A contract management system (CMS) is a program or a series of linked programs that enable businesses to store and manage legal agreements, for example, their contracts with vendors, as well as licensing agreements and leases. When you consider the important role that contracts play in any business, you see why having a good software management solution in place is a must. This can also sometimes be referred to as a Control Lifecycle Management system. Either way, it ensures that all procurement master agreements, service level agreements (SLA) and contracts are effectively produced and managed. In this blog post, we will tell you everything you need to know about contract management systems, so continue reading for more information.
What are the benefits of a Contract Management System?
There are a number of different reasons why businesses of all sizes and natures should consider having a contract management solution in place. This includes the following…
- You will be able to improve compliance. The last thing you want to do is get caught out on the wrong side of the law because you have not managed your contracts effectively. With a contract management system, you can ensure you are in adherence with all elements of the law. Fines can be huge for contract breaches so this is something that really cannot be undervalued.
- Improve document management. Another benefit is that it will be easier for you to manage your documents and control who has access to them and who doesn’t. More and more businesses are moving away from paper and moving all of their documents to the digital world for this very reason.
- Shorten approval times. You will also be able to completely automate the contract process. This means that you can handle everything much more efficiently, shortening the amount of time that is required to put a contract together and get it approved.
- Increase contract visibility. In addition to the benefits already discussed, another reason why you should consider investing in a contract management system is because this will boost contract visibility. This enables extensive reporting and optimal compliance, which would not be the case if you had a contract management system that was paper-based.
What are the features of an effective Contract Management System?
There are lots of different contract management systems on the market today, and so you will want to know how to separate the good from the bad. With that being said, below we are going to take a look at some of the best features you can expect from leading software solutions today.
- Management information that will show you the contracts that are going to take a long time to manage, are close to being renewed, are the most valuable, are costly to manage, and have the greatest risk potential.
- Contact management. This includes structured contract management through its lifecycle, dynamic and interactive workflow managed creation, and template-based creation.
- Request For Proposal (RFP) management. This should include structured RFO management through its lifecycle, as well as dynamic and interactive workflow managed creation, and template-based creation.
- Claims administration so that any non-adherence with the contract can be handled.
- Event management for any issues.
- Document depositories to hold the standard contracts and live contracts used by the company.
- Budgeting and prices for each vendor and product line.
- Agreed delivery schedules with the ability to track them.
- Alerts to indicate any movements that go against expected behavior.
- Compliance monitoring.
- Checklists for managing information and activities within the contract lifecycle.
- Calendars that incorporate milestones that vendors should meet.
- Flexibility to cope with a vendor relationship and the interactions associated with it.
- A core workflow management system, which manages and facilitates new contracts being drawn up and executed.
- Storage for a business’ standardized contracts.
Symfact’s Contract Management Software
Now that you are aware of the different features that a good contract management system should have, you can be sure that you will not be disappointed with the solution we have available at Symfact. We have worked hard to develop one of the most comprehensive yet user-friendly contract management software options on the market today. We assist you in creating contracts and maximizing financial performance and operational risk. Our software features a range of templates, which are all easy-to-use. We also have a number of exciting and effective features. Plus, you can access our software no matter where in the world you are or what device you are using.
