The homeowners in San Francisco’s Presidio Terrace were lucky they won their street back after missing property tax deadlines for 14 years, but most groups or businesses aren’t that fortunate. The Park City Mountain Resort certainly wasn’t!  Missing a single date, even by one day, can mean that the contract isn’t legally binding or that your business won’t get the treatment that was outlined within the contract.  This can cost thousands, or even millions of dollars.  Using contract deadlines, as opposed to evergreen clauses, can give your business the power to negotiate, but that power is gone if the deadline is missed. When it comes to a leasing or service contract, use a great system to stay on top of key dates.  It’s cheap insurance, that will help you avoid costly relocation expenses, higher renewal costs, or unfavorable auto-renewal terms.

Typically, the two most important reasons for choosing a Contract Management System (CMS) are increasing productivity and improving workflow for your team. A good CMS system will streamline contract handling, ensure important dates aren’t missed, and save time finding important information.

Usually a company that’s getting started with a new contract management system has one big worry:

How will I get all my existing contracts into this new system?

If you’re like most companies, you probably are looking for a system because all of the contracts aren’t in one place to begin with.  Or, they’re somewhere that you can’t easily search (and find!) like a shared drive or SharePoint.  The thought of “being organized” is wonderful, but “getting organized” is another story.

The goal of a new Contract Management System is to make your life easier, not harder!  Some systems out there require 6-12 months for implementation, and then training, and learning curves, and change management…

Small to medium size businesses (SMB) need contract management software that meets their needs today, but also prepares them for future growth. While SMBs and their contract management needs may vary to some degree, there is a core set of functionality that are generally important for almost all companies.

The best contract management software for small or medium businesses will include some common requirements all companies need, such as contract storage, tracking, alerts, and sharing. There are other features that some may need, but not all, like authoring and red-lining.

In this post, we’re going to explore why most businesses will benefit from a contract management solution (CMS), and how choosing the right one can save you time and money—and frustration-- by streamlining your processes and keeping you in compliance.

A lot of Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) software is created for large companies with very high contracting volumes and full contract lifecycle needs- from drafting a contract to contract renewal. Most businesses don’t need these capabilities and can’t afford these larger solutions. They do not generally draft their own contracts -- they’re often the ones signing contracts created by external third party vendors.