Adopting Contract Lifecycle Management For Superior Contract Reports

Contracts are an integral part of the day-to-day activities of an enterprise. Apart from an organization's everyday operations, legal agreements also affect its financial and reputational position. However, it’s challenging for growing businesses to manage huge contract portfolios without reliable contract reports.   

Organizations are usually sitting on an abundance of untapped contract data. Merely gathering information does not cut it; the organization requires the right tools to analyze the data and draw actionable conclusions. Contract lifecycle management software empowers businesses to aggregate contract data for improved processes. Here is all you need to know about contract management reporting, perks, types, and more.   

What is contract management reporting? 

Contract management reporting is the practice of gathering and evaluating contract data to enhance the contract lifecycle, from compliance and performance to returns and relationships. Collecting and storing information in spreadsheets does not assist data analytics. Efficient contract management reporting helps to identify the most crucial data and act accordingly.   

Contract lifecycle management software provides concise and user-friendly contract reports that enable businesses to sieve through plentiful contract data. Adopting contract management reporting empowers the legal team to improve contract creation, negotiation, approval, execution, and management.  

What are the different types of contract reports? 

Organizations need readily accessible data analytics, information, and materials for a smooth-running operation. The primary function of contract reports is to apprise the organization regarding the contract management process. They highlight the vital points without the contract managers having to mine through the never-ending contract data.   

Contract management reporting becomes effortless when you have intuitive contract lifecycle management software. A few common types of contract reports include: 

• Contract renewal & expiry 

An overview report of all the expiring contracts enables organizations to terminate or renew contractual agreements in time. The contract managers will have a warning period to take the necessary action, thanks to expiry reports. 

• Review & Approval workflow 

Extensive contract reports with information on all the contracts pending review, approval, and signature. Having access to all this information enables contract managers to identify and rectify hurdles in the contract lifecycle.  

• Active and inactive contracts  

A comprehensive overview of all the active contracts in the portfolio can help organizations to stay on top of the contract management process. Also, detailed reports on inactive contracts can help to work out the inefficiencies in the system.  

Why do you need contract management reporting? 

If companies do not use freely accessible contract data, they miss the opportunity to improve contract management and learn from it. Incompetent contract reporting may lead to missed potential opportunities and threats. Staying on top of real-time contract reports enables organizations to track progress effectively.  

• Determining contract trends 

Contract reports are an immense help to organizations to analyze contract history and identify patterns. The contract managers can look at past contract performance, compliance, etc. to determine positive and negative trends. It enables organizations to look at past patterns and make smart decisions. 

• Reducing future risks 

Having a comprehensive report of all the relevant contract data means businesses will not miss vital information. They can utilize contract management reporting to identify the bottlenecks in the contracting process. They can determine financial and legal risks and rectify them before they become a problem for the company. In the longer run, regular contract reports can lead to lesser contract risks. 

• Renewal & Termination 

Contract reports provide the legal team with a definite time frame for contract renewals and termination. Therefore, the company will not be ever late in renewing or terminating a contract. It also enables organizations to draw conclusions regarding the feasibility of a contractual agreement.  

• Avoiding past mistakes 

Having all the past contract-related information in an easily accessible and comprehensible format enables businesses to identify past blunders and flaws in the contract management process. Thus, organizations can avoid repeating these mistakes in the future by optimizing the contract management process.  

What are the advantages of contract management reporting? 

Contract management reporting provides organizations with the necessary information to establish contract compliance, performance, and mitigate the risks in the contracting process. The contract reports help companies keep track of contract milestones, financial data, deadlines, performance indicators, and more. This relevant data at the right time empowers the legal team to make profitable choices. The following are a few of the advantages of contract management reporting: 

• Reduce labor costs 

Contract management reporting means the legal team does not have to spend endless hours mining through contract data for useful information. Consequently, the organization can save money on labor costs and the legal division can shift their focus to high-value tasks. 

• Avoid business loss due to contract delays  

As contract management reporting enables organizations to keep track of contract milestones, they are able to detect avoidable delays in the contracting process. Any hindrance in the review or approval workflows can be detected before they become a bigger issue for the company. Therefore, the business will not end up losing deals or clients due to a delayed contract lifecycle.  

• Improve customer and vendor relationships 

The sales and procurement team require instant access to contract information to serve clients and vendors. But finding the right information is often a tiring task for scaling businesses. Adopting contract management reporting enables the organization to easily locate any relevant contract-related information to aid clients in any situation.  

• Optimizing contract management 

Contract management is a time-consuming and error-prone process. Utilizing contract management reporting enables organizations to work out the kinks in the contract lifecycle. They can take care of delayed payments, missed milestones, and hurdles to perfect the contract management process.  

How does contract lifecycle management help with contract reports? 

Organizations will not be able to utilize available extensive data and information without proper contract reporting capabilities. A proactive contract management process helps you to gain the most from your executed contracts. When companies look for solutions, they opt for SAAS contract management. It provides organizations with a cloud-based secure storage possibility and an intuitive platform.  

As there is no one size fits all solutions, businesses must opt for contract management software with a customizable reporting function. With customized contract reports, organizations can easily find solutions that suit their specific needs and challenges. The following are some tips for making effective use of contract lifecycle management software for contract reports:  

• Stay on top of the contracting process

Transparency and shareability is the key to effective contract management reporting. Fortunately, contract lifecycle management software comes with all the right tools to give users complete control and access over the contracting process. The legal team can oversee the contract workflows and generate reports to ensure that all the processes progress smoothly. In-depth contract management reporting can even shed light on contracting responsibilities and accountable parties. 

• Keep watch over the contract timeline  

A major part of contract management reporting is keeping track of contract milestones and deadlines. The contract lifecycle management software provides users with real-time alerts for contract status, due dates, and other contract milestones. Automated reminders for contract reviews, renewals, and expiry enable the legal team to stay abreast of the contract timeline. The software makes the job easier for the company and they do not have to worry about delayed or missed deadlines. 

• Informed decision-making 

Finding clear patterns in the contract performance can set the tone for upcoming contract management processes. Analyzing past contracts to create proficient reports can help with the future authoring and negotiation process. Employing contract lifecycle management to generate contract reports means that the personnel have real-time access to relevant information. Therefore, they are much more likely to make profitable decisions. Moreover, the contract lifecycle management software allows users to share vital contract reports with invested stakeholders for improved partnerships. 

• Performance monitoring and reporting

With contract lifecycle management software, users can employ KPIs to track contract performance. They can customize the system to generate tailored performance reports. Also, the contract managers can aggregate essential data to assess the value of contracts. Contract management software ensures that performance information is accessible across various departments. They also come with customizable dashboard and user permissions. Therefore, there is no scope for data leakage or duplication. 

• Respond efficiently to unforeseen circumstances 

Contracts are lively and dynamic entities. That is organizations require systems to keep track of changes in the contractual agreement. Contract lifecycle management software provides real-time document status for active contracts. Hence, all the invested parties are well-informed about contract amendments and revisions. Fast-track reporting keeps the contract managers apprised when addressing issues. 

Takeaway  

Efficient contract reporting helps businesses to find potential risk areas or revenue loss. Adopting a contract lifecycle management solution enables users to generate reliable contract reports in no time. They can utilize obligation tracking, customizable dashboard, automated alerts to keep track of the entire contract lifecycle. 

Businesses also might use comprehensive reports as a reference when setting up upcoming contracts. And help the legal team to figure out the flaws of the contracting process. Simplifying contract management reporting with automated solution means organizations can make the most of contract reports without investing a lot of time and effort.