Last Updated on March 4, 2024 by Nadeem Ahmed
Cloud software plays a crucial role in enhancing the efficiency of small businesses and startups by streamlining tasks that would otherwise require specialized expertise or costly resources. It allows these businesses to leverage their existing resources effectively and achieve more with limited means. While cloud software is commonly associated with customer relationship management or recruitment operations, there is a need for contract management solutions in this space.
Traditionally, contract management software has been available primarily to law firms or large organizations. However, it is now empowering small businesses to enhance their contracting capabilities without incurring significant legal costs.
In this article, we will explore what contract management looks like without software and highlight five reasons why every small business should utilize contract management software for creating and managing contracts.
So, what happens if you don’t use contract management software? In such a scenario, you might have access to a few pre-approved contract templates that require completion and sending via email for review and signature. Without cloud-based contract management software, you would heavily rely on client templates and your inbox for tracking agreements. While this workflow may appear simple, the process of editing a Word document and keeping track of changes and version differences is time-consuming and prone to risks. Storing documents in filing cabinets is not the most secure method and takes up physical space. Moreover, the only way to verify an executed document is by physically opening the filing cabinet and checking it yourself. Without contract management software, optimizing the contract creation process and managing the entire contract lifecycle becomes challenging. This article delves into the reasons why contract management software is vital in addressing these challenges.
Streamlined contract processes: It eliminates the need for manual contract creation and management. It offers efficient solutions that save time and resources. Without it, businesses would rely on email exchanges and document tracking, which can be time-consuming and prone to errors.
Comprehensive contract overview: Small businesses often struggle to keep track of their contracts and important information such as renewal dates. This software provides a centralized platform that offers real-time dashboards with key contract statistics. It simplifies contract management by automatically updating values based on contract conditions, such as expiries or renewals.
Improved communication and collaboration: Contract management software facilitates better communication with contract parties and streamlines contract administration. It allows multiple teams involved in the contract’s lifecycle to access and work on contracts simultaneously. Additionally, it provides notifications for key contract events, ensuring everyone is on the same page and reducing the need for constant updates.
Informed decision-making: This management software makes important business information readily available. It allows businesses to extract and query contract data, providing insights into the financial impact of contracts, including trial periods and termination clauses. This enables better decision-making based on accurate revenue and expenditure data.
Time and energy savings: It automates tasks and creates a paperless process, resulting in significant time and energy savings. It streamlines communication between parties, eliminates bottlenecks, and reduces administrative workloads. Features like e-signatures enhance the contracting experience and save time on manual paperwork.
Compliance automation: Meeting legal requirements and demonstrating compliance can be challenging for small businesses. It simplifies compliance by providing a digital audit trail from contract creation to signature. It ensures that reporting requirements are met and offers approval workflows to align contract terms with legal requirements.
When choosing contract management software, it’s important to consider compatibility with existing products, such as CRMs and workflows. The needs of the legal department and business users should be taken into account. Pricing should be proportional to the value of contracts and administrative costs. Key functionalities like contract creation, review, risk management, insights, and electronic signatures should be present to provide real value to small businesses. Check Cassie Finance, software that offers all these features in one place.
In summary, contract management software enables small businesses to streamline contract processes, maintain a comprehensive overview, improve communication, make informed decisions, save time and energy, and automate compliance. Choosing the right software with essential features can greatly benefit small businesses and enhance their contract management capabilities.
Apart from that, if you are interested to know about Top Benefits of Digitizing Contract Management then visit our Business category.
