Contract Management Webinars

Contract management is the process of managing contracts with customers, vendors, partners, or employees. It includes negotiating and executing agreements, as well as tracking and monitoring compliance with contractual obligations.

This is a screenshot of the Create Contracts area in Lawson. There’s a lot more that you can do in here, like 832 price catalogs, tiers, rebate tracking, etc.

1. What is Contract Management?

Stephanie: Contract Management is a newer tool that is designed to improve your contract processes and management. It’s meant to automate a lot of the bidding process and renewals that you have. It also allows you to track rebates a little bit better. It has a lot of different structures than the typical Lawson setup that you’re used to.

Some of the features that are really cool are things like 832 price catalogs and a more robust way of managing tiers and rebates. It also has some other utilities that you can run that help with things like pricing changes. For example, if you’re updating your item master file and it goes up 3% there’s a utility that will automatically update all of your contracts with the new prices.

It also has a great feature for relating distributor contracts with manufacturer contracts. So, if you have a special service with a particular vendor, it will actually be loaded into a contract in Contract Management and then it will flow through all the approvals and everything just like normal.

2. What is the Value of Contract Management?

Contracts are a critical part of business, and improperly managed contracts can lead to significant operational costs. In fact, the International Association for Contract and Commercial Management (IACCM) estimates that poor contracting practices result in value leakage of roughly 9.2% of revenue.

A contract management software solution allows organizations to fully leverage the information locked within their contracts. This system centralizes agreements into a single repository, which provides transparency and access for all stakeholders. This enables legal teams to run reports based on any metadata of interest, giving them an increased level of visibility and insight beyond the initial authoring and negotiation phases.

Legal ops teams are well-versed in technology evaluation and process improvement, so they understand the value of a digital platform for managing contracts. Watch this webinar to learn how and why these teams are transforming their processes to unlock the true potential of their contracts. Contracting is a complex endeavor, but with the right tools and best practices, it’s possible to minimize risk and improve overall performance.

3. What are the Best Practices for Contract Management?

Best practices for contract management are centred around visibility, control and compliance. These pillars are the foundations of any solution, whether that be Excel or dedicated CLM software, and must remain the focal point for any business looking to release its full potential.

One of the most common contract management best practices is to use a tool that automates data extraction and allows legal teams to ditch manual admin tasks and return to higher value work. This reduces the risk of missed deadlines, which can have significant financial repercussions.

Another key best practice is to establish a centralised contract repository that is easy to find and access. This avoids stakeholders searching across multiple systems for contracts, which can lead to delays in decision-making and missed contract renewals. This also helps prevent siloed information and a lack of visibility across the organization.

4. What are the Risks of Adopting New Contract Technology?

A streamlined contract management process requires standardized processes, a robust set of tools to prevent value leakage, and visibility into vital business operations. Without these elements, a company risks falling behind its more forward-thinking competitors.

Contracting processes are often complex and prone to human error. Every minute spent on manual tasks like copy-pasting, editing multiple drafts of a contract, and navigating endless email chains detracts from more strategic contract activities. These inefficiencies can lead to unforeseen consequences such as revenue leakage, legal risk, and compliance issues.

A contract management system can help companies overcome these challenges and improve their contracting processes. By automating tedious tasks, reducing data entry errors, and providing real-time visibility into contract status, a CLM solution can help companies prevent value leakage and increase productivity. However, the decision to implement a new technology is not without its own risks. Learn how to avoid common mistakes when implementing a contract management system to ensure your team gets the most value from your investment.

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