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# Choosing the right upload route — creating contracts with mandatory fields cleanly

# Choosing the right upload route — creating contracts cleanly

*The screenshots in this article show the German interface. The English label is given first, with the German label in square brackets.*

ContractHero offers three ways to create a new contract: **Create contract [Vertrag erstellen]**, **via upload [via Upload]** and **via template [via Vorlage]**. Which route you take depends on whether your account controls permissions via particular fields, and on whether your own permissions to upload may be restricted.

## Your benefit

In accounts with a fine-grained permission structure (e.g. fields such as **Location [Standort]**, **Legal entity [Mandant]**, **Cost centre [Kostenstelle]** or **Business unit [Geschäftsbereich]**), the field determines **who is allowed to see and edit the contract**. If you fill in the field directly when creating the contract, it is immediately visible to you and to the right colleagues — you do not have to maintain or reorganise anything afterwards.

## The three upload routes at a glance

At the bottom left, click **"+ New contract" [+ Neuer Vertrag]**. Three options appear in the dropdown:

| Route | When to use it |
| ---- |
| **Create contract [Vertrag erstellen]** | When your account has **mandatory fields** whose values you know. You fill in the master data first and upload the PDF afterwards. |
| **via upload [via Upload]** | When you have **no permission-relevant mandatory fields** and want the AI to read all values from the PDF. The fastest route for importing existing records and standard contracts. |
| **via template [via Vorlage]** | When you want to generate a new contract from an **existing contract template** (standard contracts, NDAs, etc.). See Related articles on contract templates. |

## How it works: Create contract (with restrictions in the permission concept)

If your account has permission-relevant mandatory fields (typically location, legal entity, cost centre, business unit or a comparable structured field), use this route to avoid an error message.

**1. "+ New contract" [+ Neuer Vertrag] → "Create contract" [Vertrag erstellen]**

Open **"+ New contract" [+ Neuer Vertrag]** at the bottom left and select **"Create contract" [Vertrag erstellen]**. Only this route lets you set the field that controls the permission yourself, before the PDF is uploaded and analysed.


![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/-/1/2/5/2/12522a019f980500/screenshot-2026-06-16-at-14132_wqfp8v.png)


**2. Fill in the category and the fields**

Select the **Category [Kategorie]** (e.g. employment contract, NDA, supplier contract).


![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/-/1/2/5/2/12522a019f980500/screenshot-2026-06-16-at-14145_4yks6u.png)


Fill in the **relevant fields** for your account.

> **Note:** Which fields are mandatory depends on the configuration in your account's contract field builder [Vertragsfeldbaukasten]. If in doubt, ask your ContractHero admin.

**3. Upload the PDF and check it**

Drag the PDF into the upload area or select it via **"Select file" [Datei auswählen]**.


![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/-/1/2/5/2/12522a019f980500/screenshot-2026-06-16-at-14155_18tpixb.png)


The **AI contract analysis** fills in the remaining fields automatically from the PDF (contract start date, contracting party, amounts, etc. — see Related articles on contract analysis). No information is overwritten by the AI.

Check the AI suggestions (the purple star icon marks the AI values) and verify them with a click.

## When do I use "via upload" [via Upload]?

The fast route when:

* Your account has **no permission-relevant mandatory fields**.
* You want to upload one or more PDFs and have the AI recognise all values automatically.
* You are **migrating existing contracts** and do not want to set details manually for each contract.

## When do I use "via template" [via Vorlage]?

When you want to generate a new contract from a predefined **contract template** — for example a standard NDA, a typical supplier contract or a recurring lease. ContractHero fills in the placeholders automatically from the values you enter (see Related articles on contract templates).

## Typical (mandatory) fields and their permission logic

Depending on the account configuration, common mandatory fields are:

* **Location / Branch [Standort / Niederlassung]** — whoever is responsible for a location only sees the contracts for that location.
* **Legal entity / Company [Mandant / Gesellschaft]** — in multi-entity setups, this field controls which subsidiary the contract "lives" in.
* **Cost centre / Business unit [Kostenstelle / Geschäftsbereich]** — finance teams only see the contracts for their own cost centre.
* **Team** — with team-based permission logic, the Team field determines visibility.

If you would like to understand the permission configuration in detail, you will find the background in the article **"Permission concepts compared: Standard and APC (incl. Dynamic)"** (see Related articles).

## Frequently asked questions

**Which route is the fastest?**
**"via upload" [via Upload]** — you drag the PDF in and the AI does the rest. But: this is only advisable if your permissions are NOT applied via fields.

**Which route is the safest for sensitive contracts?**
**"Create contract" [Vertrag erstellen]** — because you set mandatory fields such as location, legal entity or cost centre directly, and the contract is immediately visible to the right group of people.

**What happens if I choose "via upload" [via Upload] and my account has mandatory fields?**
You cannot upload the contract; an error message appears.

**Can I change the field value later?**
Yes. In the contract editing view you can adjust the field at any time — the permission-based visibility updates automatically the next time the page is reloaded.

**Are several PDFs accepted at once?**
With "via upload" [via Upload] you can drag in several PDFs at the same time — each PDF creates a separate contract. With "Create contract" [Vertrag erstellen] you work on one contract at a time, because the field information may differ.

**What is the maximum PDF size?**
Currently **256 MB** per PDF. For scanned contracts with a high resolution we recommend compressing them beforehand.

**How do I know whether my account has mandatory fields?**
When creating a contract, you will see the mandatory fields marked with a red star or a note. If in doubt, contact your ContractHero admin.

**Which role do I need in order to upload contracts?**
You need **write permissions** for the category in question (or owner status). Anyone who only has read permissions can see the contract but cannot create or edit it.

## Good to know

* **Setting the field information straight away saves clean-up work later.** If the contract is only assigned after the upload, it may sit "in the wrong area" for a while — which makes audits and searches unreliable.
* **Checking the AI suggestions is still mandatory.** Even with "Create contract" [Vertrag erstellen] the AI pre-fills fields — the purple sparkle marks values that have not been verified. A quick visual check prevents reporting errors later on.
* **Migrations during onboarding may call for a different decision.** If you are migrating 500 existing contracts, "via upload" [via Upload] plus bulk verification is faster — and you assign the mandatory fields via bulk editing (see Related articles).
* **The mandatory-field configuration is an admin topic.** Your ContractHero admin defines which fields are mandatory and which permission logic applies to them, in the field builder and in the role setup.
* **If in doubt: Create contract.** If you are not sure whether mandatory fields control your permissions, "Create contract" [Vertrag erstellen] is always the safe route. It slows the upload down by a few seconds, but it avoids permission inconsistencies.

## Related articles

* How does contract analysis work?
* How do I add contracts to ContractHero?
* Field builder – how do I create and manage fields?
* Contract templates: create standard contracts with one click
* Update contracts via bulk editing