is assigned to, its amount, what is paid, what remains and its status. The figures above the list come from the app's ready-made dashboard, described in [Ready-made dashboards](/docs/analysis/ready-made-dashboards).

![The list of collection contracts, with the figures of the app above it; New starts a contract.](https://jaah.app/web/image/13689-7c45b5a0/collection-your-first-collection-contract-contracts_list-en.png)

## Step 2: create the contract {#create}

1. Click **New**.
2. Choose `Tariq Al-Wahmi` in **Debtor**, the person who owes the money, and `Palm Court Trading Co.` in **Owner**, the creditor you collect for.
3. Choose yourself in **Assigned To**: the user who follows the contract.
4. Type the **Subject** `Collection demo: Office rent, unit 7A`, the **Amount** `6000`, and choose **Bank transfer** in **Payment Methods**.

![The new contract with its debtor, owner, assigned user, subject, amount and payment method, before it is saved.](https://jaah.app/web/image/13693-8ed78700/collection-your-first-collection-contract-contract_form-en.png)

5. Save. The contract takes its reference, such as DCC00004, and the status **To Approve**. A to-do activity, "Please review the above collection request.", appears for the assigned user.

![Saved, the contract takes its reference and the To Approve status, and its assigned user gets a to-do activity.](https://jaah.app/web/image/13697-8124cb4a/collection-your-first-collection-contract-contract_saved-en.png)

[Create a collection contract](create-a-collection-contract) explains every field, the documents and the other tabs.

## Step 3: spread the amount over installments {#schedule}

1. Open **Actions** and choose **Create Installments**.
2. Type `3` in **Installments count**, `1` in **Every** and keep **Month**, then set **First Installment** to 01/12/2026.

![Three monthly installments from 1 December 2026, over the whole amount of the contract.](https://jaah.app/web/image/13701-d2b06564/collection-your-first-collection-contract-schedule_wizard-en.png)

On a phone, this dialog and the next one open from the bottom of the screen, with the same fields.

3. Click **Confirm**. The **Installments** tab now lists three installments of 2,000, due on the first day of December, January and February, each **Scheduled**.

![The schedule, three installments of 2,000 due on the first day of December, January and February.](https://jaah.app/web/image/13703-41e122fc/collection-your-first-collection-contract-schedule_lines-en.png)

## Step 4: send the contract for signature {#signature}

Both sides sign the contract on a page of their own, opened from a link.

1. Open **Actions** and choose **Share**. The dialog shows the debtor's link, ready to copy; choose **Owner** to get the owner's link.

![The debtor's own signing link, ready to copy; choosing Owner shows the owner's link.](https://jaah.app/web/image/13707-ba134862/collection-your-first-collection-contract-share_link-en.png)

2. Send each link to its party. Each one reads the contract on that page and signs with **Accept & Sign**. When the second signature arrives, the contract moves to **Under Collection** by itself.

[Get the contract signed](get-the-contract-signed) shows the signing page, the e-mail that carries the link, and the signature pads of the form.

## Step 5: start the collection {#start}

When the agreement was signed on paper, you start the collection yourself. For this walk-through, open **Actions** and choose **Under Collection**. This works once the contract has installments; without them, a message asks you to create them first.

![The contract is now Under Collection, and its installments wait for their payments.](https://jaah.app/web/image/13709-53c0613e/collection-your-first-collection-contract-under_collection-en.png)

On a phone, the status sits at the top of the form, next to **Actions**.

## Step 6: collect, then close {#close}

Each payment the debtor makes is registered against the installments, with its receipt: [Register a payment](register-a-payment). A reduction agreed with the owner goes through [Offer a discount](offer-a-discount). **Remaining** falls with every payment.

When nothing remains, open **Actions** and choose **Collected**. The demo contract DCC00003, Service fees 2025, shows the end of the road: paid in full and closed.

![A contract paid in full and closed as Collected, with nothing remaining.](https://jaah.app/web/image/13713-cc210a48/collection-your-first-collection-contract-collected_contract-en.png)

## What you have done {#what-you-have-done}

You created a contract between a debtor and an owner, spread its amount over three monthly installments, took the signing link of each party and started the collection. [Move a contract through its states](move-a-contract-through-its-states) covers cancelling with a reason and the way back, and [How collection works](how-collection-works) explains how contracts, installments, payments and signatures fit together.

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- Source: https://jaah.app/docs/collection/your-first-collection-contract
- Updated: 2026-10-28
- Version: Collection 19.0.3.2.5
- Verified: 2026-10-28