The best contract management software

Writing a contract is only the beginning of the contract process. There are a lot of ways the rest of the process could get off track.

It’s common to send a contract to the other party, but they never countersign it. This can leave you unprotected. Or maybe a lot of deadlines are attached to your contracts, and you have a hard time keeping track of all of them. If you enter into a lot of contracts, you may want to consider contract management software to help you keep up with everything.

The best contract management software products can store your contracts — including your standard contract templates — and use workflows to help you create new contracts, which saves you the time and trouble of creating new contracts from scratch every time you need one.

You can set up contract management software to alert you when deadlines are approaching, and track delivery schedules, use electronic signatures on your contracts, and keep track of any compliance issues that may arise.

There are many different options for contract management software. The best contract management software program for your organization may not work for another organization.

Some programs are better for larger enterprises that deal with millions of dollars in contracts each year, while others are more basic packages that simply help manage versions of contracts and provide electronic signature capabilities.

There are programs that integrate with Office 365 so that you can create and edit your contracts in Microsoft Word, while others connect to large enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. What you choose depends on the needs of your organization. Here are some of the options.

1. SAP Ariba

For large enterprises, SAP Ariba provides a suite of solutions that can control all aspects of contract management, from standardizing the contract process to creating a full audit trail for contract activity. SAP Ariba integrates with other SAP products and ERP systems.

2. Concord

For smaller companies, Concord is a full contract management software platform that helps users create, negotiate, electronically sign, and store agreements. Concord includes a repository to manage standard contract clauses and connects to Salesforce, Dropbox, and DocuSign, among other programs. Concord also has an API that lets you add it to your own applications.

3. PandaDoc

Another program aimed at smaller companies is PandaDoc. This product can populate contracts with data from your existing customer relationship management (CRM) systems.

PandaDoc integrates with services like PayPal and Stripe, along with HubSpot and Salesforce, and offers electronic signature capabilities and workflow management. You can use it to keep track of proposals, quotes, and contracts.

4. ConvergePoint

If your organization uses Microsoft SharePoint, you should consider ConvergePoint, a contract management software package that’s built on the same platform. It allows you to manage contract requests, reviews, and approvals.

With ConvergePoint, you can set up automatic reminders for key dates in your contracts and includes a version control feature to manage negotiations. You can also purchase an add-in to use ConvergePoint with Microsoft Office 365.

5. Corridor Contracts 365

Ideal for companies in a variety of industries, Corridor Contracts 365 is a full contract management platform that includes workflow capabilities and the ability to automatically generate contracts. You can access your clause library from Word and approve changes to the contracts in Outlook.

Corridor Contracts 365 can also automatically extract contract obligations from the documents and set up alerts to keep you on track. It’s built entirely on the Microsoft Cloud.

6. Agiloft

If you’re looking for a free contract management software program, consider Agiloft. There’s no charge for up to 10 users.

The program allows you to customize your contracts and uses a wizard to help you create new contracts. You can also directly edit files in Microsoft Word and integrate with Agiloft’s Workflow BPM product for workflow management.

These are just a few of the contract management software packages available. Before you choose one, evaluate what you actually need and what you’re already using in your organization.

For example, if you’re a small business, and you want something simple, you could choose a product like Agiloft. But if you’re a large enterprise and already use SAP products, you might seriously consider SAP Ariba.

Ultimately, you’ll want something that’s easy to use so your organization will adopt it. As with contracts, don’t be afraid to take your time evaluating programs before making a final decision.

AS ALWAYS, CONSULT AN ATTORNEY BEFORE RELYING ON ANY FORM CONTRACT OR  CONTRACT TEMPLATE. THE CONTENT ABOVE IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY.