Contract Lifecycle Management is no longer a “nice to have” initiative, but rather a “need to have” business practice. With a direct impact on both revenue and expenses as well as the risk profile of a company, many businesses have an elevated interest in implementing automated solutions. The efficiencies introduced by an automated contract lifecycle solution are numerous–and, as the name suggests-address the complete lifecycle of a contract.

The systems make contract information reportable and actionable-showing contract dates, monetary values, terms, clauses, and obligations at a glance–and allow tasks to be created and assigned to contract managers automatically based on changing information. These systems guide a contract across its lifecycle–from request and creation through negotiation, approval, and signature–to management of contract obligations, renewals, and spending. Today’s contract management systems secure documents based on user permissions and allow integration with Line of Business systems (LOB), email, and e-Signatures.

Contracts are intricate documents that should be evaluated appropriately and when there isn’t a solid review process in place the data may be overlooked. This can leave an organization in a disadvantageous position going forward.