Departments

Departments let you split your team into groups, such as Finance, IT or Sales, and put each contract in the right group. You can then choose to show members only the contracts of their own department. Owners and admins always see everything.

Departments are a team feature. You need to be in a team, and only owners and admins can manage them.

How visibility works

The switch that controls this is called department-scoped contract visibility. It is off by default. While it is off, everyone in the workspace sees every contract. When the owner switches it on:

Owners and admins
See every contract, including contracts with no department.

Members and viewers
See only the contracts in their own department(s). Someone who is in no department sees no contracts.

Contracts with no department
Only owners and admins can see them.

Applied everywhere
The same rule applies to the contract list, search, exports, the calendar, analytics and the contract files themselves. It is enforced by the database, not just hidden on screen.

Setup steps

Create departments and assign contracts first, and switch visibility on last. If you switch it on too early, members may suddenly see no contracts at all.

Go to Settings > Departments
You find it in the Workspace group of the Settings menu. Only owners and admins see it.
Create your departments
Type a name, such as Finance, in the New department name box and click Add. You can rename or delete a department at any time.
Add people to each department
Click a department to open it, tick the people who belong to it, and click Save members. A person can be in more than one department.
Assign contracts
Open each contract. In its Departments row, click Assign, choose one or more departments, and click Save.
Switch on department-scoped visibility
Back in Settings > Departments, the workspace owner clicks Enable and confirms. From then on, members and viewers only see their own departments' contracts.

Day-to-day behaviour

New uploads go to the uploader's departments
Renewly assigns new uploads to the uploader's departments. If department-scoped visibility is on, a member with no department may not see their upload. Owners and admins can still see it.

Filter by department
The contract list has a Department filter. You can combine it with search and tags.

Costs per department
Analytics has a Costs per Department chart showing yearly spend for each department. Click a department to see its contracts. A contract in two departments counts in full in both.

The contact person can always see their contract
Renewal reminders go to each contract's contact person. You cannot make someone the contact person for a contract they are not allowed to see.

Guardrails

Renewly blocks a few changes, with a clear message, because they would leave someone locked out:

You cannot remove your own last department from a contract
A member changing a contract's departments must keep at least one of their own departments on it. Otherwise they would lose access to the contract as soon as they saved. Owners and admins are not limited in this way.

The contact person must always be able to see the contract
A department change that would hide a contract from its current contact person is refused. Change the contact person first, then change the departments.

Frequently asked questions

What happens if I turn scoping off again?

Everyone in the workspace sees all contracts again. Your departments and assignments are kept, so you can switch it back on at any time.

Can a contract belong to more than one department?

Yes. Assign it to as many departments as you like. People in any of those departments can see it.

What happens when I delete a department?

The contracts stay, but they lose that department. Renewly warns you how many contracts are affected before you delete. While scoping is on, contracts left with no department are visible to owners and admins only.

Do members see portfolio insights?

Not while scoping is on. Portfolio insights look across every contract in the workspace, so they are shown to owners and admins only.

Can members manage departments?

No. Owners and admins create, rename and delete departments and choose who is in them. Only the owner can switch department-scoped visibility on or off.