How CMS Integrated Dynamics 365 Means Enhanced Contract Compliance

Competent contracts are an integral part of running a healthy business. They outline an organization's relationship with its employees, suppliers, and customers. Creating and managing contracts is hard enough, but ensuring compliance after execution? That is a dire task. And when numerous legal agreements and parties are involved, it is bound to get complicated.

Generally, contract compliance falls under the control of the legal department. Thanks to technology and contract management software, it is now the collective responsibility of an organization. To review and enforce legal terms and conditions regularly. Contract compliance, an indispensable part of risk management strategy, is essential for businesses to prevent future disputes. This blog post will discuss the importance of contract compliance for modern enterprises and how the CMS-integrated Dynamics 365 system enhances contract compliance. 

What is contract compliance?

Contract compliance refers to adhering to the guidelines and conditions outlined in a contract. It is an ongoing process, and businesses need to review it periodically to prevent deviations.  

During the contract negotiation process, the stakeholders discuss and finalize the terms of the agreement. Once the legal agreement is signed, it is entirely about sticking to those terms. Compliance is a crucial component of contract risk management, which shields a company against unnecessary expenses and fraud. Every stage of the contracting process must comply with the agreed-upon conditions. Adhering to those guidelines ensures that the businesses receive maximum value from the contract. Efficient contract compliance can boost a company's productivity and revenue.  

Why is contract compliance important 

An efficient contract is the foundation of a successful business relationship. They contain all the rules and guidelines that will govern the relationship. But contracts can be a source of risk, inefficiency, and delay. Hence, every organization must implement inquiries and checks to establish complete compliance. It helps companies to achieve their desired targets and avoid financial complications.   

Contract compliance also aids organizations with employees, vendors, and customer retention. Because if both parties uphold the terms mentioned in the contracts, they are more likely to continue their relationship. Also, the consequences of non-compliance with a legally binding document are endless. Such as:

• Failing to meet contract standards may severely affect an organization’s reputation and trustworthiness. 
• The relationship between a company's contracts and its income and profit is undeniable. Hence, non-compliance may lead a company to financial difficulties like penalties, fines, and damages. 
• An organization cannot ensure consistent quality of goods and services if it does not adhere to the requirements of a contract.  

Thus, following the contract to a T is the best way for an organization to guarantee maximum productivity and profit. Moreover, they must ensure contract compliance at every stage of the contracting process. But it is easier said than done. Particularly for companies handling contracts at scale. Let us look at some of the difficulties encountered by the legal team while ensuring contract compliance. 

What are the constraints in contract compliance?  

Firstly, organizations often do not have a designated team or person to manage contract compliance. As a result, the responsibility falls under the legal department. It can be a challenging job for the legal team alone in a growing company with too many contracts. Moreover, compliance requires patience, time, and attention to detail. It can put a strain on the already swamped-up legal team. 

Secondly, businesses usually do not have the foresight to adopt a workflow that facilitates compliance checks. It would be challenging to build and sustain contract compliance with limited resources. Lastly, the legal and business landscape is forever changing. Keeping up with these daily changing laws and regulations can be demanding for any business. But adopting a CMS-integrated Dynamics 365 system can go a long way in mitigating the compliance process.  

How CMS integrated Dynamics 365 improves compliance 

Dynamics 365 and Contract Management Software are both sought-after platforms among enterprises. But integrating these two business solutions can mean better results for businesses. Assimilating your sales and contracting activities from a single platform provides a streamlined contract management process. An efficient CLM makes it easier for organizations to establish contract compliance.  

• Improved data accuracy 

The first step in ensuring contract compliance is to create proficient and effective contracts. Inadequate and inefficient legal documents can lead to non-compliance. To avoid such blunders, companies require error-free information at the right place and time. CMS integrated Dynamics 365 system empowers organizations to generate contracts without any scope for error or confusion.  

The Dynamics 365 CRM platform collects and stores all the necessary information about a customer. Businesses can easily upload customer and contract data to CMS using the integrated system, eliminating the need for manual entry. The two platforms easily allow sharing of customer data, contract information, and other information. When the contracts generated are accurate, it is easier for the stakeholders to comply with the terms and conditions. It eliminates the threat of misunderstanding or miscommunication.

• Improved transparency and tracking 

Organizations can improve their contract visibility management process by integrating Dynamics 365 with CMS. All contracts and account information will be accessible to the organization from a single platform. Easy access to contracts and relevant data helps the sales and other teams establish compliance. Contract compliance can considerably increase when the correct tools and resources are available across departments.  

With rigorous negotiations and multiple approvers, it is hard to keep track of the final version. As a result, the legal team may overlook crucial information affecting contract compliance. But the integrated system comes with customized workflows and version controls for easy contract monitoring. When organizations have reliable and transparent workflows available, they can minimize risks and initiate contract compliance. 

• Standardized contract management processes 

CMS integrated Dynamics 365 system ensures that the sales and legal team are consistent in their approach to contract compliance. There is no plausibility of straying from regulations with a transparent workflow and standardized contract management process. All the collaborators are aware of the relevant terms and conditions. Thus, they will be able to generate and maintain compliant contracts.  

Also, the contract templates and customer data available through the integrated system make it easier for the sales department to create competent self-service contracts. The shared data hub, templates, and centralized repositories empower teams to prepare legal documents with minimum risk. It eliminates inaccuracies and ensures contract compliance.  

• Monitor contract performance

It is helpful to set a standard for conformance for specific contracts to determine compliance for a business. Each legal document comes with a set of goals and checkpoints. With direct access to individual contracts, the sales team can assess the status of each contract across these goals. It enables the organization to measure contract performance against specific metrics.  

As the relevant client information is freely accessible through the CRM, an integrated system helps you to track the entire customer’s journey. It enables the sales team to identify and record performance indicators. Monitoring sales and revenue metrics through CMS integrated Dynamics 365 system helps to gauge contract performance and compliance. They can set standards for performance and readily identify areas of improvement. The integrated system also provides timely reminders for contract renewals and expiry. Consequently, the sales team can stay on top of the contract lifecycle from the CRM platform itself. Sticking to deadlines and expiration dates can improve compliance.  

• Centralized repositories 

How contracts are stored and accessed plays a significant role in establishing compliance. It is a waste of time and resources if the legal team must go through hundreds of files to find a contract. Through the integrated system, organizations can safely archive all the executed contracts in a single place. 

Having centralized repositories enables organizations to have complete version controls. It ensures that the finalized contracts are readily available across all departments. Moreover, the CMS platform comes with advanced search capabilities. Users can instantly search and analyze contract data to make informed and timely decisions. Consequently, the sales and other departments can readily access relevant contract data anytime to establish compliance.  

In short

Even minor errors and omissions can undermine the credibility and performance of a contract. Hence, contract compliance must be appropriated through the entire contract management process so that the outcome of every stage of the lifecycle is a compliant and efficient contract. Implementing a CMS-integrated Dynamics 365 system empowers your teams to take ownership of compliance. The tools and resources provided by the integrated system can make the compliance process go smoother. Moreover, it also helps businesses to identify and rectify compliance issues.  

Complying with a contract means achieving all the goals and conditions set by the document. But for a business, improved contract compliance means better efficiency and profit in the long run. By compliance, an organization enhances its chance of renewal and expansion. Schedule a live demo of the Dynamics 365 integrated contract management software to learn more.