Best Contract Management Software

What is Contract Management Software?

Contract management is defined as performance tracking and issue addressing and resolution throughout the contract lifecycle. To understand contract management software, it is imperative to know the fundamentals of the contract management process. When two enterprises agree to do business with each other, they meet on specific grounds or terms. These companies agree to these terms and conditions to fulfill the agreement.

As a result, we can define contract management vendors as a process of contract creation, implementation, and analysis to enhance operational efficacy by reducing financial risk. So when any company phrases contract inexpertly, tampers, or displaces the deal intentionally or inadvertently, possibilities are they might lose millions. For that reason, comes best contractor management software comes into play.

While the normal process of contract management processes involves manually managing and maintaining the contracts through the folders and the file cabinets, this process furnishes inefficiencies. It strangles the entire contract management system software. On the other hand, a contract management system can automate the services associated with contract management and save innumerable staff hours. It could be a valuable asset to any company as the Iman hour saved could be viable in other company administrative tasks. Contract management software lifecycle includes:

1. Document preparation
2. Sending the agreement to the other party
3. Redlining or in-document changes
4. Negotiations 
5. Approval process
6. Year-to-year amendments or renewals
7. Audits for compliance
8. Long-term storage for agreements

Contract management software is engineered to facilitate and necessitate the company with compliance and reporting to keep hundreds and thousands of contracts running seamlessly.  This online contract management system software stores vital info related to leases, providers, and licensing agreements systems or accords.

The substantial purpose of designing this user-friendly and straightforward best contractor management software was to streamline administrative tasks and reduce overhead by providing a unified and centralized platform to maintain the records and contracts uniformly. Also, it entitles you to remote accessibility and allows you to keep a close eye on all the contract management processes.

What are the Common Features of Contract Management Software?

As discussed earlier, Contract management software dictates the workflow and workforce of any organization. Hence, the software that you drag and drop opt for should equip this top-notch features and functionalities.

• Searchable repository:

  Multiple storage mediums for contract management might mix different documents or create duplicates, which could make it challenging to find the required contracts. In contrast, a centralized repository with stored contracts under individual business areas and third-party information gives you a single source and makes the overall contract management processes experience simpler and wieldy.

• Alerts for timeline management:

  Contract management vendors notify you about upcoming renewals, pending obligations, and key provisions of your contract. Good contract management software helps you in these areas. It sends you duly reminders on forthcoming renewals and alerts on non-compliance occurrences and pending obligations.

• Advanced search functionality:

  Contract managers lose weeks and months every year searching for contracts typically kept in local drives or repositories. A full text and advanced search functionality provide the users with the ability to narrow down the search by searching deals based on various parameters like contract title, author name, business division, etc.

• e-sign contract documents:

  Administrative having the signing authority always has priority tasks at hand. Sending the contracts for signature in the customary orthodox way creates a delay in the execution of the contract. At the same time, the eSignature feature dispenses a speedy and more straightforward legal and business teams' way to get stakeholders' consent on agreements and documents and provides additional benefits like security, audit, and verification capabilities to the business.

• Create new contracts and redraft existing Contracts:

  New deals take days or weeks, if not months, to reach execution after the agreement gets drafted. A contract management software expedites the contract creation process with typical contract data types, template automation, and clause library.

• Review performance and develop reports:

  Businesses continuously improve efficiency and save countless working hours in the long term. Performance reports on contracts give contract managers and employees insights into their work patterns. So they can identify the tailback in processes to obliterate it. Reports help you to renew contracts on time and strengthen CLC management.

• Implement clause libraries and automate templates:

  Managing a clause library with commonly used clauses and their variations helps contract management solution authors use standard language across their business contracts. Incorporation with MS Office allows users to add these clauses to their documents with a single click. Free Template automation optimizes time by transferring critical metadata and selected facilities into the mapped areas of documents.

• Manage approvals and workflows for the entire organization:

  Sending contract negotiations for approvals through emails is inefficient due to a lack of transparency and other document issues. On the other hand, workflow management software provides a cleaner approval process by allowing users to select participants succeeded by the routing orders. Notifications help you get real-time updates on the process while the workflow history is adept physically during audits.

• The ability for third-party contract data integration:

  Enterprises that receive contracts from third parties consume time in checking the contract’s compliance with their set standards. Contract data Discovery tools utilize AI to find variances in the clauses of such agreements. This tool can automatically extract data with drag and drop from a third-party contract system to furnish metadata for your contract repository needs.

How Much Does Contract Management Software Cost?

Most contract management software offers monthly or annual subscriptions, with discounts for yearly payments, high contract volume, or many users. The free and low-cost plans work very well for small businesses with standard managed contracts, as you can upload your own agreement or use a common template, then send it for an e-signature. 

Paid plans start at $25 per user per month for basic contract management platform features. However, lower-priced plans often don't include advanced customization, reporting, or branding options. On the other end, you'll pay up to $125 per user per month for AI technologies, automation, and all the customization.

Considerations for Choosing a Contract Management System

There is relentless competition in the contract management systems market. Numerous software is obtainable in the market based on different plans and levels of complexity. It's entirely on the user's discretion which software they will opt for.  You should contemplate the following considerations before choosing any contract management software.

• Usability:

  Every business wants a nimbler system for its workflow. The system should be such that the entire workforce is willing to give it a try and, with time, get accustomed to it. Ease of use, convenience, scalability, and positive experience is the essential factors contributing to the ongoing and long-term use of the software.

  No matter which software you select, there are some basic features that all the top contract management tools equip. These facets are contracting creation, template choosing, sending batch from a single screen, automated approval based on the enterprise requirement, and searchable repository. It will help in gratifying the user experience extensively.

• Functionality:

  The best contract management software can dispense high-end features. With this software, you can create, collaborate, assign, maintain, and implement contracts smoothly in seconds. Besides, it provides security for the business transaction, increased sales process, enhanced document visibility, and accessibility to all stakeholders.

  Hence, go for the system that enables you to track records & documents, oversee the engagement, import/export the info, and integrate with your existing IT environment. The system chosen should be such that it should mark the maximum checkboxes depicting the features and functions of contract management software.

• Risk Management:

  The contract is only good as the information used to create it. So if the deals sustain errors, it is bound to vulnerability. Exposure to any risk is susceptible to operational inefficiency and financial loss. Consequently, choosing the best contract software that provides its user visibility to all kinds of risks is a must. Remember that any missed contract renewals or lost compliances can jeopardize your enterprise. Select a contract management software that entitles your legal teams to all the terms and clauses while tracking and managing all the third-party management contracts.

• Customization:

  The customization feature is always a trump card for any system, regardless of its domain. The scope of personalization should be such that it blends with your business environment. There are specific criteria that all the top contract management solutions proffer, which define the potential for customization. Like

  • Productive insights into the negotiation of the contract

  • Real-time contract tracking

  • Integration with Customer Relationship Management, ERP, etc.

  • Identifying and managing risk

This software should allow users to create a personalized contract with all the configurable templates. It should automate and streamline the contract process without compromising work quality.

• Security:

  Contract management software can notably reduce the delays associated with manual contract management, giving customers the ability to securely view and sign contracts online. The best contract management systems software qualifies the organizations to send compliant, secure documents for signature within a centralized platform. It provides an enterprise-grade secure architecture that can store and access documents in the unified Contracts repository, or within Salesforce, without space or cost concerns.

Things to Check Before Contract Management Implementation

Contract Management solutions is an evaluative and demanding job for any organization. The software takes care of everything from contract creation to contract management tools and risk management to maintaining the latest version of the contract. Many organizations are moving to digital documentation and therefore adopting contract management systems to maximize workflow efficiency. Despite that, various things must be checked before implementing contract management solutions. Such as

• Know your current contracting process:

  Apprehending and analyzing the challenges and pitfalls of the ongoing contract management tools process ahead of time enables you to set reasonable KPIs for improvement. Thus, you can avoid changes during mid-implantation. It is significant to consider the storage facility while analyzing managed contracts.

  Contract repositories hand out centralized storage of documents with the ability to report, categorize, tag, and structure the data associated with your arrangements. Also, how to draft an agreement, negotiate, and retrieve should be considered before implementing CLM software.

• Assigning roles:

  A team of personnel is required to act as the authority on decision-making and allocating responsibilities. They need visibility into the entire procedure to enforce their verdict. There should be a minimum of two administrators with a comprehensive feasible solution. They can answer day-to-day questions and give training to other employees on the solution. Support from senior management is vital for your company. They will aid in encouraging the transition, enforce new roles, and make the decisions on expediting and expanding the achieved solution. As a result, building a team with subject matter professionals from different departments plays a significant role.

• Providing Training:

  Enterprises should ensure that every employee understands the goal of the contract management platform. For extended usage, employees must know how to use the software and the proper contracting protocol to follow. This awareness aims to increase compliance with company contracting and procurement protocol. Also, identifying everyone involved in each step of the contract management process would help identify the individuals who need access to the contract or the reporting data.

  Proper training will certify that every team uses standard contract language, clauses, and procurement practices and minimizes the risk of exposure.

  Mentioned earlier is a gist of contract monitoring software to get visibility into your legal contracts, improve supply chain agility in no time, and boost revenue recognition.

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