> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.gocenti.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Document Templates and Custom Parties in Centi

> Manage document templates to be used in offers.

Centi uses document templates to generate the offer contracts that accompany your equity programs. Some templates include variable placeholders for named third parties — such as a trustee or legal advisor — that go beyond the standard buyer, seller and lead investor fields. The **Templates** section is where you manage both the templates themselves and these custom party assignments.

## What templates are in Centi

A template is a pre-configured document layout that Centi merges with live data (program details, stakeholder information, transaction figures) to produce a ready-to-sign document. Templates are typically set up by the client services contact and assigned to specific programs.

When Centi generates a document from a template, it substitutes data into named variables. Some variables — like the issuing company name or offer amount — are filled automatically. Others, called **custom party variables**, require you to specify which shareholder entity should fill the role.

## How to configure

You can see instructions on how Template are configured and what variables are available by clicking **Template guide.**

## Custom parties

A **custom party** is a shareholder entity (a stakeholder or a company entity signatory) that you assign to a named role in a document template. Custom parties let you include parties such as a trustee, a legal advisor, or a fund representative in generated documents.

### Available custom party roles

Custom party roles appear in templates as variables following the pattern `custom.<role>`. Two most common roles are:

| Variable         | Typical use                                         |
| ---------------- | --------------------------------------------------- |
| `custom.trustee` | A trustee entity named as a party to the agreement  |
| `custom.advisor` | A legal or financial advisor listed in the document |

Your templates may define any custom role you need. Each role name is shown in the template configuration and appears as a monospace badge (e.g., `custom.trustee`) when you assign parties.

## Navigating to the Templates section

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open your organisation">
    Select the relevant organisation from the sidebar or the organisation switcher.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Go to Templates">
    In the left-hand navigation, click **Templates**. The page shows two tabs: **Templates** (the list of document templates) and **Custom Parties** (the table of assigned party entities).
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Managing custom parties

### Viewing the custom parties table

The **Custom Parties** tab lists every custom party currently assigned across all templates in your organisation. Each row shows:

* The `custom.<role>` variable name the party maps to
* The **display name** that will appear in the generated document
* The **shareholder entity** (the actual person or company behind the role)

### Assigning or editing a custom party

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the Custom Parties tab">
    Navigate to **Templates → Custom Parties**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select the party to edit">
    Click the edit action on the custom party row you want to update. A form panel opens showing the current assignment.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose the shareholder entity">
    Use the **Party** dropdown to search for and select the shareholder entity that should fill this role. The dropdown groups results into **Existing Custom Parties** (previously assigned entities) and **All Shareholders**. You can search by name.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set the display name">
    Enter the **Display name** — the text that will appear in the generated document wherever the `custom.<role>` variable is used. This is typically a formal legal name or abbreviated entity name.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save">
    Click **Save**. The updated assignment takes effect for all new documents generated from templates that reference this custom party variable.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Tip>
  If you frequently reuse the same custom signatory across multiple templates, create the custom party once and then select it from the **Existing Custom Parties** group when assigning it to additional templates.
</Tip>

### Shareholder entity types

The party picker supports three entity types, each shown with a distinct icon:

| Type                               | Description                                            |
| ---------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Individual stakeholder**         | An individual stakeholder                              |
| **Investment vehicle stakeholder** | The signatory of the investment vehicle                |
| **Company**                        | The signatory of a company entity in your organisation |

## How custom parties appear in generated documents

When Centi generates a document, it replaces each `custom.<role>` variable with the **display name** you configured. For example, if you assigned `Nordsea Trust AB` as the display name for `custom.trustee`, every occurrence of `{{custom.trustee}}` in the template output will read `Nordsea Trust AB`.

The underlying shareholder entity is used to pull in any additional merge fields the template may reference for that role (such as registration number or address).