Upcoming and active contracts: what you can change

Once a contract is signed it becomes Upcoming or Active, and what you can do depends on its status.

Upcoming vs active

• Upcoming — signed, but the start date is in the future. The engagement hasn’t begun yet.
• Active — the contract is in effect and the contractor can be paid.

What you can cancel

You can Cancel a contract that is Draft, Pending signature, or Upcoming — see Cancel or reinstate a contract.

You can’t cancel an Active contract. To end an active engagement, offboard the contractor instead — see Offboard or terminate a contractor.

What you can edit (amend)

You can amend an Upcoming or Active contract (also Draft and Pending). Amendable fields:

• Position name and job description
• Compensation (amount, currency, payment terms, invoicing frequency)
• Notice period
• End date (to extend or shorten the engagement)
• Additional documents

An amendment generates a new document that both parties sign, taking effect on the date you set — see Amend a contractor’s contract.

The start date can’t be amended — only the end date can.

Changing the start date

Because the start date isn’t amendable, you replace the contract rather than edit it:

• If the contract is still Upcoming, cancel it and add the contractor again with the correct start date.
• If the contract is already Active, terminate it and create a new contract with the correct start date.

If you can’t amend the change you need

The same applies to other changes an amendment can’t make — such as changing the worker or other core terms. The cleanest path is to terminate the existing contract and create a new one: Offboard or terminate a contractor, then Add a contractor.