--- sourceDocument: Australia Employee Service Management sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/employee-service-management Release : - australia ft:locale : - en-US ft:publication_title : - Australia Employee Service Management ft:clusterId : - emplsm bundleId : - emplsm workflow : - Employee --- # Obligation Management # Obligation Management {#ariaid-title1} Release version: Australia Updated March 12, 2026 ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 3 minutes to read Summarize ![AI sparkle icon](https://servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ai-sparkle-icon) Summarized using AI This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete. ## Summary of Obligation Management Obligation Management in Contract Management Pro enables contract managers to track and fulfill contractual responsibilities by creating obligation records and managing related tasks. It supports both one-time (ad hoc) and regularly scheduled (recurring) obligation tasks, ensuring all contract obligations are monitored and completed efficiently. Show full answer Show less ## Key Features * **Obligation Types:** * **Ad hoc obligation tasks:** Tasks required once or irregularly. * **Recurring obligation tasks:** Automatically created tasks based on a predefined schedule. * **Creation Methods:** * **AI-powered extraction:** Uses AI to extract obligations from contracts, which contract managers review and accept or reject. Accepted obligations become records with associated tasks. * **Manual creation:** Contract managers manually create obligation records and specify schedules for tasks. * **AI-powered Workflow:** * Contract admins activate AI roles and business rules to enable automatic obligation extraction when contracts are added. * Contract managers review extracted obligations and manage tasks accordingly. * **Manual Workflow:** * Contract managers review contracts and create obligation records and tasks manually. * **Task Management:** * Assigned users work on obligation tasks, submit them for review, and update the task status from Open to Awaiting approval. * Obligation fulfillers approve or reject tasks, with rejected tasks returning to Open for further work and approved tasks marked Completed. * Open obligation tasks can be canceled if no longer needed. ## Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers * Automates tracking and fulfillment of contractual obligations, reducing manual effort and risk of missed responsibilities. * Enables clear assignment and monitoring of obligation tasks with defined review and approval workflows. * Leverages AI to efficiently extract and manage obligations, accelerating contract compliance activities. * Supports flexible task scheduling to accommodate both recurring and one-time obligations. * Improves contract governance by providing visibility into obligation status and progress within ServiceNow. Obligation Management in Contract Management Pro enables you to track and fulfill contractual responsibilities by creating obligation records and managing associated tasks. With Obligation Management, a contract manager can create obligation records to define specific instructions and obligation task types required to fulfill the contract obligation. Obligation tasks are created to track and complete the activities specified in a contract, such as submitting an IT asset invoice every month.{#cncore-obligation-management__cncore-obligation-management-para-1} An obligation record can have two types of obligation tasks: Ad hoc obligation task : Obligation task required only once or at irregular intervals to fulfill the contract obligations. Recurring obligation task : Obligation task required at regular intervals to fulfill the contract obligations. Recurring obligation tasks are automatically created based on the defined schedule. You can create obligations using one of the following methods: Create obligations using AI : The AI agent uses contract obligation extraction skill to extract key contractual obligations from contracts. Once extracted, you can review the obligations within the contract playbook and choose to accept or reject them. Accepted obligations are added as records in the Obligations tab of the contract record. Create obligations manually : Create obligation records for signed contracts in Obligation Management to fulfill the responsibilities specified in the contract through obligation tasks. Recurring obligation tasks are automatically created from the record. You can also add ad hoc obligation tasks that are performed only once or at irregular intervals. ## AI-powered obligation extraction workflow {#cncore-obligation-management__section_ai_workflow} The AI-powered obligation extraction process uses the manage contract repository agentic workflow and can progress as follows: 1. As a contract admin with the AI role, activate the contract obligation extraction skill in the AI Admin Hub console. For more information, see [Configure AI capabilities](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/hRqeqjrlcAbeR7svNHTmNQ "As an AI administrator, configure ServiceNow Otto for Contract Management Pro so that contract fulfillers can use the AI capabilities while working on contract documents or search the contracts for information from the ServiceNow Otto panel."). 2. As a contract admin, activate the business rules. 3. The obligation extraction process is automatically initiated when a contract record is created. 4. Once the extraction is complete, the contract manager with the AI role receives a notification indicating that obligations are ready for review. 5. The contract manager reviews the extracted obligations within the contract playbook. Each obligation can be accepted or rejected based on relevance. 6. Approved obligations are automatically added as obligation records in the Obligations tab of the contract record. 7. Obligation tasks are created. * For a recurring schedule, the obligation tasks are automatically created for the obligation record based on the defined schedule. * For an ad hoc schedule, the contract manager creates an obligation task from the Obligation tasks tab in the contract record. {#cncore-obligation-management__ul_ai_tasks} 8. The assigned user is notified when the obligation task is created. 9. The assigned user works on the obligation task and submits it for review.The state of the obligation task changes from Open to Awaiting approval. 10. The obligation fulfiller reviews the task and approves or rejects it. * If the obligation task is rejected, the state of the task changes to Open, and the assigned user continues to work on it. * If the obligation task is approved, the state of the task changes to Completed. {#cncore-obligation-management__ul_ai_approval} {#cncore-obligation-management__ol_ai_workflow} ## Manual obligation management workflow {#cncore-obligation-management__section_manual_workflow} The manual Obligation Management workflow starts after the signed contract is added to the contract repository record and can progress as follows: 1. A contract manager reviews the contract in the contract repository and creates obligation records for key obligations. 2. The contract manager provides the obligation details, including an obligation task schedule, in the obligation record.For more information, see [Create obligation records manually](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/efutead9746WwZKEBlZl4Q "Create obligation records for signed contracts in Obligation Management to fulfill the responsibilities specified in the contract through obligation tasks. Recurring obligation tasks are automatically created from the record. You can also add ad hoc obligation tasks that are performed only once or at irregular intervals."). 3. Obligation tasks are created. * For an ad hoc schedule, the contract manager creates an obligation task from the Obligation tasks tab. * For a recurring schedule, the obligation tasks are automatically created based on the defined schedule. {#cncore-obligation-management__ul_xj5_cr5_cdc} 4. The assigned user is notified when the obligation task is created. 5. The assigned user works on the obligation task and submits it for review.The state of the obligation task changes from Open to Awaiting approval. 6. The obligation fulfiller reviews the task and approves or rejects it. * If the obligation task is rejected, the state of the task changes to Open, and the assigned user continues to work on it. * If the obligation task is approved, the state of the task changes to Completed. {#cncore-obligation-management__ul_npt_n43_wcc} {#cncore-obligation-management__ol_ukn_ssf_qcc} * **[Create obligation tasks](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/2Bq30FtY6oLRZE3po1PMJQ#cncore-create-obligations-landing)** Create obligation records for signed contracts to fulfill the responsibilities specified in the contract. You can create obligations by using AI to automatically extract obligations from contract or manually create them. * **[Create obligation records manually](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/efutead9746WwZKEBlZl4Q)** Create obligation records for signed contracts in Obligation Management to fulfill the responsibilities specified in the contract through obligation tasks. Recurring obligation tasks are automatically created from the record. You can also add ad hoc obligation tasks that are performed only once or at irregular intervals. * **[Work on obligation tasks](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/eyDSqiycsAE2lVAxpxvGjQ)** As an obligation user, work on obligation tasks to fulfill the obligation specified in the contract, and submit them for review. * **[Cancel an obligation task](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/jmAqd9u9bqBNQfjAh_aa7w)** Cancel an open obligation task in Obligation Management that is no longer required. * **[Approve or reject obligation tasks](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/1n41r27AZwIxwOGJ7LuKGw)** As an obligation fulfiller, review obligation tasks in Obligation Management that have been submitted for approval, and take the appropriate action.