Deal-making processes involve contracts for them to prove legit. A contract holds the parties involved accountable from the inception until the completion of the contract. Contracts can be manual or digital. In recent years, most contracts were paper contracts where terms and conditions were written manually. With the rise of technology, contracts have also evolved. They have now become digital, where we have the contract management software that manages all processes involved from the inception up until the end of the contract. The rise of contract management systems has brought about speedy operations in most companies that have adopted the technology.
The evolution of the contract systems
Contract processes have been in existence since times in memorial; businesses sign a contract before indulging in the actual business. Contracts processes used to be manually created whereby they were written on paper, and parties could even draft them together, agreeing on terms to be set for the contract. Manual contracts used to take a lot of time in the execution stage. They needed approvals from various stakeholders who could go through the agreement and either agree or disagree with the contract hence consuming a lot of time. Manual contracts used to be dedicated to a team of experts who could draft them in their legal terms, and this process used to be very expensive.
The rise of technology came with great inventions of contract management software, which helps the business handle various contract creations. The software broke the wrong processes used to draft a contract. Nowadays, it is more accessible to draft a contract at your place’s convenience; you only need to feed the essential details. The agreement is drafted from the templates saved in the contract management software. The modern systems are even more advanced. They are continuing to develop further whereby this software can capture and analyze data to predict the outcome of the contract upon negotiations.
Consideration in a modern contract management software
There are different kinds of Contract management software, and they are readily available in the market for companies and businesses to acquire them. Due diligence before purchasing for one is paramount, as different varieties offer different services. Before getting software for your business, it is good first to identify the challenges and opportunities you want to meet in your business. The following are things to consider in a contract management software service.
- Security: Contract software should be secure from hackers and attack from harmful viruses. Contracts are essential documents in a business, and they are to be kept safe away from unauthorized users who can use the information in the contract inappropriately. They should have the ability to be encrypted with passwords that are only supposed to be shared with the approved personnel handling the contracts.
- Sharing capabilities: contracts formulated should be disseminated to the rightful owners directly without involving a third party. Modern contract management software has the ability of bulk emailing, and you can share the contract with an unlimited number of people.
- Enabled editing abilities: contract management software should allow the parties to edit whenever they feel they want to add or correct some articles in the contract. Editing is enabled in real-time to both parties; this gives evaluation ease and approval of the contract by all parties involved.
- Drafting enabled: while in many businesses there is a need to draft a contract manually while using software, it is elementary to draft an agreement within a short period. If the contract being created has been made several times, there is no need to pressure yourself, for you can draft one comfortably from the system’s templates. It allows a contract to be still fresh as a new contract with few or no repetitions.
- Approvals: before a contract can be actualized, it needs the people in charge to give the go-ahead to implement more. Every company has its set approval protocols that guide how contracts will be issued to different suppliers. This approval protocol is what the supplier will follow as a guide until approval is guaranteed and this approval is automated fully.
- Execution: Execution of a contract can be signed on paper or through the e-signature platform digitally. This makes a contract flexible such that you don’t even need to meet to sign the documents because they can be done online. Good software should offer various execution options to its users.
- Software should be available for audit: all transactions that happen via the system should be well monitored and traced for referencing and audit purposes. The company can audit their suppliers, evaluating them for discussions on contract renewal.
Once a business has identified all these considerations and has done their due diligence on the software to purchase, they can go ahead and try the demo version of the software to have an insight into how the software works.
Contract management software benefits.
Using digitized systems in a business leads to increased productivity; contract management software helps the business by bridging the gaps of contract creation from inception to the contract’s completion. Hence, less time is used, and the resources since every detail are system generated. The use of software ensures minimal mistakes or no errors in the contract. The following are benefits of using contract management software in an organization;
- Time management: less time is used in the implementation of contracts for the whole process is automated, and parties can present their terms, negotiate on them, and do real-time approvals. There is no need to draft materials, scan them, or take them to the company for signatures; the system allows for the electronic signature. Later, the documents are uploaded.
- Optimal Compliance of the contract: contracts ensure every party is represented in creating an agreement from the company’s key stakeholders to the management; they set the terms, and the suppliers sign and agree to follow them thoroughly. The company can also monitor the suppliers and evaluate them through tracking enabled by the software.
- It is a saving plan: using contract management software is less costly than using manual paper contracts where you have to sub-contract another team to draft the agreements on behalf of the company. The manual contract systems’ long processes consume many resources from the company. With contract management software, every process is simple, straightforward, and easy to operate hence evading the long processes taken by a manual formulated contract.
In conclusion, companies and businesses should acquire digitized methods of handling their contracts. This method has been approved to be most effective, and it is productive to the companies that are already using the technology of contract management software services.