Congratulations! You’re doing good business, and your company isn’t just off the ground – it’s soaring. You started with some staff, a few suppliers and a couple of excellent sales, and you labelled and stacked all those agreements neatly in your filing room. But that was a long time ago. Since then, you’ve had to deal with resignations, new hires, renegotiations and amendments while ensuring that you remain airborne – and your filing room is in chaos. The issues that contract lifecycle management seeks to address.

What is contract lifecycle management?

‘Contract lifecycle management’ covers the entire contractual process, from drafting to signature to renewal and beyond. At its core, it’s a management process that encourages you to take proactive steps towards handling every aspect of contracting efficiently, saving you time, money and tears.

That said, contract lifecycle management isn’t for everyone. Or rather, a sophisticated administration or software system isn’t always necessary to manage your contracts effectively. Many small businesses get by on more informal processes – provided the number of contracts or issues arising from them don’t get too high.

What issues can you solve by implementing contract lifecycle management?

As your business grows, so does its risk exposure in several areas. For many organisations, contract lifecycle management tools, including software, can provide some help, including with:

  • High volumes: A high volume of contracts with varying levels of complexity – like multi-year, multi-million-pound contracts – can make it challenging to manage them manually. The sheer number of contracts can lead to administrative overload and an increased risk of errors or omissions.
  • Different initiators: Where other departments manage contracts, such as legal, procurement, sales and finance, it can be challenging to track all contracts and related activities, including contract terms, obligations, and expiration dates. This can result in inefficiencies, missed deadlines, and compliance issues, impacting the organisation’s bottom line and reputation.
  • Different stakeholders: Maintaining clear communication and good collaboration between various departments and stakeholders involved in the contract management process is vital. This lack of transparency can lead to confusion and inefficiencies if the relevant parties are locked in their siles.
  • Compliance obligations: Businesses are also subject to compliance and regulatory requirements, varying by industry and location. Failing to comply with these requirements can result in penalties, fines, or legal disputes, further complicating contract management processes.

How else can contract lifecycle management help you?

In addition to solving the issues described above, contract lifecycle management processes or software can help you to:

  • Reduce contract cycle times: You can automate various contract management processes like contract creation, negotiation, and approval. Contract management software can also provide automated alerts and reminders, ensuring contracts are renewed or terminated on time.
  • Reduce costs: Manual contract management processes can be time-consuming and costly. Contract management software can help reduce costs by automating processes and reducing the time and effort required to manage contracts.

How can we help you?

We can help you identify when contract lifecycle management processes or software can benefit your organisation. We can also point you to some of the most suitable software systems out in the market and the right questions to ask yourself when choosing which one to implement.