Currently CMx supports below languages as part of internationalization and localization efforts, however, the goal is to support all available languages at some point.
if you think a language is missing in below list, let us know at support@sysintellects.com and we will gladly add the language in the next immediate release:
All the emails generated from CMx are by default with an email address named: “noreply@sysintellects.com”
As a CMx administrator who have access to Company Profile and Advanced Configurations, there is an option to change that “noreply@sysintellects.com” to your own company email by following below steps:
Step 1: Request your IT team to Create a new (or use existing email) SMTP email inbox for use by CMx . For example: contract-management@yourcompany.com . Make sure your IT team provides you the configuration description values especially the underlined ones.
Step 2: Add below configurations to Company Profile → Advanced Configurations
In Order to configure custom SMTP email - from address instead of using “noreply@sysintellects.com” , Go to Company Profile → Advanced Configuration and add below configurations with correct values.
How the Company's Communication Process Benefits the Client Throughout the Project
When you partner with our company, a robust communication process ensures you're involved every step of the way, from the initial consultation to the project's close. Here's how it benefits you:
- Initial Engagement: From the very first meeting, you'll experience open dialogues where your ideas shape the design discussion. We prioritize understanding your vision, ensuring your input lays the groundwork for the project.
- Ongoing Updates: Throughout the entire project lifecycle, we maintain consistent communication. You'll receive regular updates and have the opportunity to provide feedback, ensuring that the project aligns with your expectations.
- Tailored Decision Making: Your involvement in key decisions allows us to tailor the project to your specific needs, giving you control and ensuring satisfaction with the final outcome.
- Attention to Detail: We emphasize meticulous attention to detail. Our focused communication channels mean that quality and every intricate aspect receive the attention they deserve, ultimately benefiting you with a superior end product.
This seamless communication process not only keeps you informed but deeply integrates your needs and expectations into the project, resulting in a product that truly reflects your vision.
What is the Level of Communication Between the Builder and the Client During a Project?
The communication between the builder and the client is highly comprehensive and interactive. From the initial consultation and design discussions, every aspect of the project is openly reviewed and planned in collaboration with the client. This ensures that the client's vision is at the heart of the project.
- Initial Consultation: Right from the start, clients are engaged in thorough discussions to outline their needs and aspirations.
- Continuous Updates: Throughout the project's lifecycle, regular updates and evaluations are provided, ensuring that clients are never left in the dark about progress.
- Client-Driven Decisions: Every decision made during the project is directly influenced by the client's feedback and preferences, ensuring their satisfaction with the project's direction.
- Attention to Detail: A meticulous focus on every detail, quality, and aspect of the project highlights the builder's commitment to meeting client expectations.
This constant and detailed communication ensures that the client feels involved and valued throughout the entire process.
Goto Manage Configurations from Logout Menu and then Click on Create New Configuration.
Following account level configurations are supported by CMx.
Contract Stage and Status
Download URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/cmx-downloads/CMxWordSetup.msi
How to install the Word Plugin
- Once the user logs into the application, by clicking on his username, a user will be able to see a menu option "Download Word Plugin". Clicking on "Download Word Plugin" will download the installer locally which can be installed.
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2. Double Click on the Installer Downloaded to proceed with the installation
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3. Click on the "Next" button.
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4. Click on the "Next" button.
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5. Click on the "Close" button and on opening MS Word, a user should be able to see the CMx plugin.
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6. The user can sign in by Clicking on "Sign-in" option from the menu. Once the user logs in by providing valid credentials, the menu options to search Clause Library, Contract, Templates etc.
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Search for Existing Clauses in the System.
Once the user has successfully signed in, Clicking on "Clause Library" will provide the user with an option to search for the Clauses created for the Organization, based on Clause text or based on Clause Category
By selecting the clause category and clicking on "Search", the application will display the clauses for the selected category
- Search by Clause Category
- Search by Clause Name
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A user can drag and drop the clause from the results to the document pane.
Search for all Existing Clauses list in the System.
Clicking on "Clause Library" will provide the user with an option to search for the Clauses created for the Organization, based on Clause text or based on Clause Category
By clicking on "Search", an application will display the list of all the clauses in the system.
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Search for existing Contracts in the system.
Clicking on "Contract Repository" will provide the user with an option to search for the Contract created for the Organization. The application provided the user to search by Contract Number, Contract Title, Contract Owners, Department, Location, Contracting Party, Contracting Party type etc.
Ex: Search by Contract Number:
Enter Contract Number in the Keyword field and select "Contract Number" and click on "Search".
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Ex: Search by Contract Title:
Enter Contract Title in the Keyword field and select "Contract Title" and click on "Search".
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Ex: Search by Contract Owners
Enter Contract Owners in the Keyword field and select "Contract Owners" and click on "Search".
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Ex: Search by Departments:
Enter Departments in the Keyword field and select "Departments" and click on "Search".
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Ex: Search by Locations
Enter Locations in the Keyword field and select "Locations" and click on "Search".
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Ex: Search by Contracting Party
Enter Contracting Party in the Keyword field and select "Contracting Party" and click on "Search".
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Ex: Search by Contracting Party Type:
Enter Contracting Party Type in the Keyword field and select "Contracting Party Type" and click on "Search".
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Ex: Search by Document Attachment Contents:
Select "Document Attachment Contents" and click on "Search".
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Ex: Search by Document Attachment File Name:
Enter Document name in a keyword, Select "Document Attachment File Name" and click on "Search".
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Search for existing Contract templates in the System
The application provides the user to search for existing Contract templates in the system, which are tied to a Contract type. The user can search for those templates, and modify those templates from the Authoring plugin
Clicking on the Templates, the menu option will provide the user with options to search for Contract types in the system.
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The user can double click on the template document attached and make modifications to the template and save the document.
CMx Word Plugin Screenshots:
Using Generate Contract function, you can generate word documents from MS Word template embedded with custom field values (When required) with the click of a button and share it internally or externally within CMx.
See Quick Demonstration Video here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VpirdthME1VcClqgOUYCiGRii0kPXrp8/view
Follow below setup for creating a word template and annotating the word template with replaceable values wherever required within the word document:
(1) Creating a Microsoft Word Template Document.
Download Here. (Note: This is a simple .docx file with annotations which is used as a master template document for generating further documents from it)
Note the annotations within ${}, these are the dynamic fields CMx replaces with actual values when generating the word contract document. For example ${ContractingParty} refers to the party name with whom the contractual obligation is being made.
Reserved Keywords (NOT to use in Custom Field Names)
Annotating Commonly Used Fields
Annotating using Default Main Fields
By default CMx adds below properties into the generated document when embedded within the word template document:
Annotating using Custom Fields
Use below steps to annotate MS Word document using Custom Fields.
- Create Custom Field Form in CMx without any white spaces.
- Use the same exact field name (case sensitive) to annotate similar to default main fields above
- For example, if the field name is: BillingRate, the annotated value in the template will be: ${BillingRate}
Note: Spaces and special characters are NOT allowed in custom field annotations, means no ' and ô or any other special characters.
Supported Additional Template Fields
CMx adds below properties into the generated document when embedded within the word template document:
(3) Generated Contract Document:
And the Contract Generated will have the data in tabular format once annotated correctly.
(2) Create Contract Template in CMx with the MS Word document annotated in Step 1.
Click on Contract Templates from the left navigation menu and then on Create Contract Template.
Enter a name and description for the contract template and browse for the MS Word document template created in Step1 and click on Create button.
Verify that the Contract Template is created successfully in the Manage Contract Template screen.
(3) Create Custom Field Form in CMx if there are any custom field values that are required in the generated Contract Word Document. (OPTIONAL STEP)
Click on Custom Field form on the left navigation menu.
Provide and name, description for the custom field form. Drag and drop required custom fields.
(NOTE: White spaces are not supported in custom field names for generate contract annotations. For example: "Billing Rate" is not supported. The correct field name is: "BillingRate")
Drag and drop a single line text from right to left section.
The new field will appear like above with label as "New text".
Click on the second icon pointed by the red arrow and it will bring up the Options dialog screen.
Provide Label name without numbers or special characters or white spaces as above and click on Okay button.
Provided Label name should be visible above the custom field text as similar to below.
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Add all the required single line text fields that you need following above steps.
Once done, Scroll all the way down and click on Create or Update button to save the custom field form.
(3) Create a Contract Type and attach the Contract Template and Custom Field Form created in step 1 and 2 above.
Click on Contract Types from the left navigation menu and click on create contract type.
Provide Name and description and select the contract template created in step 1 above and custom field form in step 2.
Click on Create/Update.
Verify in Manage Contract Types screen that a record exists with the details of updates that you made above.
Admin User can assign permissions to the newly created and existing roles. business users can Manage and Create Permission Schemes.
Manage Permission Schemes screen displays the list of all existing Permission Schemes. To view the manage screen, click on Permission Schemes link in the menu under Administration.
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In the Manage Permission Schemes screen, click on Create button to create a new Permission Schemes, click on Edit button to update an existing record, click on delete button to delete the record.
Click here: 3. Permission Schemes for knowing more on how to Manage Permission schemes...
CMx provides ample feature for specifying Roles to different users based on the tasks they need to perform.
Admin User can Manage details of each Role. In Role business, users can Manage and Create Role.
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Manage Role screen displays the list of all existing Role. To view the manage screen, click on Role link in the menu under Administration. In the Manage Role screen, click on Create button to create a new Role, click on Edit button to update an existing record, click on delete button to delete the record.
For more Information on how to do the Create/Update/Delete Role click here: 4. Role
Users are the inevitable part of any Contract Management systems.
Admin User can Manage User details. Business users can Manage and Create User.
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Manage User screen displays the list of all existing User. To view the manage screen, click on User link in the menu under Administration. In the Manage User screen, click on Create button to create a new User, click on Edit button to update an existing record, click on Reset Password button to reset the password for that particular record.
For more information on how to setup a user click here: 5. User
Admin User can Manage Company Location details.
In Location business, users can Manage and Create Location and these locations will be associated with different Departments.
Manage Location screen displays the list of all existing Location. To view the manage screen, click on Location link in the menu under Administration.
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Note: The Location associated with specific Department, if that Department is associated with particular Contract, then the Location cannot be deleted.
For information on how to do the Create/Update/Delete Location click here... 2. Location
Department is a specialized functional area within an organization or a division, such as accounting, marketing, planning, etc. where the admin user can manage company’s department details.
Admin user can manage Company department details. In Department, business users can Manage and Create departments.
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Each department is assigned to locations and Location cannot be deleted unless that department is used in any of contracts...
For more details click here....: 1. Department
Contract Clause Category concerns with specific clauses.
Clause Category conceptualize the idea of grouping clauses of specific category or buckets so that it makes organizing clauses easier.
For example, all the Legal clauses can be categorized into Legal Clause.
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Click here: 2. Clause Category to know more about how to Create/Edit/Delete actions are done in Clause Category.
Special Terms and Conditions for the Contracts are stored in Clause Library.
Clause Library is the central storage area where all of your organization's clause text's are stored so that they can be reused again in new or existing contracts.
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For knowing more about how to implement Create/Edit/Delete on Clause Library, click here: 1. Clause Library
These are Standard forms of contract which is usually a pre-printed contract containing set clauses.
This feature provides user to manage contract templates which can contain user-defined custom fields.
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Contract Template is the centralized area where all the template documents across the company can be stored and updated. A contract template is used in Generating Contract using CMx.
In this feature, the user can Manage and Create a Contract template.
Go to Contract Template from menu, Displays Manage contract Template page, where a user can see following columns in a grid.
1.Template Name
2. Description
3.Status
4.Action
For more details on how to work on Contract Template, click here: g. Contract Templates
Contracting Party type refers to the various types/buckets contracting party can be categorized.
This feature provides user to manage contracting party type.
For more details on how to Create/Update/Delete, Contracting Party clicks on the link : i. Contracting Party Type
Contracting Party is the business entity that enters into a legally binding contract with the current organization who creates the contract.
This feature provides user to manage contracting party details.
While creating Contracting Party user need to provide details of all the entities in the Contracting Party form along with Contact details.
Click: h. Contracting Party for more details on how to implement Contracting Party[Create/Update/Delete].
Custom Field Form is a user-defined form with multiple control definitions using a designer and a name.
Click on Custom Field Form from the menu, Manage Custom Field Form Page displays with following columns in the grid.
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Custom filed form feature helps the CMx user to customize the forms as per the user needs in an effective and easy manner.
For how to Process Custom Field Form details click here: f. Custom Field Form
Contract Types are used to classify a contract based on the functional context.
Manage contract type screen displays the list of all existing contract types. To view the manage screen, click on Contract Type link in the menu.
In the Manage contract type screen, click on Create Contract Type button to create a new contract type, click on Edit button to update an existing record, click on delete button to delete the record.
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For the step by step procedure to How to Create/Edit/Delete, Contract Type click here: e. Contract Types
Workflow is a Progression of steps /tasks that comprise a work process, involve two or more persons.
This Provides user to define a workflow for contract approvals.
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For more info on how to work with Approval Workflow, click on the link: k. Approval Workflow
Once a contract has been created in the system, contract owner can send the contract for Review as per the workflow configured for the contract
Pre-requisite: A workflow should be created in the system and the same should be assigned to Contract.
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For sending a contract for internal review click here to follow the steps involved: f. Sent For Internal Review
CMx provides options to restrict view and edit access at the contract level.
To access this feature goto Create or Edit Contract which you want to restrict access to and Click on the Lock Icon towards the top right of the Contract Screen.
This user action will bring up the Restrictions Pop Up where the user can select the user(s) and/or group(s) with whom the access of the contract is to be restricted.
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Once the User(s) and/or Group(s) are selected, click on Save Changes to finalize the changes. This action enables the contract to be visible or editable or both for the set of user(s) and/or Group(s).
CMx user can export the contracts that he has access to.
- Click on Export Contracts link from the left navigation menu and then again click on Export Contracts, page displays with existing contracts in the system
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- Choose the contracts by checking the checkbox, which has to be exported.
- On selecting the contracts, click on "Export" tab on the extreme right side of the export screen.
- All metadata goes in as a single excel file, with all contract details.
- Each individual folder named with contract number-contract title format.
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The extracted excel file :
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CMx provides a distinguished feature to Import external Contracts and Contracting Party into the system.
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There are two options to fulfill the Import actions.
a. Basic Import
b. Import by Contracting Party
While importing Contracts user needs to correct the errors in Pre-validation Grid and Click on Import button on right side corner to import the validated contracts.
The imported actions can be viewed in Import Status Tab.
For more details on how to import a Contract or Contracting Party, click on the Link: l. Import Contracts
CMx provides ample feature for searching any type of data in CMx both text type content in text documents and from image files as well.
Advanced Search facility can be utilized by users to accomplish all the searches in CMx by both Filtered Search and Full-Text Search, thereby searching any content in contracts of CMx.
The Advanced Search Menu is linked to the Contract Repository and user can select that option to do the searching in CMx
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For more details on How to do Advanced Search, click here: b. Advanced Search
Users who have permission to delete a contract already existed in manage contacts list can be purged by the user.
The Purge Contract option is attached to Contract Number submenu in manage contract as well as in Advance search Filtered Search- Contract Number link
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Click on the following link to get more information on How to Delete a contract: j. Purge Contract
Contract Creation is one of the most important activities in Contract Management system.
Any user who have to create permission assigned to creating a contract can create a new contract by adding documents, Clauses, Milestones, Notes, Restrictions etc...
For Creating a contract user can either click on the Create Contract Button in the Manage Contract Page or can choose the direct link in Contract Repository submenu.
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For Detailed information on how to Create a Contract, click here: d. Create Contract
Manage contracts screen displays the list of all existing contracts in a centralized Grid with many features added to it for accomplishing different purposes on each contract.
To view the manage screen, click on Manage Contracts link in the menu.
In the Manage contracts screen, the user can notice different options, one to Create contract button to create a new contract, click on Contract number drop-down, where you can see different actions and Contract Settings Button to set values on contracts while create/update.
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For more information on How does Manage Contract Works, click here: c. Manage Contracts
Getting Started
This session gives the User hints on how to accomplish each action on CMx.
a. How to work on Manage Contracts in CMx?
b. How to Create Contract in CMx?
d. How to do Advanced Search in CMx?
e. How to Import Contracts to CMx?
f. How to Export Contracts from CMx?
g. How to Restrict Access At Contract Level?
h. How to Sent a Contract for Internal Review?
i. How to Create/Update/Delete Approval Workflow?
j. How to Create/Edit/Delete Contract Types?
k. How to Create/Edit/Delete Custom Field Form?
l. How to Add/Edit/Delete Contracting Party?
m. How to set up Contracting Party Type in CMx?
n. How to Set up a Contract Template in CMx?
o.How to Access Clause Library?
p. How to work on Clause Category?
q. How to Create/Update/Delete a Department?
r. How To Create/Update/Delete Locations in CMx?
s. How to Setup a new user in CMx?
t. How to set Roles for Users?
u. How to Manage Permission Schemes in CMx?
Email notifications in CMx may be configured with custom email formats in html or plain text. Please use Manage Configurations to create configuration name and description described below for customizing various email template formats:
Approval and Sign notifications:
Configuration Name:
Mandatory variables in email template (Must be available):
Example:
Configuration description:
Contract Expire notification:
Configuration:
Mandatory variables in email template (Must be available):
Share Document notification:
Configuration:
Example:
Milestone Expired notification:
Configuration:
Possible variables:
Request Creation Successful:
Configuration:
Possible variables:
New User Invite notification:
Configuration:
Possible variables:
Sign Request notification:
Configuration:
Possible variables:
Sign Complete notification:
Configuration:
Possible variables:
The final signed PDF document will be attached to email message.
Send Contract to External Review notification:
Configuration:
Possible variables:
Send notification on complete the Manual signature:
Configuration:
Possible variables:
Contract Send for Approval notification:
Configuration:
Possible variables:
Contract Requested Changes notification:
Configuration:
Possible variables:
Workflow Step approval notification:
Configuration:
Possible variables:
Task Reminder notification:
Configuration:
Possible variables:
Report notification:
Configuration:
Possible variables:
HTML Sample
This section provides details about the various email notifications and other types of alerts generated by CMx.
Contract Expiry Email
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Contract Review Request Email
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Approval Workflow Step
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Shared Document Notification Mail
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Milestone Review Notification Email
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Contract Sign Request Email
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Signature Completed Email
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CMx Contract Experience product is available in two versions:
(1) Cloud Contract Management Software
(2) On-Premises/ In-Office Contract Management Software
CMx provides product support for all its features and users can ask queries and sent feedback to:
Email support@contractexperience.com
Thank You!
In order to configure custom email sender address, below steps needs to be done and confirmed by someone from your IT team so that CMx can use your preferred verified sender email:
(1) Create a new email address inbox, which will be used to send automatic notification emails from Contract Management System (CMx). We do not need access to this email inbox and only you will have access.
Examples:
contracts@yourdomain.com
notifications@yourdomain.com
cmx@yourdomain.com
This shall be a “noreply” kind of email. for which you can be the “owner” of this address.
(2) “n order to configure the sender email in CMx instance, there are few steps that need to be done by your IT or someone who can access to your domain (yourdomain.com) DNS records:
The steps include verification of the domain, DKIM and SPF settings of the sender domain which is explained in detail in below URL , so the person should have access to make additions (adding TXT records) to the existing DNS records.
Below is a sample of our current configuration for "noreply@sysintellects.com" for which you can see that it is verified (all green checks) , DKIM Valid and SPF Valid.
(3) Once above 2 steps are done please confirm back to us at : support@sysintellects.com and we will check and make sure it shows green and do the rest of the configuration.
For best user experience with CMx, enabling below browser setting is recommended:
- Add your CMx URL to trusted sites in your Browser.
For example if you are using Chrome or Fiefox or Safari or IE , follow below steps (Note: In different browsers , this setting will be usually in Browser Options or Browser Preferences)
In IE 11, Click on the Tools Settings icon → Internet Options → Security Tab → Trusted Sites → Click sites button
This section covers all best practices, standard operating procedures, and troubleshooting for specific issues in CMx Contract Experience Platform.
Contact: support@sysintellects.com in case if you are not able to find a resolution for your specific problem here.
Browser Support:
By default, CMx Supports all modern browsers such as Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, and Opera. However, due to the differences in browser implementations, there may be a need to change few settings in some of the browsers and this knowledge base captures them all.
Only Admin can View and update the company details in Company Profile page.
How to View and Update Company Profile page:
- Click on the Company profile link from menu under Organization Setting
2.Company Profile Page displays with the Following sections-
a. Organization Details
b. Primary Contact Details
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Organization Details:
Under organization detail we have following Default entry fields.
- Name
- Company Website
- Address Line 1
- Portal URL Short Name
- Address Line 2
- Select Industry Type
- Select the Country
- Select State
- Company Phone
- City
- Zip Code
- Primary Contact Details:
- Under primary Contact Details we have following Fields
- Primary Contact’s First Name
- Primary Contact’s Last Name
- Primary Phone
- Alternate Phone - This is not a mandatory field, however alternate phone and primary phone cannot be the same.
- Logo : There is a logo section in company profile, click on "Choose file" where company administrator can update the cropped company logo . This logo is visible in the custom account login page.
Company logo is saved .
All the above fields are default entries,you can view and update the changes and Click on "Submit" button.
If there are no changes,and get back to the Dashboard page click on "Cancel" button.
Admin User can Manage details of each Group.
Different Users can be assigned to groups for specific activities.
Manage Group
Manage Group screen displays the list of all existing available groups.
To view the manage screen, click on Group link in the menu under Organization Settings.
In the Manage Role screen, click on Create button to create a new Group, click on Edit button to update an existing record, click on delete button to delete the record.
Create Group
To Create a new Group
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- Enter the Name and Description
- Select Group Type.
- Check/Unchecked Is Active button.
- Click on Create button
- New Group is created in the system and navigates to the Manage screen, displaying the newly created Group.
Edit Group
To edit an existing Group:
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- Click on the Edit button in the manage screen
- Update Group screen is displayed
- Edit the Name, Description, or GroupType.
- Click on Update button
- Changes to the Group are updated in the system
Delete Group
To delete an existing Group:
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- Click on the Delete button in the manage screen
- A Message box is displayed for confirmation of delete action
- Click the OK button in the displayed message box
- Group record is deleted in the system.
Admin User can Manage User details.
Business users can Manage and Create User.
Manage User:
Manage User screen displays the list of all existing User. To view the manage screen, click on User link in the menu under Administration.
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In the Manage User screen, click on Create button to create a new User, click on Edit button to update an existing record, click on Reset Password to reset password.
Create User:
To create a new User:
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- Enter the First Name,Last Name,Email and Primary Contact Number.
- Select Location,Department and Role.
- Click on Create button
- New User is created in the system and navigates to the Manage screen, displaying the newly created User.
- Once user is created successfully in the system an email is sent to the user containing CMx URL and Email along with a temporary password.
- when the user clicks on the CMx URL and login using Email and temporary password ,“Terms Of Use” page and change password screen is displayed.
- On changing the password successfully , a message is displayed and the user is navigated to the Dashboard.
Edit User
To edit a existing User:
- Click on the Edit button in the manage screen
- User edit screen is displayed
- Edit the required field.
- Click on Update button
- Changes to the User are updated in the system
Reset Password
Admin can reset password for existent users.
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- Click on Reset Password button in Manage screen
- System generated user password will be reset and "Successful" alert will be displayed.
Admin User can Manage details of each Role.
In Role business users can Manage and Create Role.
Manage Role:
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Manage Role screen displays the list of all existing Role. To view the manage screen, click on Role link in the menu under Administration. In the Manage Role screen, click on Create button to create a new Role, click on Edit button to update an existing record, click on delete button to delete the record.
Create Role:
To create a new Role:
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- Enter the Name and Description
- Select Permission scheme.
- Click on Create button
- New Role is created in the system and navigates to the Manage screen, displaying the newly created Role.
Edit Role
To edit a existing Role:
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- Click on the Edit button in the manage screen
- Role edit screen is displayed
- Edit the Name, Description,or Permission scheme.
- Click on Update button
- Changes to the Role are updated in the system
Delete Role
To delete a existing Role:
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- Click on the Delete button in the manage screen
- A Message box is displayed for confirmation of delete action
- Click the OK button in the displayed message box
- Role record is deleted in the system.
Admin User can assign permissions to the newly created and existing roles. business users can Manage and Create Permission Schemes.
Manage Permission Schemes:
Manage Permission Schemes screen displays the list of all existing Permission Schemes. To view the manage screen, click on Permission Schemes link in the menu under Administration.
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In the Manage Permission Schemes screen, click on Create button to create a new Permission Schemes, click on Edit button to update an existing record, click on delete button to delete the record.
Create Permission Schemes:
To create a new Permission Schemes:
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- Enter the Name and Description
- Assign the permissions for each Scheme.
- Click on Create button
- New Permission Schemes is created in the system and navigates to the Manage screen, displaying the newly created Permission Schemes.
Edit Permission Schemes
To edit a existing Permission Schemes:
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- Click on the Edit button in the manage screen
- Permission Schemes edit screen is displayed
- Edit the Name, Description,or Permissions.
- Click on Update button
- Changes to the Permission Schemes are updated in the system
Delete Permission Schemes
To delete a existing Permission Schemes:
- Click on the Delete button in the manage screen
- A Message box is displayed for confirmation of delete action
- Click the OK button in the displayed message box
- Permission Schemes record is deleted in the system.
Admin User can Manage Company Location details.In Location business users can Manage and Create Location.
Manage Location:
Manage Location screen displays the list of all existing Location.
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To view the manage screen, click on Location link in the menu under Administration. In the Manage Location screen, click on Create button to create a new Location, click on Edit button to update an existing record, click on delete button to delete the record.
Create Location:
To create a new Location:
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- Enter the Name ,Description,Address 1(Mandatory),Address 2(Optional ).
- Select Country and State.
- Enter City and Zip code.
- Click on Create button
- New Location is created in the system and navigates to the Manage screen, displaying the newly created Location.
Edit Location
To edit a existing Location:
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- Click on the Edit button in the manage screen
- Location edit screen is displayed
- Edit the required field.
- Click on Update button
- Changes to the Location are updated in the system
Delete Location
To delete a existing Location:
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- Click on the Delete button in the manage screen
- A Message box is displayed for confirmation of delete action
- Click the OK button in the displayed message box
- Location record is deleted in the system.
Note:The Location associated with specific Department,if that Department is associated with particular Contract,then the Location cannot be deleted.
Admin User can Manage Company department details.In Department business users can Manage and Create departments.
Manage Department:
Manage Department screen displays the list of all existing Department.
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To view the manage screen, click on Department link in the menu under Administration. In the Manage Department screen, click on Create button to create a new Department, click on Edit button to update an existing record, click on delete button to delete the record.
Create Department:
To create a new Department:
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- Enter the Name and Description
- Select Location.
- Click on Create button
- New Department is created in the system and navigates to the Manage screen, displaying the newly created Department.
Edit Department
To edit a existing Department:
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- Click on the Edit button in the manage screen
- Department edit screen is displayed
- Edit the Name, Description,or Location.
- Click on Update button
- Changes to the Department are updated in the system
Delete Department
To delete a existing Department:
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- Click on the Delete button in the manage screen
- A Message box is displayed for confirmation of delete action
- Click the OK button in the displayed message box
- Department record is deleted in the system.
CMx ElectroSign provides inbuilt Signature support, follow the below process to send documents for signature:
Note: cmx.electrosign.sendsigneddoc = true in advanced configuration is required to send the final signed pdf to multiple recipients
Terminologies
Package: A Signature Package is a set of documents sent to one or more recipients for electronic signature.
Status: Prior to the signature, the status of a document is either created or pending. After Signature it becomes Signed or Executed.
Electronic Signature Security
By default CMx Electronic/Digital Signature offers below forms of security to make sure it's validity across different geographies and global laws. In United States, this process follows the e-sign act :
Pre-Signature Security Considerations
- In addition to sending links in emails for signature, there are many other multi-factor authentication mechanisms can be configured with CMx including below:
- Sending a unique code of very short validation prior to signing to make sure the signing code is retrieved from the user email ( whose email is secured by a password) and it is applied before signing.
- Requesting a unique code from MFA (Multi-factor authentication) mechanisms like Google Authenticator prior to signing.
- Text or SMS to the users mobile number prior to signature. This depends on which part of the world the user is located.
- Terms and conditions for each contract type can be customized and displayed to the user prior to using CMx electronic signature.(Default Behavior)
- Request a unique verification code from email prior to signing. So when first time if the user is external, the external user has to sign up first time, create an external user account with CMx providing basic details like useremail,password , validation of verification code and 2 security questions in case if the user forgets the password. After first time, the user can login to the CMx system every time they want to do electronic signature and every time when they sign a unique verification code needs to be entered after successful login and prior to the signing electronically..(Default Behavior)
Post-Signature Security Considerations
- CMx ElectroSign is based on public/private key pair of signatures based on PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) which ensures the signed document cannot be forged or changed after it is signed.
- Signed documents are sent to the emails of relevant parties and kept in safe records storage for future reference.
Manage Signature Packages
From the left navigation menu, click on Signature menu option to start the send signature process.
All the packages that have already sent for signature by the user are listed in this screen. This page also displays the status of each package, the date sent for signature and the recipients who are signers of the documents in the package.
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Starting Signature Process
From the top right section, click on New button to send a new PDF document for signature. In the first screen of prepare for signature, select the PDF document that should be sent for signature by clicking on the Choose button. Once the selection of the document is made, Click on Upload button so that the document is uploaded to the server. In the next step, add the recipients who should be signing the document.
You can add one or more recipients for signature process.
- Once both the document and the recipients are entered, click on Next button in the top right section of the screen.
- Next step is to prepare the document for the Signature process by marking the places where the signature should be placed.
- Drag and drop the icon with pen in the document where it should be signed by the recipient. (See below screenshot).
- You can navigate to any page in the document by clicking on the Previous or Next Button in the document bar and place the Sign Here tab.
Once the document is prepared for signature by placing the Sign Here tabs, click on the Send Button on the top right section. This completes the process of sending for Signature by CMx and all the recipients receive an email with a unique URL requesting for signature.
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A new signature package record is created and should be visible in the Manage Signature Packages screen:
Signing Ceremony by Recipients
Each recipient receives an email which looks similar to below:
The recipient clicks on the unique signature URL in the email which takes them to the Signing page in CMx:
On clicking Sign Here, the recipient can affix the electronic signature.
Finalize the Signature Process by clicking on the Save button, accepting the terms and conditions checkbox and clicking on the Complete Signature button.
Once the signature is finalized by the recipient, the document status is changed to Executed and the signing process is complete.
Exiting User can Change the password using Change Password Link.
How to Change the Password:
- Click on Change Password link from the menu.
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- Page displays with "Enter Old Password", "Enter New password", "Re-Enter New password" fields.
- Enter old Password, New password, Re-enter New Password.
- Click on "change password" button.
- The old password will be updated with a new password.
To delete and go back to Dashboard page click on "Cancel" button.
Audit Report -
- Displays all user activities that is done using CMx.
- Makes the life of auditors or users with audit role easier.
- All functionalities like User Login, Contract creation, Updation, Deletion and every detail of user activities are recorded in the Audit Trail List with time and date specified.
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CMx provides ability to combine or merge multiple word documents (Note: PDFs are not supported) and create an amended document as a result.
Follow below steps for creating an amendment:
From any contract which already has two word documents (docx files) ,from the contract number menu , click on : Create Amendment option and select any 2 documents:
Once the documents are merged , the combined document is generated and displayed in a window:
Export Metadata
All metadata from CMx contract records including custom field values can be exported from CMx from the Export page and clicking on the Export Metadata button.
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Export contracts
CMx user can export the contracts that he has access to.
- Click on Export Contracts link from the menu, page displays with existing contracts in the system.
- Choose the contracts by checking the checkbox, which has to be exported.
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- On selecting the contracts, click on "Export" tab on the extreme right side of the export screen.
- All metadata goes in as a single excel file, with all contract details.
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- Each individual folder named with contract number-contract title format.
Once the import is submitted, a message is displayed to the user stating "Import Job is successfully scheduled"
- Click on the import Status option from left side menu , "Import Status" screen is displayed to the user.with below columns:
- Import Job Number
- Import Date : (Date and Time Stamp) - Most recent first.
- Contract Metadata Excel File Name
- Successfully Import Record Count
Displays the number of records that was successfully imported. - Failed Import Record Count
Displays number of records that failed was failed in the import.
Import Status Tab
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CMx user can import the Contracting Party lists either bulk or single lists that he has access to.
- User clicks on Import contracts link from Menu and then click on Basic Import
- File drop zone area page displays.
- Drag and drop the excel file into the drop zone area or click on the arrow icon, select the file and open.
- Only one excel file can be dropped into drop zone on each import. Error displayed to the user If there are more than one excel file dropped.
- Also, the template of the excel file should be same as in download sample template and otherwise it will result in import error.
NOTE : When importing Contracting Party using metadata excel, keep only Contracting Party sheet in the metadata excel and remove/delete the Contracts sheet.
If this step is not completed, then an error will be displayed in Import pre-validation grid which will prevent the import of contracting parties.
Downloaded Import Sample Template
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- After clicking on Import button on right top of the page a confirmation alert message is displayed and the user can confirm "Start import Job" action button.
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- Once the contracting party list is imported successfully, the user can view the imported list in the Manage Contracting Party Grid.
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CMx user can import the contracts that he has access to.
- Click on Import contracts link from Menu,
- Download the sample template by clicking on the "click here" link and extract the contents to a new folder.
- Extracting to a new folder is important since we have found that without that and dragging and dropping directly from compressed zip file does not show the files in the import zone sometimes.
- Also, note that the metadata file has to be named: cmx-metadata.xlsx
- File drop zone area page displays.
- Drag and drop the excel file and all attachment documents into the drop zone area.
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- Wait for the pre-validation grid to show records
- correct all red cells.
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- click on Import button on the right corner to view the list of imported contracts in the Import Status page.
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- After Importing the imported contracts will be get displayed in the Import Status Tab
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- By clicking on the "+" link, the user can see the Contract Number, Contract Title, Attached documents name and Status of import.
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Workflow is the series of activities that are necessary to complete a task. Both Simple and Complex Workflows can be configured within CMx Approval Workflow:
Complex workflow approvals , for example like the one below between multiple departments and external reviewers can be automated using Approval Workflow.
Manage Workflow :
Manage Workflow screen displays the list of all existing Workflows .
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To view the manage screen, click on Workflow link in the menu. In the Manage contract type Workflow screen, click on Create button to create a new Workflow , click on Edit button to update an existing record, click on delete button to delete the record.
Create Workflow
To create a new Workflow :
- Enter the Name and Description
- Select Contract Approver name or Role and click on "Add Workflow Step".
- Add Approver steps with or without delegate option as needed.. Either User Step or Role Step can be added, if role step is added all users of that role with "Is Approver" option selected in User will be notified for review.
Department Review:
If Role Step is "Department" based , meaning if CMx has to automatically find the department based on Contract Record-> Department field value , Create a new Role with word "Department" in it and it as a Workflow Step wherever required. For example create a new Role with a permission scheme that provides no permissions and name that Role as "Department Reviewer" , add the "Department Review" as the Workflow Step.
External Review:
For External review workflow step, create a new Role with word "External" in it. For Example : "External Review". And if the Contract Record has Contracting Party added, CMx will send the contract for review to all the external party contacts for the selected contracting party.
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- Once the required workflow steps are added , click on create workflow button.
Note: The Roles with names "Department" or " External" are dynamic system roles. So these roles are special roles and MUST NOT be directly assigned to any user and their use is limited only in the workflow steps.
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- New Workflow is created in the system and navigates to the Manage screen, displaying the newly created Workflow.
Edit Workflow
To edit a existing Workflow :
- Click on the Edit button in the manage screen
- Workflow edit screen is displayed. Change Name and/or description as necessary.
- For Adding Workflow Steps, note down existing workflow steps and click on Clear Steps button, add the workflow steps back again before clicking update button.
- Add Approver steps with or without delegate option as needed.. Either User Step or Role Step can be added, if role step is added all users of that role with "Is Approver" option selected in User will be notified for review.
Department Review:
If Role Step is "Department" based , meaning if CMx has to automatically find the department based on Contract Record-> Department field value , Create a new Role with word "Department" in it and it as a Workflow Step wherever required. For example create a new Role with a permission scheme that provides no permissions and name that Role as "Department Reviewer" , add the "Department Review" as the Workflow Step.
External Review:
For External review workflow step, create a new Role with word "External" in it. For Example : "External Review". And if the Contract Record has Contracting Party added, CMx will send the contract for review to all the external party contacts for the selected contracting party.
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- Click on Update button
- Changes to the Workflow are updated in the syste
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Delete Workflow
To delete a existing Workflow :
- Click on the Delete button in the manage screen
- A Message box is displayed for confirmation of delete action
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- Click the OK button in the displayed message box
- Workflow record is deleted in the system
Contract clause category helps to group clauses into specific category or buckets so that it makes organising clauses easier.
For example: All Financial clauses can be grouped under clause category named "Finance".
Manage Clause Category:
Manage contract type screen displays the list of all existing contract types. To view the manage screen, click on Contract Type link in the menu.
In the Manage contract type screen, click on Create button to create a new contract type, click on Edit button to update an existing record, click on delete button to delete the record.
Create Clause Category
To create a new Clause Category:
- Enter the Name and Description
- Click on Create button
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New Clause Category is created in the system and navigates to the Manage screen, displaying the newly created Clause Category.
Edit Clause Category
To edit a existing Clause Category:
- Click on the Edit button in the manage screen
- Clause Category edit screen is displayed
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- Edit the Name or Description,
- Click on Update button
- Changes to the Clause Category are updated in the system
Delete Clause Category
To delete a existing Clause Category:
- Click on the Delete button in the manage screen
- A Message box is displayed for confirmation of delete action
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- Click the OK button in the displayed message box
- Clause Category record is deleted in the system
Clause Library is the central storage area where all of your organization's clause texts are stored so that they can be reused again in new or existing contracts. This tool not only organizes your clauses but also enhances the efficiency and accuracy of your contract management processes.
Manage Clause Library:
Manage Clause Library screen displays the list of all existing Clause Library. To view the manage screen, click on the Clause Library link in the menu.
In the Manage Clause Library screen:
- Click on the Create button to create a new Clause Library.
- Click on the Edit button to update an existing record.
- Click on the Delete button to delete the record.
How a Clause Library Enhances Contract Accuracy, Consistency, and Compliance
Streamlined Access to Preapproved Clauses
A clause library serves as a centralized repository of standardized contract clauses. This organized collection allows users to quickly search and retrieve specific clauses, ensuring that only pre-vetted language is used in contracts.
Improved Accuracy and Efficiency
By using a clause library, businesses can reduce errors related to manual clause composition. With access to a range of reliable templates, the risk of inaccuracies is significantly diminished, saving both time and resources.
Ensuring Consistency Across Documents
Standardized clauses mean every contract maintains uniform language and structure. This consistency helps in presenting a cohesive brand image and can also facilitate smoother collaboration with external partners who appreciate clarity and uniformity.
Enhancing Compliance
Preapproved clauses are typically vetted for legal compliance, which means using them increases the likelihood that contracts meet all necessary legal standards. This minimizes the risk of contractual disputes and potential legal setbacks.
Key Benefits
- Ease of Use: Quick search tools allow users to find and use clauses efficiently.
- Error Reduction: Standard language helps avoid common mistakes.
- Legal Safeguard: Preapproved clauses ensure regulatory compliance.
Utilizing a clause library transforms contract creation from a daunting task into a streamlined process, safeguarding your business’s legal and professional integrity.
Why Is a Clause Library Important for Optimizing a Contract Management System?
A clause library is a powerhouse tool for enhancing your contract management system's effectiveness. Here's how it brings accuracy, consistency, and compliance to your business:
Streamlined Efficiency
With a well-organized collection of preapproved clauses, you can accelerate the process of constructing contracts. This library allows users to easily search for and select the appropriate clauses to insert into various documents. The streamlined approach reduces the time spent on drafting and assembling contracts, enhancing overall productivity.
Improved Visibility and Communication
A clause library fosters transparency among all parties involved in the contract process. By providing easily accessible clauses, everyone gains a clear understanding of expectations, nurturing better communication. This increased visibility helps avert potential misunderstandings and ensures everyone is on the same page.
Legal Compliance Made Easy
Having pre-vetted clauses at your fingertips simplifies the task of maintaining legal compliance. Your contract management and legal teams can swiftly locate clauses that meet specific legal criteria, significantly reducing the risk of errors or omissions that could lead to legal issues.
Time-Saving Benefits
The efficiency brought by a clause library means your team can focus more on strategic tasks rather than mundane administrative duties. By cutting down on the time spent finding and inserting clauses, teams save considerable time, boosting overall productivity and allowing resources to be allocated to more critical activities.
Enhanced Professionalism and Uniformity
A clause library ensures that every contract is crafted with a consistent tone and structure. This uniformity reinforces a sophisticated and professional image to business partners, showcasing the integrity of your contract management process.
In conclusion, integrating a clause library into your contract management system is a strategic move toward optimizing operations. With benefits ranging from time efficiency to enhanced legal compliance, it's an invaluable asset that supports the seamless execution of contracts.
How Can a Clause Library Reduce Human Error in Contract Management?
Human error is an inevitable part of any business operation, but the key to success lies in how well you prepare for and mitigate it. In the realm of contract management, a clause library can be a powerful tool in reducing these errors.
Streamline Contract Creation
- Centralized Access: A clause library provides a centralized repository for all your contract clauses. This means your team can quickly access standardized and pre-approved clauses, vastly reducing the time spent scouring through documents to find what they need.
- Consistency Across Contracts: By using a clause library, your contract management team ensures that commonly used terms and conditions are consistent across all documents. This reduces the chance of deviations that can lead to misunderstandings or disputes.
Enhance Efficiency and Accuracy
- Quick Adaptation to Contract Types: When dealing with a variety of contract types, finding the right clause can be like searching for a needle in a haystack. A clause library allows for quick identification and insertion of clauses tailored to specific contract needs, minimizing omissions or mistakes.
- Minimized Risk of Oversight: Even the most experienced teams can overlook critical details under pressure. A clause library acts as a checklist, ensuring that no vital clauses are accidentally left out during the drafting process.
Safeguard Compliance and Reduce Errors
- Prevention of Legal Missteps: With pre-vetted clauses, legal compliance becomes more straightforward, reducing the likelihood of overlooking essential legal stipulations that can lead to costly errors.
- Simplified Modifications: Any updates or changes in legal requirements can be swiftly integrated into the clause library, ensuring that all future contracts adhere to the latest regulations without manual intervention.
In conclusion, a well-maintained clause library doesn't just reduce the occurrence of human error—it elevates the entire contract management process, ensuring accuracy, consistency, and compliance while saving valuable time and resources.
Accelerate Contract Creation with a Clause Library
Streamline Your Contract Process
A clause library can dramatically speed up your contract creation process by providing a repository of preapproved clauses that are ready to use. By having these clauses at your fingertips, you can seamlessly incorporate them into recurring contract types, eliminating the tedious chore of manual clause insertion.
Boost Efficiency
Forget the hassle of searching through document after document. A clause library simplifies the search and retrieval process, allowing your team to focus on adding value instead of hunting for the right text. This efficiency not only saves time but also ensures that your contracts are ready for review and approval at a faster rate.
Enhance Accuracy and Consistency
Incorporating preapproved clauses helps maintain uniformity and reduces errors in your contracts. Every contract you build will consistently reflect the professionalism of your business, presenting a coherent, well-rounded picture to clients and stakeholders.
Optimize Your Contract Management System
By using a clause library, your contract management system achieves a higher level of optimization. Your team can dedicate more time to strategic tasks, leading to a more efficient workflow and improved business relationships.
In essence, a clause library turns the often cumbersome task of contract generation into an efficient, error-free operation, ultimately allowing you to create more contracts in less time.
How a Clause Library Mitigates Risk in Contract Drafting
A clause library is a powerful tool for reducing risk in contract drafting. Here's how it works:
1. Standardization of Language:
By providing a set of preapproved clauses, a clause library ensures that language is consistent across all contracts. This consistency eliminates ambiguity, helping to avoid misunderstandings that can arise from vague or imprecise wording.
2. Quality Assurance:
Preapproved clauses are crafted with careful attention to detail, ensuring that all potential legal and operational pitfalls are addressed. This reduces the likelihood of errors that can lead to disputes or legal consequences, safeguarding both your company and your business relationships.
3. Efficiency in Drafting:
Having a repository of ready-to-use clauses streamlines the drafting process. This not only saves time but also ensures that all contracts are built on a foundation of legally sound language, further minimizing the risk of discrepancies.
4. Risk Mitigation:
When contracts consistently utilize vetted clauses, the potential for drafting errors diminishes. This standardization serves as an indirect risk management strategy, proactively reducing the chances of disputes and the subsequent damage they may cause.
By leveraging a contract clause library, businesses can focus on building strong, reliable agreements, knowing that their foundational elements are secure.
Understanding Preapproved Clauses in Contract Construction
Preapproved clauses serve as fundamental components in contract creation, providing essential legal terms and information. These clauses are stored in a contract clause library, where they can be tagged with specific attributes—such as terms, services, and other critical details—relevant to various contract types. This classification allows businesses to efficiently tailor contracts to their specific needs.
Advantages of Using a Clause Library
- Efficiency Boost: By having a library of preapproved clauses, your team can dramatically shorten contract creation time. Once standardized clauses are linked to particular contract types, contracts can be generated more swiftly.
- Consistency and Compliance: Standardizing clauses ensures that contracts remain consistent across different instances, helping maintain compliance with regulatory requirements and internal standards.
- Improved ROI: By focusing on frequently used contract types and embedding preapproved clauses, businesses can maximize their investment in contract management systems, producing more contracts efficiently.
In essence, preapproved clauses streamline the contract building process by reducing manual input, ensuring uniformity, and bolstering productivity across contract management workflows.
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In the Manage Clause Library screen, click on Create button to create a new Clause Library, click on Edit button to update an existing record, click on delete button to delete the record.
Create Clause
To create a new Clause:
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- Enter the Clause Name and Text.
- Select Clause Category.
- Click on the Create button.
- A new Clause Library is created in the system and navigates to the Manage screen, displaying the newly created Clause Library.
Edit Clause
To edit a existing Clause:
- Click on the Edit button in the manage screen.
- The Clause Library edit screen is displayed.
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- Edit the required field.
- Click on the Update button.
- Changes to the Clause Library are updated in the system.
Delete Clause
To delete a existing Clause
- Click on the Delete button in the manage screen.
- A message box is displayed for confirmation of the delete action.
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- Click the OK button in the displayed message box.
- The Clause Library record is deleted in the system.
By leveraging a clause library, your organization can achieve improved visibility for all parties involved, setting clearer expectations and enhancing communication. The library is enriched with preapproved and prebuilt clauses, ensuring that your contract management team and legal department can quickly find clauses that meet various criteria while maintaining legal compliance.
Enhanced Features
- Version Control: Keep track of changes and updates to clauses, ensuring you always have access to the most current and compliant versions.
- Automated Workflows: Streamline contract creation and approval processes with automated workflows, reducing manual input and potential errors.
- Metadata Features: Easily categorize and search for clauses using metadata, which simplifies the auditing process and helps the legal team to identify and manage risks efficiently.
By utilizing tagging features, the legal department can significantly streamline the auditing process. This allows for easy identification of risks, making it more manageable to address them effectively. In essence, a well-structured clause library is not just a repository of text but a powerful tool that enhances the overall speed, efficiency, and accuracy of your contract management system.
Electro Sign Terms and Conditions Conventions:
For signing with electronic signatures, Terms and conditions are displayed to the user who is signing. This terms and conditions can be customized for each contract type by following below conventions and CMx automatically displays the correct terms and conditions for each contract type.
"Contract Type" appended with text " Terms"
For example:
if the contract type is "Fixed Contract" , naming a clause as : "Fixed Price Terms" will set the electrosign terms and condition automatically.
Contracting Party type refers to the various types/ buckets contracting party can be categorized.
Manage Contracting Party type:
Manage the Contracting Party type screen displays the list of all existing Contracting Party type. To view the manage screen, click on Contracting Party type link in the menu. In the Manage Contracting Party type screen, click on Create button to create a new Contracting Party type, click on Edit button to update an existing record, click on delete button to delete the record.
Create Contracting Party type
To create a new Contracting Party type:
- Enter the Name and Description
- Click on Create button
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- New Contracting Party type is created in the system and navigates to the Manage screen, displaying the newly created Contracting Party type.
Edit Contracting Party type
To edit an existing Contracting Party type:
- Click on the Edit button in the manage screen
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- Contracting Party type edit screen is displayed
- Edit the Name or Description.
- Click on Update button
- Changes to the Contracting Party type are updated in the system.
Delete Contracting Party type
To delete an existing contract type:
- Click on the Delete button in the manage screen
- A Message box is displayed for confirmation of delete action
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- Click the OK button in the displayed message box
- Contracting Party type record is deleted in the system
Contracting party is the business entity that enters into a legally binding contract with the current organization who creates the contract. where the user can manage contracting party details.
Manage Contracting Party:
Manage the Contracting Party screen displays the list of all existing contracting Party. To view the manage screen, click on contracting Party link in the menu under External Parties.
In the Manage contracting Party screen, click on Create button to create a new contracting Party, click on Edit button to update an existing record, click on delete button to delete the record.
Create Contracting Party
To create a new Contracting Party enter the following fields.
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- Contracting Party Name*
- Select Contracting Party Type from the drop-down.
- Description*
- Address Line 1*
- Address Line 2
- Select Country from Dropdown.*
- Select State*from Dropdown.
- City*
- Zip Code*
- Primary Contact :
- Email ID*
- First Name*
- Last Name*
- Business Phone
- Mobile Phone
- Active (Y/N)
- Click on Create button
- New Contracting Party is created in the system and navigates to the Manage screen, displaying the newly created Contracting Party.
Edit Contracting Party
To edit an existing Contracting Party:
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- Click on the Edit button in the manage screen
- Contracting Party edit screen is displayed
- Edit the required field.
- Click on Update button
- Changes to the Contracting Party are updated in the system
Delete Contracting Party
To delete an existing Contracting Party
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- Click on the Delete button in the manage screen
- A Message box is displayed for confirmation of delete action
- Click the OK button in the displayed message box
- Contracting Party record is deleted in the system.
Contract Template is the centralized area where all the template documents across the company can be stored and updated. The contract template is used in Generating Contract using CMx.
In this feature, a user can Manage and Create a Contract template.
Go to Contract Template from menu, Displays Manage contract Template page, where a user can see the following columns in a grid.
1.Template Name
2. Description
3.Status
4.Action
The user can see a Live Editor Icon, Update Icon Button, Delete action Button in the Manage Contract Template Page.
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On click of "Create Contract Template" page displays with following fields, where the user must input values to create a new Contract template.
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1.Contract Template name
2.Description
3.Template Document attachment field
Input values in the above fields and click on "Create" button, Contract Template creates successfully and displays in Manage contract Template grid.
Example Contract Template Creation Steps
Click on Contract Templates from the left navigation menu and then on Create Contract Template.
Enter a name and description for the contract template and browse for the MS Word document template created in Step1 and click on Create button.
Verify that the Contract Template is created successfully in the Manage Contract Template screen.
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Custom Field Form is a user defined form with multiple control definitions using a designer and a name.
Click on Custom Field Form from menu,Manage Custom Field Form Page displays with following columns in the grid.
Manage Custom Field Form
Search Field and show entries drop down on top of grid where user can input the custom field name and search.
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- Custom field name
- Description
- Status
- Action(Edit/Delete)
In Manage custom Field Form admin users can view, edit, delete all the existing custom field form and also create new custom field forms.
Create Custom Field Form
Click on Create custom Field Form in the manage Custom Field Form page.Screen displays with following fields.
- Custom Field Form Name *
- Description
- Custom Schema- with below section with 3 tabs: Designer , View and Code .
Custom Field Form Designer with below Types in right most section
Number
Single line text or String
Multi line text
Drop Down Select
Check box
Radio Group Field
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To Create new Custom Field Form:
- User enters custom field form name
- Drags and drops and designs the required custom field form.
- Clicks on settings of each control for further control level functions such as required field or not required field , field name etc. Saving the custom field form generates the json schema and saves it in db.
- User selects the contract types, for those selected contract types,the custom field forms will be displayed in the contract create/edit screen
- On Submit, custom field form is created in the system and displayed in the Manage Custom Fields Form grid.
Edit Custom Fields Form
To edit a existing Custom Fields Form
- Click on the Edit button in the manage screen
- Custom Fields Form edit screen is displayed
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- Edit the required Filed
- Click on Update button
- Changes to the Custom Fields Form are updated in the system
Delete Custom Fields Form
To delete a existing Custom Fields Form:
- Click on the Delete button in the manage screen
- A Message box is displayed for confirmation of delete action
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- Click the OK button in the displayed message box
- Custom Fields Form record is deleted in the system
Example Custom Field Creation Steps
Click on Custom Field form on the left navigation menu.
Provide and name, description for the custom field form. Drag and drop required custom fields.
(NOTE: White spaces are not supported in custom field names for generate contract annotations. For example : "Billing Rate" is not supported. Correct field name is: "BillingRate")
Drag and drop a single line text from right to left section.
The new field will appear like above with label as "New text". Click on the second icon pointed by the red arrow and it will bring up the Options dialog screen.
Provide Label name without numbers or special characters or white spaces as above and click on Okay button.
Provided Label name should be visible above the custom field text as similar to below.
Add all the required single line text fields that you need following above steps.
Once done , Scroll all the way down and click on Create or Update button to save the custom field form.
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Contract Types are used to classify a contract based on the functional context.
Manage Contract Type:
Manage contract type screen displays the list of all existing contract types. To view the manage screen, click on Contract Type link in the menu. In the Manage contract type screen, click on Create button to create a new contract type, click on Edit button to update an existing record, click on delete button to delete the record.
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Create Contract Type
To create a new contract Type:
- Enter the Name and Description
- Select Contract Template and Custom Field Form
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- Click on Create button
- New Contract Type is created in the system and navigates to the Manage screen, displaying the newly created contract type
Edit Contract Type
To edit a existing contract type:
- Click on the Edit button in the manage screen
- Contract type edit screen is displayed
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- Edit the Description, Contract Template and Custom Fields Forms
- Click on Update button
- Changes to the Contract Type are updated in the system
Delete Contract Type
To delete a existing contract type:
- Click on the Delete button in the manage screen
- A Message box is displayed for confirmation of delete action
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- Click the OK button in the displayed message box
- Contract Type record is deleted in the system
Example Contract Type Create/Update Steps
Click on Contract Types from left navigation menu and click on create contract type.
Provide Name and description and select the contract template created in step 1 above and custom field form in step 2.
Click on Create/Update.
Verify in Manage Contract Types screen that a record exists with the details of updates that you made above.
To Create a Contract:
- Click on Create Contract link from menu,or go to Manage contract,click on Create contract Tab.
Create/edit contract screen is displayed with different tab sections as mentioned below.
(1) Main :
(2) Custom
(3) Documents:
(4) Clauses:
(5) Milestones :
(6) Notes:
(7) Access Restrictions:
(8) Enter Tags:
- Under "Main" Tab,create contract page displays.
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- Enter contract number and Title.
- Select Contract Type and Contracting Party
- Choose an effective date
- Enter the description
- Select the Risk level,Department and Contract owners.
- Choose an Expiry date(optional)
- Enter contract value and select the currency.(optional)
- Select Notification list and workflow (optional)
- Enter renewal term in days.(optional)
2. Click on Custom Tab displays Custom Tab with any custom fields configured for the contract type.
For example NDA (non disclosure agreement) may have different custom fields than HR Agreement.
Refer: Custom Field Form
3.Now Click on Documents tab.
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- Click on Choose files,select the file which has to be uploaded for the specific contract,enter file description if any .
- If there are more than 1 file,click on Add file,and attach the document .
- Click on "Create" button.
- Attached files are displayed in a grid in the same page.
4. Click on Clauses tab.
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- On click of Clauses tab,page displays with Contract clauses grid and Add clauses tab.
- Click on Add clauses tab,displays list of clauses which are pre loaded.
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- check the clauses which are to be added for the specific contract,click on Add.
- The selected clauses are added and displayed in the grid.
5. Click on Milestone tab.
- On click of Milestone tab,page displays with Milestone grid and Add Milestone tab.
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- Click on Add Milestone tab,displays Milestone entry field,end date and Milestone reminder check box.
- Enter the Milestone of a contract and end date.
- On Checking the Milestone Reminder check box,Alert Before Days filed pops up.
- Enter Alert before days and click on "Save" button.
- The created Milestone are displayed in the grid.
6.Click on Notes Tab
- On click of Notes tab,page displays with Notes grid and Add Notes tab.
- Click on Add Notes tab,displays Notes entry field.
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- Enter the Notes of a contract .
- Click on "Save" button.
- The created Notes are displayed in the grid.
7.Click on Access Restrictions Tab(Unlocked Icon in Right top Corner of Create Contract Page)
- Click on Unlocked icon and page displays with Access Restrictions tab.
- User can Specify both View Restrictions and Edit Restrictions for Particular Contracts
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8.Click on Enter Tags Tab(Text area at Right top Corner of Create Contract Page)
- User can enter different tags to attach with the contracts.
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After entering all these click on "Create" button.Contract creates successfully and displayed in the Manage contract Grid.
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Pre-requisite: cmx.create.amendment configuration is set to true in Manage Configurations
CMx provides Create Amendment feature to quickly clone a document and make edits to any existing document of a Contract Record. With this feature , user is able to identify the last modified contract document and then use the existing document of a contract to create a new document and, make changes.
(1) Click on Create Amendment option for a contract that has more than one document available.
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(2) Select an existing document in the contract
(3) Click on Submit button to generate a new document from existing document and make quick edits and amends. Optionally the file name can be changed to reflect the most accurate name for the amendment that is being made.
(4) The newly added/amended document is now part of the contract record and the changes made are automatically saved.
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- Purge Contract functionality is used to Delete a particular Contract ..
- For deleting a contract , find the contract that needs to be deleted by clicking on search button in Manage Contracts/ Global Search box in CMx.
- From the drop down menu , select Purge Contract to delete the contract and the contract will be deleted and no more get displayed in Manage Contracts.
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Cancel Contract action is done on contracts for making it to Inactive state and there by cancelling the contract.
After clicking on Cancel Contract the Particular contract will get cancelled or goes to Inactive state and "Success Message" will be displayed on Manage Contract page.
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User can see the Cancellation scenario in the Contract as Stage and Status changed to Closed/Discontinued and Inactive/On Hold respectively..
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CMx provides inbuilt Electronic Signature support, follow the below process to send a PDF OR DOC or DOCX files for signature one at a time.
Terminologies
Package: A Signature Package is a set of documents sent to one or more recipients for electronic signature.
Status: Prior to signature, the status of a document is either created or pending. After Signature it becomes Signed or Executed.
Sent For e-Signature
From the Manage Contracts, click on Sent For e-Signature menu option to start the send signature process.
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Starting Signature Process
From the top right section, click on New button to send a new PDF document for signature. In the first screen of prepare for signature, select the PDF document that should be sent for signature by clicking on the Choose button. Once the selection of the document is made, Click on Upload button so that the document is uploaded to the server. In the next step, add the recipients who should be signing the document.
You can add one or more recipients for signature process.
- Once both the document and the recipients are entered, click on Next button in the top right section of the screen.
- Next step is to prepare the document for the Signature process by marking the places where the signature should be placed.
- Drag and drop the icon with pen in the document where it should be signed by the recipient. (See below screenshot).
- You can navigate to any page in the document by clicking on the Previous or Next Button in the document bar and place the Sign Here tab.
Once the document is prepared for signature by placing the Sign Here tabs, click on the Send Button on the top right section. This completes the process of sending for Signature by CMx and all the recipients receive an email with a unique URL requesting for signature.
A new signature package record is created and should be visible in the Manage Signature Packages screen:
Signing Ceremony by Recipients
Each recipient receives an email which looks similar to below:
The recipient clicks on the unique signature URL in the email which takes them to the Signing page in CMx:
On clicking Sign Here, the recipient can affix the electronic signature.
Finalize the Signature Process by clicking on the Save button, accepting the terms and conditions checkbox and clicking on the Complete Signature button.
Once the signature is finalized by the recipient, the document status is changed to Executed and the signing process is complete.
To Send a contract for Manual Signature to the Contracting Party.
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After clicking on Sent for the Manual Signature button from options the following screen appears
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The user can enter details into Contracting Party Email and select a contracting party from the drop-down list which is associated with that particular contract.
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Once the documents are sent for manual signature and its processed successfully, an alert will be displayed in the Manage Contract Page.
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Once a contract has been created in the system, contract owner can send the contract for Review either Internally or Externally.
Pre-requisite: A workflow should be created in the system and the same should be assigned to Contract.
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- Navigate to Manage Contracts Page, and search for the Contract that needs to be sent for Internal Review.
- Click on Contract number and from the menu click “Send For Internal Review”.
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3. An email is sent to Contract Approver and the Contract is listed in “Pending Tasks” in the dashboard of the Contract Approver.
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4. Contract approver logs in and Clicks on the “Contract Id” from the Pending Tasks widget.
5. Reviewing the contract User clicks on “Approve Contract” button. (Assuming no changes are required )
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6. The status of the contract should become approved and the status of Workflow can be verified by clicking on “View Version History” for the contract observe the revision history for the Contract.
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Scenario 2:
One level Workflow – When the approver has requested for changes to the contract
- Navigate to Manage Contracts Page, and search for the Contract that needs to be sent for Internal Review.
Click on Contract number and from the menu click “Send For Internal Review”
2. An email is sent to Contract Approver and listed in “Pending Tasks” in the dashboard of the Contract Approver.
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3. User Enter the Review comments and clicks on “Request For Changes”
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4. An email is sent to Contract Owner to review task and Review Task is listed in Pending tasks when Contract Owner logs in.
5. Clicking on “View Version History” user can check the status of the workflow and also the status of the contract will not be approved.
Two level Workflow – Approve Contract:
Pre-requisite: Create a workflow which has 2 level of approvals and assigns the same to a Contract
Once the contract has been created, the contract can be sent for multiple levels of approvals by assigning the contract to a workflow which has multiple levels of approvers. In this contract will only go to an approved state, when both the approver's has approved the contract.
- Navigate to Manage Contracts Page, and search for the Contract that needs to be sent for Internal Review
2. Click on Contract number and from the menu click “Send For Internal Review”
3. An email is sent to Contract Approver1 and listed in “Pending Tasks” in the dashboard of the Contract Approver1.
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4. When Contract Approver1 clicks on “Approve Contract”, an email is sent to Contract Approver 2 and listed in “Pending Tasks” in the dashboard of the Contract Approver2.
5. Contract Approver2 clicks on “Approve Contract”, and the workflow status can be verified from the version history
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Edit Contract functionality is to update an existent contract in the Manage contract list.
After clicking on Edit Contract the Update Contract page will get loaded and user can Modify or Edit the contracts and click on Update Button on the right top corner of the contract page.
Once the Update action is successfully completed user can get an alert message on that in Manage Contract page.
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CMx provides users with Share File Option so that they can share the documents with other users in CMx in Live Editor.
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When the user clicks on Share File and select the particular document to be shared, the below screen gets displayed and the user can select users list to whom the file has to be shared.
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When the user clicks on the text box a drop-down list box appears and they can select the email_id of the users to whom the file has to be shared.
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The user can select the user's email id and share the documents.
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After selection, once the user clicks on Share button Success Alert will be displayed and the file gets shared to the recipient user.
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Edit File Online functionality help the CMx user to update the attached documents with contracts Online.
The user needs to click on the Edit File Online option from various sub menus in Manage contracts tab.
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After clicking on Edit File Online option the below screen appears and the user can edit the attached documents of any type.
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User Can do the editing in the editor sheet and save the changes
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After updating and saving the file user can close the document file. (user can close the document file by clicking on the red x icon on the top right corner.)
The updated content can be viewed in the document attached to the contract by downloading the file.
The particular file type will be opened outside the CMx and user can view it.
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- By clicking on Contract Number on Manage Contract Page grid, the user can view different submenus for different functionalities.
- To Create a new spreadsheet file to attach to the contract as document user can select Create New Spreadsheet from the sub-options.
- After clicking on Create New Spreadsheet option the following screen appears and the user can create a new spreadsheet file to add with existing contracts documents.
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- After entering the data into the spreadsheet, the user can save the file and close the spreadsheet file. (user can close the word file by clicking on the red x icon on the top right corner.)
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- Spreadsheet file will be added to the contract document list with ".xlxs" extension type file.
- Click on Manage Contracts from the left navigation menu bar and the user can view the particular contract where New spreadsheet file is added in the documents tab.
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- By clicking on Contract Number on Manage Contract Page grid, various sub-options appear.
- To Create a new word file to attach to the contract as document user can select Quick Create Document from the sub-options.
- To Create a new word file to attach to the contract as document user can select Quick Create Document from the sub-options.
- After clicking on the Quick Create Document option the following screen appears and the user can create a new word file to add with existing contracts documents.
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- User Can Select either create New Blank document for creating a new word document or can create a document from Template.
- After entering the data into the word file, the user can save the file and close the word file. (user can close the word file by clicking on the red x icon on the top right corner.)
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- word file will be added to the contract document list with ".docx" extension type file.
- Click on Manage Contracts from the left navigation menu bar and the user can view the particular contract where New Word file is added in the documents tab.
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Manage contracts screen displays the list of all existing contracts. To view the manage screen, click on Manage Contracts link in the menu.
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In the Manage contracts screen, click on Create contract button to create a new contract, click on Contract number drop-down, where you can see the following actions.
- Quick Create Document-To Create a new word file to attach to the contract as documents and create a document from Template.
- Create New Spreadsheet-To Create a new spreadsheet to attach to the contract as documents.
- Edit File Online-To edit the documents attached to the contracts online.
- Share File-To share the file with other users of CMx (both internal or external). For sharing to external users just add the new email similar to google document sharing.
- Edit Contract - To update an existing record.
- send For Internal review-To Send the contract for approval for a person within the organization.
- Send for Manual Signature-To send a contract for manual signature to the Contracting Party.
- Send For Signature-To send a contract for signature to the Contracting Party.
- Renew Contract-To send a contract for Renewal.
- Cancel Contract -To Cancel the Contract.
- Purge Contract - To Delete the particular contract.
- On Login to CMx product,Dashboard is displayed with menu on left hand side
- Click on "Advanced Search" from left menu.
- There are two sub-categories
a. Filtered Search
b. Full Text Search
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Filtered Search
- The Filtered Search page is displayed with a text box to enter keywords, Select Search filters drop-down box and a search button.
Search Filters:
a. Contract Number
b. Contract Title
c. Contract Owners (Users)-User Name
d. Departments-Name
e. Locations-Name
f. Contracting Party-Name
g. Contracting Party Type-Name
h. Contract Type-Name
i. Document Attachment Contents
j. Document Attachment Types (Example: PDF, MS Word etc)
k. Document Attachment File Name (Example : Filename* )
- User enters search name in the text box and chooses appropriate option from filter and then clicks on search button.
For example: user enters contract number in the search field and chooses "Contract Number" from filter and clicks on search button. - Results are retrieved and displayed in a search results page.
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- user can enter the keywords and select a particular category from the filters and click on search button for retrieving search results.
- Results are retrieved and displayed in a search results page.
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Full Text Search
- The Full text search also works similar to searching content texts in the CMx files and documents.
- Full text search is displayed with a text box for entering text to be searched and a Search button to accomplish the tasks.
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- when the user enters the search keyword and click on Search button ,then the searched text will be highlighted in yellow and displayed in the search window as follows.
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Manage Requests
All the requests in CMx is being tracked using this screen.
User is able to create new requests using "Create Request" , update existing requests using "Update Request" on edit mode and Delete existing Requests using "Delete Request" on Delete mode.
Create Manage Request
Click on Manage Request in the Manage Requests page.Screen displays with following fields.
- Request Id *
- Name*
- Quote ID
- Order Id
- Contracting Party
- Effective Date
- Description*
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- Enter the values in the field areas
- Click on Create button
- New Request is created in the system and navigates to the Manage Request screen, displaying the newly created Request.
Edit Manage Request
To edit a existing Request:
- Click on the Edit button in the manage screen
- Manage Request edit screen is displayed
- Edit the fields that needs to be updated
- Click on Update button
- Changes to the Requests are updated in the system
Delete Request
To delete a existing Request
- Click on the Delete button in the manage screen
- A Message box is displayed for confirmation of delete action
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- Click the OK button in the displayed message box
- Request record is deleted in the system.
Contract Repository Stores and Manages all contracts in CMx System
This feature provides businesses to manage contracts. Contract Repository is again Classified to different Submodules for performing unique functionalities of CMx.
Contract Repository Main Classification is as Follows:-
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Main Module in the Contract Repository is the Manage Contracts where all the Contract features are accessed and managed.
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CMx Dashboard has the following sections, different dashboard widgets are displayed to different users (Executive, Administrator, User) based on the user role and permission scheme that the user is assigned to. CMx Administrator by default has all access. :
1. Contract Analytics Widget -Contract Analytics Widget is a drill-down widget which represents pie charts based on the selection from drop down.
Dropdown values:
1. Contracts by Contracting Party: % Distribution of Number of contracts by contracting party(Pie Chart) (Default Selection), On click of the portion of the pie, re-directs the user to the specific contracts.
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2. Contracts by Contract Type: % Distribution of Number of Contracts by Contract Type
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3.Department: % Number of Contracts by Department (Pie Chart)
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4.Location: % Number of Contracts by Location (Pie Chart)
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5. Contracting Party Type: % Number of Contracts by Contracting Party Type (Pie Chart)
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6. Contract Risk Levels
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7.Contract Value
a.% Contract Values by Contracting Party Type (Pie Chart)
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b. % Contracts Value Per department
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when clicked on above values from drop down, it has to display actual numbers/values of the specified percentage value.
2. My Tasks Widget-User is able to view and work on the assigned tasks. My Tasks Widget in the dashboard is to retrieve all the tasks for the logged in user.
On clicking on the Task Name link, the user will be redirected to the associated entity, Task Name is linked with a contract number and. On clicking on the Task Name, the user is redirected to the review page for contracts.
1. Once the task is assigned, the task status displays" pending "by default in My Task widget grid.
2. On completion of review activity, task status changes to "Completed" by the system and same is updated and displayed in My Task widget grid.
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3. Audit Trail Widget- Audit Trail section displays the real-time of activities performed by the user and other users for whom the user has authority on are recorded. The administrator can see all the activities performed by all the users, whereas User can see only the contract related feeds if the user is part of the notification list for the contract.
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4.Expiring Contracts Widget -.This section displays all Expired/Expiring Contracts ( within 30,60, and 90 days) in descending order of the contract expiry date in the grid. when clicked Contract Number (hyperlink) show take to the edit view of the specific contract.
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Forgot Password allows existing user to retrieve their password,If a user has forgotten their password.
Pre-requisites
Navigate to the User Profile page and Set the Security Questions (Logout Menu -> User Profile ->Security Questions section)
Note: Please take a note of the Security Questions and Answers as these will be required while resetting the password using 'Forgot Password"
Forgot Password steps:
1.click the Forgot Password link on the sign in page.
2.Enter the Email ID and click on submit.
3.Email is validated and security question is displayed as text.
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4.Enter an answer for the displayed security question.click on submit.
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5. On Submit, If the information entered is valid then a message stating that” Your password is sent to your email” else “Please review your entries and provide all required fields”.
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6. The system will send you a recovery code so that user can change your password.
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7. Click on the Recovery Code hyperlink in the email.
8. Enter and confirm your new password.
Two steps are involved in MFA login.
Step 1:Provide user name and Password.
Step 2:On Successful Login,enter MFA 6 digit code .
MFA settings:
- Click on Manage Contract Link from Menu,Manage contract Screen displays with "Settings" Tab on top right hand side of the screen.
- Click on settings,Click on "Multi Factor Authentication settings" Tab.
- Admin can select the users from scroll box, for whom the MFA needs to be enabled and clicks on save.
To Set Google Authenticator Application:
- Download Google Authenticator Application in your mobile..
- Open Google Authenticator App , Select Menu Option Click on Setup Account.
- Now Scan a barcode and point to the above barcode in the screen till you hear a beep sound which indicates successful registration of bar code in Google Authenticator App.
- You can register barcode of more than one users in Google Authenticator App and it will display different 6 digit numeric codes for each user registered
- Once barcode is successfully registrated,
- enter the 6 digit numeric code for the user registered from google authenticator app to the input text box and click on send button.
To Login Using MFA:
- Hit the CMx URL,provide valid username and password in the login screen.
- On successful Login result in CMx prompting for the MFA 6 digit code in a second subsequent screen.
- where user needs to enter the correct MFA 6 digits code for the user from the mobile application Google Authenticator.
- On all subsequent login of the same user , no QR/bar code registration required in the Google Authenticator App. Only the 6 digit numeric code needs to be entered in for successful user login.
The user is able to successfully login to the CMx system using a valid username and password.
To Login CMx System:
- Goto your unique CMx Url in the browser and you will see the Login Page displayed with Email Id and Password Field.
- Enter the registered Email ID (Not Case Sensitive) and Password (Case Sensitive).
- Click on "Login" button.
- if the credentials provided are correct then the user is able to login to the CMx product, else an error message is displayed stating “Invalid Credentials”.
Note:
1. If the user keys in an incorrect password and tries to login for 3 consecutive times, then Simple Captcha is displayed.
2. If the user keys in an incorrect password and tries to login for 5 consecutive times, then the user account will be locked and displays a message stating “ The User Account is locked, Please contact the administrator”.
Contract lifecycle management (CLM) is the process of controlling, coordinating, and streamlining all stages in the life cycle of a contract. Contract life-cycle management (CLM) software helps firms create, manage, and achieve maximum value from business contracts with customers, suppliers, vendors and dealers.and is a key piece of the business technology agenda.
7 Stages of Contract Life Cycle Management
- Requesting contract - The contract management process begins by identifying contracts and appropriate documents to support the contract’s purpose, where user requests for initiating a contract to be executed with contracting party.
- Authoring - The “authoring” process is about setting up contract templates and clause libraries to empower business users and legal users, respectively, to create new contracts in a fast but controlled fashion. Writing a contract by hand is a time-consuming activity, but through the use of automated contract management systems, the process can become quite streamlined.
- Contract Negotiation - Upon completion of drafting the contract, employees should be able to compare versions of the contract and note any discrepancies to reduce negotiation time by half when contract processes are automated and streamlined.
- Approval Process - The instance in which most bottlenecks in contract processes, automated contract management allows users to preemptively strike by tailoring approval workflows, including parallel and serial approvals, and keep business clipping along at a rapid pace.
- Contract Execution - Automated contract execution allows users to control and shorten the signature process with eSignature and Manual Signature. Contracts executed are effectively managed from the effective date to expiry date.
- Auditing & Reporting - Automated contract management processes utilize a full range of valuable audit and reporting tools such as contract compliance alerts, audit tracking, on-demand report generation and easy integration with third-party reporting tools.
- Contract Renewal and Amendment - Using manual contract management methods can often result in missed renewal opportunities and business revenue lost. By automating contract management processes, a business can quickly identify contract renewal candidates, allowing plenty of time to act, and automatically create new contract drafts based on the previous contract. Automated systems provide a single, effective view of a business relationship across multiple contract amendments.
- Company Profile-Concise description of a firm,or details of a firm is stored where admin can view and update company profile
- Change Password-This feature allows existing user to change their password.
- Location -Location is a place where an organizational business operations occurs. This Provides admin user to manage company location details.
- Department-Department is a specialized functional area within an organization or a division, such as accounting, marketing, planning, etc where admin user can manage company’s department details.
- User -The people employed by a particular organization are so called User /Staff, where admin is able to view, edit, delete all the existing user details and also create new user.
- Role - Role is an expected behavior associated with a particular position in an organization, This feature provides admin user to manage and create new Role.
- Permission scheme- Users have permission to access the system through assigned permission schemes. Admin can Assign Permission Scheme to a Role , only one permission scheme can be assigned to a Role any point of time.
- Contract Type-A particular kind of Agreements between two entities like Incentive contract, Fixed Price contract, Purchase order etc. where in this feature provides users to view, edit all the existing contract type details and also create new contract type.
- Custom Field Form- Custom Field Form is a user defined form with multiple control definitions using a designer and a name. This feature provide admin user to create, update and manage the custom field form.
- Contract Templates-These are Standard forms of contract which is usually a preprinted contract containing set clauses. This feature provides user to manage contract templates which can contain user defined custom fields.
- Contracting Party - Contracting party is the business entity that enters into a legally binding contract with the current organization who creates the contract. This feature provides user to manage contracting party details.
- Contracting Party Type- Contracting Party type refers to the various types/buckets contracting party can be categorized. This feature provides user to manage contracting party type.
- Clause Category-Clause categories are grouped under Clause Library. This feature provides user to create new contact clause category which can be attached to a Clause Library by choosing from dropdown.
- Clause Library- A Clause Library is an online repository of pre-defined and approved legal clauses that can be inserted in to contracts. This feature provides user to create new contact clauses which can be attached to a contract type by default.
- Work Flow- Work flow is a Progression of steps /tasks that comprise a work process, involve two or more persons. This Provides user to define a workflow for contract approvals.
- User Profile- A user profile is a record of user-specific data that define the user's working environment. This feature allows existing user to view and update their profiles.
Introduction to Contract management
Contract management is the process of managing contract creation, execution and analysis to maximize operational and financial performance at an organization, all while reducing financial risk. Organizations encounter an ever-increasing amount of pressure to reduce costs and improve company performance. Contract management proves to be a very time-consuming element of business, which facilitates the need for effective and automated contract management system.
Contract Management Software
While the tradition is normally to manage contracts manually through folder and file cabinet storage, the practice is riddled with inefficiencies that can only detract from an organization’s overall efficiency. Integrating with an automated contract management service will help free up countless man hours and automate countless processes associated with managing a contract, thus creating more value for a company.
High-level features of CMx - Contract Management Software
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Simplify your enterprise Contract Life Cycle Management (ECLM) Process with below features:
1. Enterprise Level Configurations
a. Organization Provisioning
i. Company Profile
ii. Location Provisioning
iii. Department Provisioning
iv. Staff Provisioning
v. Role & Permission Provisioning
vi. User Groups Provisioning
2. Contracts Configuration & Extensibility
a. Contracts Settings
b. Contract Level Security Permission
3. Contract Repository
a. Central Contract Respository for Managing Contracts and Document Attachments
b. Search & Advanced Search
i. Sub-second Response with Millions of Contract Records and Content types of files attached with contracts.
c. User Defined Custom Fields
d. Configurable Custom Workflow
e. Internal & External Reviews
f. e-Signature
g. Contract Types
h. Custom Contract Templates
4. Collaboration Features
a. Collaborate and author contracts
b. Internal Review with Team Members
c. External Review with Subject Matter Experts (SME) and Lawyers, keeping track of every change on the go.
5. Analytics & Reports
a. Audit Trail
b. Contract Analytics
c. User Task Board
d. Recommended Contracts for Review
6. Enterprise Scalability & Cost Effectiveness
a. Leverages strengths of Open Source Stack combined with powerful document authoring and collaboration features
b. Scalable Design with the latest and greatest technology stacks to provide you the best possible User Experience (UX)
7. Security
a. SSL
b. HMAC Request Level Security
8. Import & Export
a. Self Service Import of Existing Contracts using Excel Template
b. Export Existing Contracts - Administrator
9. On-Premise Vs Cloud SAAS Version
10. World Class Support
CMx is a complete end-to-end Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) solution which can be deployed across all departments/locations/subsidiary (child companies) within an organization. CMx is designed based on below diagram which represents the true CLM stages.
More details on these stages can be found here: https://www.contractexperience.com/resources/resources-main.html
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Simplifying Contract Lifecycle Management: The 9 Key Stages
Contracts are very important when many people or companies are involved in a deal. They help keep track of key details like important dates, prices, who is involved, and signatures. If you lose track of your contracts and their terms, you might miss deadlines or end up paying too much for services. You could also have trouble getting payments from vendors on time. These issues can have a big impact on your business and its profits. It is very important for all companies to manage their contracts well. Many departments often store contracts in different locations. This can cause confusion and may lead to losing important information. Smart companies will centralize their contract storage. They can do this by using a good contract system that gives one clear record for all their contract needs.
Increase Productivity and Save Money
When contract management is easy to use, it changes how businesses operate. Simple tracking and reporting save time. This allows employees to focus more on important negotiations and strategies. As a result, productivity increases in areas that matter. A good contract system helps reduce confusion. It makes sure that rules from the state, federal, and industry are followed. This stops costly mistakes and fines. A great way to find issues early is by tagging clause usage and taking shared notes. This helps stop your company from wasting time, resources, and money to fix problems later.
Only a few companies in the world manage their contracts and processes well. This practice keeps things organized and efficient. Contract systems can be very simple. They may use basic databases. These help companies find contracts and keep track of important details like expiration dates and deadlines. There are also more advanced systems known as contract lifecycle management (CLM) systems. These systems aim to automate the entire contract lifecycle. This includes everything from the first request to creating contracts, getting them signed, filing, and reporting later on. Some systems mainly focus on procurement, while others assist with sales contracts. More and more, these systems are made to manage all kinds of contracts.
A simple contract database or contract storage can be fine for companies with only a few contracts. Yet, more advanced Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) systems offer valuable tools and features. These systems can help manage contracts, which can be complicated and are very important for many businesses.
As more contract solutions are offered as cloud services, CLM systems are easier to access. Smaller companies and legal teams can benefit from them too.
An integrated system is useful for managing contracts in a business. It handles all parts of contract work, from requests to negotiations and storing everything in one place. People and systems in the company can easily access and analyze contract details. This improvement leads to better efficiency, consistency, reporting, and control. By centralizing contract management, companies can save money and cut down on waste. It also helps them respond faster and better in a competitive market.
Why CLM is the Backbone of Business Success
Every business depends on contracts. Contracts explain the rules for jobs, business relationships, and other important information. In simple terms, contracts are key for trading. They are the basic elements of all economic activities and business tasks. That's why CLM is not only necessary, but it also gives a smart advantage.
The Importance of CLM
You can find out a lot about a company by checking its contracts. These contracts show how the company uses technology. They also show how it improves processes and handles risks. Is the company focused more on being fast than being safe? Do all of its systems work well together, or are some not connected? Does it save money by using machines for tasks that take a lot of effort? Contracts give answers to these questions.
Benefits of an Effective Contract Lifecycle Management System
- Centralized Data: Offers one clear source of truth. This reduces confusion and errors.
- Shared Workflows: Enhances teamwork across departments.
- Transparency and Compliance: Ensures everyone is informed and follows the rules.
- Efficiency and Collaboration: Results in improved work through digital tools and automation in the contracting process.
Using these elements in your contract management plans can lower risks and make it easier for your business to adjust. A good CLM system is a key tool that helps your business succeed in a tough market.
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The Historical Roots of Contract Lifecycle Management
Contract lifecycle management (CLM) has been around for a very long time. Its history goes back thousands of years to the time when the first business records were written on clay tablets. About 5,000 years ago, people used cuneiform tablets to keep track of information. These early records played an important role in forming the systems of trade that exist today.
The Role of Contracts in Commerce
From a long time ago until now, ledgers and contracts have been crucial for businesses. Every transaction relies on a written agreement. This means keeping records of what is bought and the promises of what will be provided. If businesses lack the right documents, they may not get paid or receive the services they need. Contracts are vital for companies. They are also important for how people work together and contribute to society.
Evolution to Digital Management
In the last few decades, handling contracts has become very important. The move from paper to digital systems in the last 30 years has helped improve contract lifecycle management (CLM). However, many old CLM tools have struggled to adapt to digital processes without the right tools. A lot of these systems cannot link the physical contracts with the data they store. This gap can create risks for businesses.
The Complexity of Contract Lifecycle Management
Contract lifecycle management can be challenging, even with new updates. It's not only about storing signed documents. It includes managing the entire lifecycle of a contract, starting from drafting it, through negotiation, to the final signing. Often, old tools do not satisfy the needs of lawyers and business teams when they create and negotiate agreements.
Modern Solutions and Future Directions
The issues with old contract management solutions explain why we need new technologies. These new tools can help us create, edit, track, and store contracts better. They make it easy and reliable to connect key contract data. With these advancements, businesses can look forward to systems that work well together. This will support both legal and business needs more effectively.
Knowing the history and challenges helps companies see how contract lifecycle management has changed. It shows them why this is important in how businesses function today.
Transformation in the 1990s and 2000s: Impact on Contract Management Systems
The technology changes in the 1990s and 2000s greatly impacted contract management systems. Business computers cost less during this time. The Internet became a key tool for many industries. This new digital era changed how companies operated. A major shift happened in communication, as email became the main way for people to connect.
Key Legislative and Technological Shifts
In 2000, something important took place when Congress made the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce (ESIGN) Act. This act made it clear that electronic signatures are real and official. It let businesses use digital contracts legally.
Evolution of Business Systems
In the past, a lot of contract management tools showed up as document management systems or systems of record. As companies began to digitize their contracts, it was important to ensure these digital records were correct and complete. However, back then, using on-premise hosting meant that setting up software took a lot of time. Updates were not common, which made the process hard for businesses.
Big software companies, such as Oracle and SAP Ariba, began in the mid-1990s. They led the market back then. At that time, software mainly helped to store contract data. It wasn’t considered a key part of business plans. People didn’t see it as a tool that could provide real-time insights.
Comparison with CRM and ERP Systems
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems got a lot better during this time. They did not need digital documents or signatures to operate. They were designed for easy one-way interactions. A salesperson's input was all that was needed.
ERP systems are successful because they help us manage buying better. They make it simple to track purchases. This is a big improvement over the problems often seen with contract management systems.
CLM vs. CRM and ERP Growth
CRMs and ERPs became very popular because they helped companies work better and run things smoother. However, Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) tools did not provide the same benefits at that time. The need to finalize contracts and use electronic signatures made contract management slower. This is why the growth of CLM tools was much slower compared to CRMs and ERPs.
The development of technology has changed how businesses work. This has led to big improvements in contract management systems.
The Impact of Microsoft Word on Contract Lifecycle Management Practices
Microsoft Word changed the way we handle contracts. It made making documents simpler and more uniform. In the past, using Word, handling contracts was often messy. People had to write documents by hand or use typewriters, which required a lot of effort.
Standardization and Uniformity
Word processors existed before Microsoft Word. But Microsoft Word was unique. It could easily change to fit different needs. This helped set a common layout for contracts worldwide. It was easy to create professional and uniform documents. Because of this, businesses could maintain a strong and consistent brand in all their legal papers.
Ubiquity and Integration
Today, it's hard to imagine managing contracts without Microsoft Word. Many contracts, from simple agreements to complex legal documents, are created, updated, and finalized with this software. It works well with other programs. This makes the whole contract lifecycle easier, from creating to signing and storing. This teamwork helps keep contracts clear and easy to find for anyone who needs them.
Enhancing Collaboration
Before Microsoft Word, it was difficult to share documents for review or teamwork. People used paper copies and wrote on them with red pens. Microsoft Word changed this. It added tools such as track changes and comments. Now, many people can work on a document together at the same time. They can also easily see all changes made. This speeds up contract negotiation.
Flexibility and Customization
The flexibility of Microsoft Word makes it easy for users to change templates for various types of contracts. This helps reduce errors and follow legal guidelines. This ability allows businesses to quickly adjust to new rules without having to update all their documents.
Longevity and Dependability
Word is still very important in the business world. While other software may disappear, Word has proven to be reliable over the years. This trust makes it a favorite for contract management. Because of this, Word remains a key tool for business operations.
In short, Microsoft Word plays an important role in contract management. It offers simple, reliable solutions for businesses everywhere. Its features help save time and resources when making, talking about, and finishing contracts. As a result, it makes work easier for all.
Critical Stages in Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM)
Following section explains about the #9 stages and best practices of Contract Lifecycle Management process.
Stage 1: Contract Request:
Contract Life Cycle Management starts with the Contracts Requesting process. In this step, one party requests to begin the contracting process. Then, they use this information to create the contract document. Document generation is usually the first step in Contract Life Cycle Management.
Inputs:
Information on what the contract should contain and critical dates such as contract start date,end date and any milestones.
Outputs:
- The details of contract requests are kept in the CLM Software System. You can view this information on the contract management dashboard for the next steps of CLM.
- There are audit trails available.
How Contract Lifecycle Management Software Enhances the Contract Request Stage
Contract management software plays a key role in simplifying the contract request process. It offers many benefits that can enhance how contracts are managed and ensure they are handled effectively and accurately.
1. Streamlined Proposal Initiation
When you start a contract, it’s important to be clear and organized. Contract management solutions can help with this by automating routine tasks and the request process. This ensures that all key details are captured right from the start. Automation reduces the need for endless conversations. This, in turn, helps to lower the chances of making mistakes.
2. Centralized Information Repository
Effective negotiation relies on quickly finding key documents and past agreements. Contract management software offers a single space to store all related data and materials. This approach helps everyone work together more easily.
3. Enhanced Documentation Management
Having all support papers ready is key when making deals. The software helps to organize these papers. It also keeps them up to date. This way, the people involved have the latest and most accurate information when they talk.
4. Workflow Automation and Alerts
This software comes with tools that help you follow the steps for contract requests. You can store contracts easily. It also sends automatic alerts and reminders. These reminders help ensure that negotiation and approval steps happen on time. This way, it reduces the chance of delays.
5. Improved Version Control
Tracking changes when writing contracts can be tough. Contract management software makes this easier. It has tools for version control. These tools allow users to see changes made in manual contract management. They can also look at older versions. This helps make sure everything is clear and consistent during talks.
Contract management software simplifies the process of requesting contracts. It also enhances the entire contracting process. This can result in better and more successful outcomes.
Stage 2: Contract Authoring, Review and Red lining, Contract Negotiation
In the contract writing stage, a contract is created with CMx. This document includes all the clauses, terms, and conditions. It makes sure to cover all the important parts of the agreement.
Key Elements to Include:
- Services: Clearly describe what services each side will provide or receive.
- Start Dates: Mention when the terms of the contract will start.
- Pricing: Clearly show the costs and how payments will work.
- Milestones and Expectations: Highlight important milestones and clearly state expectations.
- Contingencies: Talk about possible issues and make backup plans.
- Contract Approvers and Signing Parties: Right now, it is key to decide who will approve and sign the contract.
- You must include the names of the approvers and signers in the document.
- This will help keep the process simple and easy.
Using Technology: Contract management platforms can make this task easier. They allow you to use standard forms to collect key details and create contracts automatically. It's similar to entering your destination in a GPS and letting it find the best route for you.
In the Contract Authoring or Drafting stage, people create a contract or agreement document. This document has all the clauses, terms, and conditions. This stage is crucial because it builds the base of the agreement. Here, we find who the Contract Approvers and Signing parties are. Their details get noted in the contract document.
Once the contract draft is finished, it moves to the Review and Redlining phase. In this stage, stakeholders carefully examine the document. They recommend changes and make sure it meets the necessary rules. This careful work prepares the contract for negotiation. This stage is very important to finalize the terms.
Contract negotiation comes next. The document may need changes before signing. This step is very important. Legal teams from both sides work together now. They talk to settle any issues and ensure that both sides’ interests are protected.
During negotiations, it is essential to:
- Track Document Changes: Writing down changes to the document keeps things clear and honest.
- Manage Comments and Feedback: Handling feedback well helps both sides understand what they want.
- Version Control: Keeping several versions of the document helps control changes during the negotiation.
These parts are key because they ensure the final contract is clear and fair. They also help make it easy to enforce. This keeps problems from coming up later. The negotiation phase does not only create the contract. It also sets the stage for a successful partnership between everyone involved.
Why is the Negotiation Stage Critical?
The negotiation of terms is crucial in a contract's life. This step is vital because it decides the final terms and ensures everyone agrees. Good and smooth negotiations require a lot of preparation. You need to have all positions, documents, and goals well-organized and ready for the meetings.
The Role of Contract Management Software
Contract management software can really help with negotiating. It serves as a central spot to keep important details, such as documents and positions, organized. This organization makes preparing and handling negotiations easier. The software also allows for requesting and approving changes, which helps everything work better. By cutting down the time spent on administrative work, legal teams can focus more on the key parts of negotiation. This focus can lead to better outcomes.
Using these tools in negotiation makes everything go better. They help keep the process smooth and effective. This approach also fits the goals we had when writing the contract.
- Contract Request Information
- Contract or Agreement Document: This file is usually saved in Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format in the document management system.
This stage creates a solid foundation for a successful contract. It uses technology to ensure that all key parts are included.
The Importance of Contract Negotiation and Collaboration in the Contract Lifecycle
Contract negotiation is key in every contract. It is the base of the whole agreement. It influences both fast deals and long-term partnerships. A great example is George Lucas's deal with 20th Century Fox for 'Star Wars' merchandising rights. What started as a simple negotiation became a multi-billion-dollar success. This shows how important negotiation is. It involves key decisions that can affect future income and responsibilities.
Establishing Terms and Responsibilities
Negotiation is key because it details the agreement. It tells what each side should do and what they will receive. This step makes sure everyone understands their roles. It helps prevent arguments down the line. When people work well together, they can find problems before they become bigger issues. This builds a good vibe for future teamwork.
Preserving Relationships
During negotiation, both sides can share what they need and how they feel. This open chat helps build trust and improve relationships. Trust is important for a good partnership. When everyone’s goals are clear, negotiation makes a strong connection and aligns aims. This paves the way for working together in the future.
Avoiding Misunderstandings Through Version Control
Collaboration during contract negotiation is key. It helps to keep things clear and stops misunderstandings. Everyone involved should use the most recent version of the contract. Using outdated versions can lead to confusion and errors, similar to using old hiking maps. Digital contract management solutions help manage these versions. This way, everyone stays updated, and all changes are tracked and noted.
Enhancing Efficiency with Technology
Modern contract management platforms help make negotiation better. They do this by making communication and teamwork simpler. These tools:
- Make it simple to find and share key documents.
- Allow multiple users to access and edit the contract securely.
- Automatically notify everyone about the latest versions.
- Keep a full log of all changes made.
- Assist with the redlining process to make sure no changes are missed.
These features help people work together at the same time. This helps make negotiations easier and better.
Ensuring Compliance and Mitigating Risks
- Contracts often come with complex rules and demands.
- Collaborating during negotiations helps find compliance problems sooner.
- This allows all parties to address these issues before they turn into risks.
- A clear negotiation process also helps maintain an accurate record.
- This record is crucial for legal protection and ensuring compliance.
Good collaboration tools for contract negotiation and collaboration help set clear terms. They also help strengthen relationships and keep everyone on the same page with version control. The right technology can make the process faster and ensure things are done correctly. All these factors are key to a good contract lifecycle.
How Does Contract Lifecycle Management Software Improve the Negotiation Process?
Navigating the details of contract negotiation is key in any contract lifecycle. When everyone understands each other, things move smoothly and quickly. Here’s how contract management software can help improve contract negotiations:
Streamlined Access and Organization
Contract management software is where all contracts are stored. You can find them easily, without digging through long email threads or messy folders. This software ensures that everyone has the most up-to-date version of the contract. It is like having a live map on your phone instead of a printed map that stays the same.
Enhanced Collaboration and Permissions
These platforms allow everyone to access contracts securely. Users can view, comment, and edit contracts safely. You can grant permissions to manage who can see different parts. This ensures that only the right people see the information they need for their work. With this control, you lower the risk of unwanted changes and keep things private.
Real-Time Updates and Version Control
A good contract management system updates your contracts on its own to the newest version. Tools for version control track every change that is made. This provides a clear history of updates. It helps to prevent any confusion. Everyone stays up to date, which lowers the chance of mistakes and misunderstandings.
Comprehensive Audit Trails
One important feature is to keep detailed audit trails. Every change, comment, and update gets recorded. This creates a clear log of the negotiation process. This transparency makes reviews and approvals easier. It also helps with compliance and accountability.
Improved Negotiation Efficiency
With the redlining tools on the platform, people can negotiate directly. Everyone can see edits and suggestions. This helps reduce issues that come up when using email, as it can be tough to keep track of changes. Negotiators can focus on the contract instead of dealing with messy documents.
Contract management software is a useful tool. It improves the contract negotiation process. This software adds structure, clarity, and control. With it, organizations can handle negotiations more effectively. This leads to successful agreements that meet everyone's needs.
How Can Contract Management Platforms Assist During Contract Negotiation?
Navigating contract negotiations can be hard. Contract management platforms can help a lot. They act like a reliable GPS that shows you the way through tricky paths. These platforms make every step of contract management easier and clearer. Here’s how:
- Easy Access and Search: No more wasting time looking through messy folders. These platforms help you find contracts fast, so you always get the right version.
- Careful Sharing and Permissions: Keep your agreements safe. You can share contracts with the right people and control who sees private details.
- Latest Version Updates: Stay updated easily. The platforms update your contracts automatically, so you won’t mix up old information during talks.
- Detailed Audit Trails: Stay clear and responsible. Every change is logged, giving a clear history of what was changed, keeping everyone informed.
- Strong Version Control and Markup: Stop losing important updates. The markup and version control tools help manage edits well, ensuring your vital changes are saved.
Contract management platforms assist users. They provide clear insight and precision during each stage of negotiation. With simpler processes and improved access, you can concentrate on securing the best deal. You won't spend time searching for the right file.
Stage 3: Approval and Lawyer or Legal Review
The agreement document we made before is sent to the people who need to approve it, whether they are inside or outside the company. Once they approve it, the contract document will go to the next step in the CLM life cycle.
Contract management software has useful tools that help people stay organized and meet deadlines. Users can create automatic reminders. This helps ensure that important dates are not missed, keeping the approval process smooth and efficient.
The software helps users see who has viewed and accepted the contract. This transparency helps find delays and fix them quickly. Users can also organize contract searches based on approval status. This makes it easy to find documents that need attention. It saves time and improves the way they manage the contract lifecycle.
A clear approval process is important. It ensures that everyone’s voice is heard, especially in large companies with many people. Each person may have different information, and some of that information can be private. So, we must be careful about who can see what.
Using contract management software can simplify this process. These tools assist legal teams in making clear review steps. They can assign specific access to certain members. This means each person only views what they need to see. This approach lowers risks and keeps information private during approval.
Using conditional logic can make things work better. If a certain number of approvals are needed before a contract can continue, it will help move things along faster. This way, each stage of the contract lifecycle is checked properly.
Contract Document.
- Contract Approvals from designated stake holders.
In small companies, getting contract approval is usually easy. A few people can make decisions without a lot of rules.
- In large companies, the approval process is more complicated. Many people must look over and approve contracts because there are stricter rules.
- Small companies can approve contracts quickly. They can move fast and change things easily when needed.
- Large companies take longer for contract approval. This happens because they need several layers of checks and approvals before signing a contract.
- These differences in the approval process can change how each type of company operates. Small companies may be more flexible, while large companies focus on careful checks and balances.
In small companies, getting contract approval is often simple. A General Counsel usually handles the whole process by themselves. They read and approve each part without needing extra help. This method works well because there are fewer and easier contracts in smaller businesses.
As companies get bigger, the approval process for contracts becomes harder. Larger businesses often need input from various departments and areas. Each department has the job of approving specific parts of the contract. This way, every department can focus on its own concerns and fulfill its unique needs.
Managing contracts can be hard. Before, sending contracts to each department had to be done by hand. This took a long time and often caused mistakes. Now, there is new technology. Tools like DocuSign and SAP Ariba help with contract lifecycle management in real time. They make the job easier by automatically sending contracts and tracking them to the right teams. This helps us get approvals quickly with less manual work.
Stage 4: Execution or Agreement Signing
The approved contract document is sent out to the right people. They can sign it online or do it by hand.
Contract Document with no signature.
Contract management software helps finish the signing process easily. Users can sign documents online, which saves time and is simple with a few clicks. This feature works well with well-known platforms like DocuSign and Dropbox. It keeps documents secure and organized.
If you like a more traditional way, you can upload your wet signature. This allows you to be flexible and meets different choices for signing.
- All parties involved should sign the contract document electronically.
Contract management software makes it simple to execute contracts for everyone. It allows all parties to sign in the way that works best for them. This software also enhances contract visibility, which is very useful during the signing process.
After getting approval, getting signatures is key in the contract lifecycle. In the past, people used physical signatures. Now, electronic signatures are more popular. They are simple and fast to use. However, electronic signatures have to follow different laws based on the area. This can make things a bit more complicated.
Contract management software simplifies the process. It automates requests for signatures and helps you keep track of important rules. This software easily connects with well-known e-signature platforms like Adobe Sign and Docusign. It makes the whole process faster. When you pick a solution with e-signature features, it creates an easy shift from getting approvals to signing. This reduces delays and increases productivity.
Once you sign the contract, it is saved forever in a database for agreements. This database is simple to access. The contract details and documents are sorted and kept for later use.
Contract storage is not just about holding signed contracts. It is also about protecting sensitive information and making it easy to find. Here are some key needs:
- Secure Storage: You need to store contracts safely. This keeps private data secure.
- Ease of Navigation: Company folders should be organized. This makes it easy to find documents fast when you need them.
- Metadata Management: Keeping track of metadata in a database is crucial. This helps with clear reporting and filtering. For example, you can find contracts over a certain value, which helps in making good choices.
- Contextual History: It’s important to save not just the signed contract but also its complete history. This shows how the contract has changed over time.
General software solutions, like Dropbox, can be useful for new companies. But as the company grows, they may not offer enough space. A good contract storage system should be able to manage more contracts and handle complicated needs. It should support the company's changes as it evolves over time.
Understanding the Phases of Contract Management: Pre-Signature and Post-Signature
Contract management can be a hard task, but it has clear steps. A contract goes through two main stages: the time before it is signed and the time after it is signed.
Pre-Signature Phase
The pre-signature phase is all the work done before the contract is officially signed. This stage has:
- Drafting the Contract: Writing down the rules that show what we agreed on during the talks.
- Negotiation: Discussing with everyone involved to agree on the contract terms.
- Review and Approval: Making sure the contract meets the law and fits the business goals.
- Finalization: Preparing the contract for signing and ensuring everyone understands it.
Post-Signature Phase
Once the contract is signed, we move into a new stage. This stage is called the post-signature phase. In this time, we have tasks and duties. These help ensure the agreement keeps its promises until it ends. These actions include:
- Implementation and Compliance: Oversee how the contract terms are followed. Make sure everything is done according to the rules.
- Monitoring and Auditing: Regularly review the contract performance. Check if it meets the expected results.
- Renewals and Termination: Evaluate how well the contract is performing as it gets close to the end. Decide whether to renew it or terminate it.
This clear difference between the time before signing the contract and after helps with contract management. It ensures that everyone understands what is happening during the entire contract period.
Understanding the Challenges of Contract Execution
Contract execution can be tricky. When both people are set to finish an agreement, they need to sign the contract. This straightforward step can turn into a challenge due to some important issues.
Logistical Challenges
- Coordination: It can be hard to get everyone’s schedule to match for carrying out the contract. This is even harder when people are in different time zones or need several approvals from different people.
- Document Management: It can also be tough to keep track of contract versions and ensure that everyone signs the right document.
Technical Challenges
- Integration of Tools: A major issue is that eSignature solutions are often sold as separate tools. They usually do not come with larger contract lifecycle management (CLM) systems.
- Security Concerns: It is very important to keep data safe and ensure signatures are authentic. This can require advanced technical solutions.
Addressing the Challenges
Businesses are using integrated solutions more often to solve these problems. These solutions make the signing process simpler. Here’s how they help:
- Unified Platforms: Many companies now offer complete CLM platforms. These platforms include eSignature features. This means users don’t need to switch between different tools.
- Workflow Automation: Automated workflows help contracts get signed easily. They send alerts and reminders to keep everyone informed.
- Enhanced Security Features: These platforms use strong encryption and authentication. This ensures valid signatures and keeps important information safe.
- Mobile Accessibility: New solutions let users sign documents from anywhere. This is very useful when people are not together.
By using secure platforms that are connected, companies can fix the logistical and technical issues related to contract execution. This leads to higher efficiency and fewer errors throughout the process.
Stage 5: Contract Database or Repository Storage
Once you sign the contract, it is saved in a database. You can find it easily later. Both the details and the actual documents are organized. They are kept safe for future use. This setup is very important for managing contracts well. It makes sure you can access contracts and related papers whenever you need them.
Proper storage is not just about saving documents. It requires a strong system that allows quick and accurate searches. Contract management software plays a key role here. It helps you create collections using both standard and custom search terms. This feature makes it simple to find what you need based on specific details. The software can also generate detailed reports for various needs. These reports aid in making important decisions and ensuring you stay compliant. The bottom line is that good contract management software makes your organization run better.
Incorporating these features makes contract management simpler. It helps you manage contract obligations better. You can also analyze them more easily.
Contract Document with Signature.
- The contract document is stored in the document repository.
- It can be used for future reference.
- You can get to it using the contract API.
Stage 6: Records Management
This stage allows you to manage your important business documents. You can safely store records and have backups ready. The retention policy also ensures your vital records are secure. This is key for handling information around the world and for staying compliant.
Secure storage is key in contract management. It helps prevent issues like deleting or misupdating important documents by mistake. Contract management software plays a big role in keeping your storage safe and reliable. It also ensures your data is backed up, whether at your location or on remote servers. This double layer of protection keeps your records safe and easy to restore.
Effective software solutions make management better. They set important tasks with automatic reminders or requests. This way, key jobs and deadlines are less likely to be missed. The automated method makes daily work simpler. It also reduces the chance of mistakes. Plus, it helps ensure that the work follows the organization’s rules.
Contract management software makes life easier for general counsels, legal teams, and others. It helps lower risks and keeps document management systems safe and secure.
Agreements, Contractual Documents.
- Following rules and making sure they are kept starts with keeping things safe in a Records Management System.
Enterprise software systems have improved a lot over the years. They go through three main stages. These are systems of record, systems of engagement, and systems of intelligence.
Systems of Record
Enterprise software began as systems of record. These systems serve as reliable sources of information, similar to digital databases. Moving from paper to digital allows businesses to access, manage, and share records more quickly. Tasks that used to take hours or days can now be completed in seconds. This shift makes it simpler and more efficient to manage business data.
Systems of Engagement
As businesses grew, storing data was not sufficient. So, systems of engagement were created. These systems link databases with users. They make data easier to use and manage. This speeds up how quickly you can collect and find information. Whether you work with customer data or contracts, these tools help a lot. They enhance how users can access and work with stored data. Now, many business technologies function this way, improving daily tasks for users.
Systems of Intelligence
The latest development in business software is called systems of intelligence. These smart platforms do more than just store data. They also help users analyze that data to find patterns and gain insights. With the help of machine learning and artificial intelligence, systems of intelligence can improve decision-making and predict business trends. Their impact varies across different industries because it depends on how well they fit into each business area. Even though these systems are still evolving, they represent the future of business software. They promise better results by offering valuable intelligence.
Enterprise software has changed a lot. It started as a simple tool to record data. Then, it helped users interact with that data. Now, it aims to analyze the data cleverly. This helps businesses grow.
Stage 7: Easy Search and Retrieval
This stage makes it simple for business users. They can search easily, use filters, and find important documents from the contract system.
Contract Repository tagged with relevant keywords for easy search and retrieval.
- Look up search results for the contract repository that have important documents.
Stage 8: User Activity and Reporting
Every stage keeps track of user activity logs and contract details. It also organizes documents so they are easy to find. This helps business users quickly access contract data. They can create detailed reports without any trouble.
Contract lifecycle management software offers different types of reports. These reports help teams make important decisions. Key people, such as general counsel and legal teams, can check reports about the number of contracts and the types stored. This understanding is key for maintaining an organized database.
It is important to know who viewed the records, who made changes, and when these actions took place. This knowledge helps with responsibility and safety. The software also helps make important reports. These reports show that all rules are respected. Problems like late payments or not receiving products are flagged for quick action. This protects the interests of the organization.
- Contract Repository containing agreements.
- Reports made just for your business needs.
- They help you track and manage contracts.
- You can see how well you meet your agreements.
- These reports focus on what is most important to you.
- Contract Volume and Type Reports: These help you see details about agreements for storage.
- Access and Modification Logs: These logs show who viewed or changed contracts. This gives clear information and trust.
- Compliance and Obligation Reports: These reports highlight problems like late payments or missed deliveries. They ensure that serious issues get prompt attention.
The software helps you create custom notification systems. This feature fits well with a business's internal processes. It keeps everyone updated and helps them respond quickly to any contract changes. By adding these features, the software makes reporting better. It also improves how you manage contracts overall.
Stage 9: Contract Renewal, Amendments, and Disposition
When the contract ends, you need to renew it to keep it active. If you don’t renew it on time, you might face financial risks. Renewal is not just about dates and signatures. It is also a smart choice that requires careful consideration of several factors.
However, deciding whether to renew a contract can be tough. You need to think about if keeping the partnership is beneficial for everyone involved. Here are some things to consider:
- Performance Review: Look at the goals and expectations from the start of the contract. This will help you decide if you want to renew or find other options.
- Reminders and Timing: Use contract management tools to set reminders for important contract dates. This gives you enough time to think about changes to goals, expectations, and prices for the new contract.
- Ending the Contract: If you decide to end the contract, read the responsibilities in the original agreement closely. Knowing these can help prevent legal or financial issues.
- Money Matters: Pay attention to the financial aspects. Renewing under bad conditions can be dangerous, and not renewing might make you miss out on opportunities.
By following these steps, you can make good choices that fit your goals and lower risks. Managing contracts well is important during this time. It is not only about renewing the documents. It is also about making sure that all responsibilities are met and the terms are fair for both parties.
- Contract Document with a recent expiry date.
Considerations:
- Completion of Obligations: Check if everyone has fulfilled their contract terms. This is important to ensure both sides did what they promised. A good follow-through helps build trust.
- Adequacy of Deliverables: Look at the quality of what was delivered. You want to know if what you received matches what you expected.
- Competitive Pricing: Review the prices to see if they are competitive today. Compare them with industry standards. This will help you make sure that costs fit the value you get.
- Stability and Benefit of the Business Relationship: Think about how strong the relationship is. Consider what positives it brings to your group. This means looking at how important the partner is and what future work might be like together.
- Risk Analysis: Perform a risk check to find possible issues with renewing or not renewing the contract. This includes looking at risks related to money, operations, or reputation.
- Contract Document renewed to a later expiry date: After reviewing all key factors, if you decide to renew the contract, update the document to show a new end date. This keeps things running smoothly and protects against potential risks.
Ongoing Contract Management Tasks:
- Track Milestones: Keep track of important dates and tasks. This helps make sure things stay on schedule during the contract period.
- Meet Obligations: Confirm that both parties do what they promised in the contract. This prevents disputes or breaks in the agreement.
- Manage Changes: Look out for any changes to the contract terms. Update them if needed to reflect the current agreement.
- Conduct Audits: Regularly check contracts to ensure they meet legal and business requirements.
Renewal Decision Process:
You need to decide what to do since the contract is almost done. You can choose to renew it or let it end. This choice includes:
- Reminder Alerts: Set reminders for important dates in your contracts. This will help you feel less stressed about doing work at the last minute.
- Evaluate Continuation: Consider if keeping the contract supports your goals. Sometimes, it might be better to end a contract instead.
- Utilize Technology: Use contract management software. It can make things easier and give you time to improve your terms, expectations, and rates.
To ensure successful contract management and renewal, you must be proactive. This practice helps ensure that every contract is fair and secure for all parties involved.
The renewal process is a smart choice when you consider these factors. It helps ensure that the contract matches your current business goals and market conditions.
Contract management software is useful for handling contracts efficiently. It can manage changes, renewals, or terminations well ahead of the contract's expiration. This helps reduce the chance of missing key dates and avoids financial problems. By sending reminders and tracking contract events, this software speeds up the process. This allows businesses to concentrate on maintaining strong and beneficial relationships.
How have legacy contract management solutions fallen short in digitizing the contract process?
Legacy contract management solutions struggle to digitize the contracting process. They do not fit how lawyers and companies really create, negotiate, and finalize contracts. Because of this difference, these tools are not good for practical use.
These systems have not completely moved contracts to digital formats. They still keep a gap between paper contracts, like DOCX or PDF files, and the key data inside them, such as contract value or duration. This gap can cause big problems. If there are differences between the paper contracts and what the databases show, it can lead to legal issues. Courts often focus more on the actual text in the contracts.
Not being able to connect contract data easily in a digital way stops businesses from moving forward. They end up using old and less efficient methods.
What does contract management and analytics entail, and why is it less developed in the CLM space?
Contract Management and Analytics: What It Means and Why It’s Still Growing
Contract management is very important. It helps businesses keep track of their agreements. But many companies do not use it as much as they could. Here are some reasons why:
- People might not know about contract management and what it can do for them.
- There may be a lack of training and tools.
- Some think it takes too much time.
- Businesses might focus on other things instead.
Learning more about contract management can show how helpful it can be. It can boost a company’s efficiency and success. That’s why it is worth exploring further.
Contract management and analytics cover several key tasks. These tasks help in keeping track of agreements and evaluating them. This area includes activities such as managing contracts, searching for information, assisting with renewals, and using analytics to gain insights. This stage is the final part of the contract lifecycle that wraps up the process.
Key Elements of Contract Management and Analytics:
- Contract Administration: This ensures contracts are documented properly, stored safely, and can be found easily when needed.
- Search and Retrieval: This focuses on quickly finding certain contracts or sections of contracts with smart search tools.
- Contract Renewal: This involves renewing and renegotiating contracts on time to keep business running smoothly.
- Analytics: This uses information from contracts to review performance, identify trends, and help make better decisions.
Contract management and analytics are important. However, they are not well developed in the contract lifecycle management (CLM) field. This slow development is caused by a few key reasons.
- Perceived Priority: Many organizations pay more attention to executing contracts than to managing them. They believe that managing contracts is not as crucial for short-term success.
- Data Dependency: Effective contract management relies on correct data from earlier stages in the contract lifecycle. If this data has errors or is unclear, it can hinder the development of good management skills.
These challenges have made it tough for contract management and analytics solutions to grow. However, there is still a chance for development and new ideas here. If we improve these systems, we could enjoy big benefits. These could include better compliance, less risk, and better strategic insights.
Why is Managing Contracts Considered More Challenging Than Other Business Tasks?
Managing contracts can be hard. There are several reasons for this difficulty. These reasons include technology, the way things work, and the legal rules that we need to follow.
Technological Complexities
Contracts require improved tools for writing, saving, and finding information. Using paper is no longer enough. Digital tools like DocuSign and Adobe Sign help with signing. However, managing the entire contract lifecycle needs better systems. These systems should support everything from contract creation to sending renewal alerts easily.
Operational Hurdles
Operational challenges matter a lot. Different departments, such as legal and finance, usually work with contracts. This needs good teamwork and clear communication. If the processes are not smooth, it can cause delays. These delays slow down important business activities.
Legal Intricacies
The legal issues can be complicated. They can change based on your location and the industry you work in. To follow the rules, like GDPR or HIPAA, you need to understand them clearly. You also have to be careful to avoid costly mistakes.
In conclusion, handling technology needs, operation tasks, and legal issues makes contract management tough. But, it is very important for any business that wants things to run well.
What benefits and Return On Investment can be expected by using Contract Management Software?
To get the best results from contract lifecycle management (CLM) and contract templates, businesses should understand the steps involved in a comprehensive contract lifecycle management solution. Each step helps operations work smoothly. A good system using CLM software can make your business processes better.
Centralized Repository and Access
- Single Source of Truth: When all contracts are in one location, businesses can cut down on confusion. It becomes easy to locate important papers. This boosts organization and provides better visibility across the company.
- Robust Search and Retrieval: A good search tool in CLM software helps find contracts fast. This is key for making wise decisions. When contracts are easy to reach, businesses can maintain strong relationships and react quickly when needed.
Streamlined Negotiation and Approval
- Efficient Negotiations: CLM software makes contract talks easier by keeping all important documents in one place. This setup is important for clear discussions and quick approvals.
- Automated Approval Processes: By using specific rules in the review processes, approvals happen faster. It ensures all checks are completed before moving on. This reduces delays and helps the contract lifecycle run smoothly.
Risk Management and Compliance
- Secure Data Handling: A good CLM system keeps contract data safe. It also backs up the data and follows the right rules. This helps reduce risks like losing data or allowing unauthorized access, which protects the company.
Comprehensive Reporting: CLM software creates detailed reports about contract status, compliance, and access. This transparency helps legal teams stay organized with their tasks. It also helps them find problems early, ensuring they meet compliance requirements.
Execution and Storage
- Integrated E-Signatures: Many businesses are now using electronic signatures. CLM software that connects with popular services like Adobe Sign and Docusign helps to follow legal rules and speeds up the signing process.
- Efficient Record Management: Once signed, contracts are stored securely and organized for easy access. Automatic reminders for important dates help everything run nicely.
Renewal and Disposition
Proactive Contract Management: CLM software aids in managing contract renewals and endings early. It looks at all key factors before contracts run out. This careful approach helps keep strong and beneficial business relationships.
By using these skills, businesses can improve how they work, reduce contract risks, and focus on key tasks that increase performance and achieve time savings. Managing the contract lifecycle is not just about dealing with documents. It is about enhancing the entire process to achieve your company's goals.
What is contract lifecycle management?
Contract lifecycle management is the complete process of managing contracts from beginning to end. It has several stages that every contract goes through. These stages are initiation, creation, negotiation, approval, execution, and renewal or termination, including the phase of the contract lifecycle for execution. Each stage is important to ensure the contract works correctly. It also helps lower risks and boost benefits for everyone involved.
- Starting Point: This is where we see why a contract is needed and make our first request. It sets the stage for what the contract will include.
- Drafting: Here, we write the contract. We state the terms, conditions, and responsibilities for each side to keep everything clear.
- Discussion: Once the draft is ready, both sides meet to agree on the terms. This step matters because it shapes the final deal and helps clear up any concerns.
- Review: After discussing, the contract needs approval. This usually means that legal teams and other important people check it to ensure it meets required rule and company policies.
- Signing: Once the contract is approved, the right people sign it. This makes the deal official and legally binding.
- Monitoring: After signing, we must keep an eye on the contract to ensure everyone sticks to what it says. This includes checking on duties and important dates.
- Deciding: As the contract ends, the parties need to decide if they want to renew it or let it go. This decision looks at how things have gone and if the agreement is still needed.
Understanding the contract life cycle is key for good contract management. It can also have a big impact on how well an organization operates.
How does contract lifecycle management work?
Contract lifecycle management (CLM) is a method to handle contracts from beginning to end. It includes several key steps that simplify contract tasks. This makes it easier and quicker for businesses to operate. As a result, they become more efficient.
- Centralized Repository: CLM systems have a main database for all contracts. This helps to find and organize contracts easily. It saves time when looking for documents.
Automation is about making tasks happen automatically for legal professionals. This includes things like creating contracts and sending reminders for renewals. CLM software helps to cut down on mistakes and delays that come from doing things by hand. By automating these tasks, we can follow rules better and meet our deadlines on time.
- Collaborative Tools: CLM platforms offer features that let people work together easily. Users can see any changes, share documents, and chat within the system. This clarity helps teamwork a lot.
- Analytics and Reporting: Advanced CLM systems use data to show how contracts are doing and if they follow rules. These reports help organizations make smart decisions, find risks, and improve contract terms.
Many CLM solutions connect easily with other business systems.
- These systems include CRM and ERP platforms.
- This connection helps to create a full picture of business operations.
- It also keeps contract data aligned with other key business information.
Contract lifecycle management uses technology and processes to improve the contracting process. This leads to higher efficiency, more transparency, and better regulatory compliance. In the end, it helps businesses get better results.
What are the steps of Contract Lifecycle Management?
The steps of Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) help manage contracts from beginning to end using a strong CLM process. Each step plays a key role in tracking important milestones. It also keeps contracts secure and ensures they follow the rules. This leads to better business operations. CLM is not the same as point solutions, which focus only on specific phases.
- Starting: The process starts when there is a need for a contract. A request is made to create it. This step includes gathering important details about the people involved and what to include in the terms.
- Writing: After the request, the contract is written by using templates or guidelines. This document shows the rights, duties, and responsibilities of everyone involved.
- Checking and Talking: The first draft of the contract is checked by all parties. During this teamwork stage, everyone can talk and negotiate to make the terms better and clear up any concerns.
- Approval: Once negotiations are done, the contract goes for approval. A team, including legal and management, reviews it to make sure it meets all standards and rules.
- Signing: After approval, everyone signs the contract. This makes it legally binding. It is an important step because it makes the agreement official and starts the terms.
- Management and Rules: The contract then goes into management. It is monitored for compliance. This means keeping track of key events, expected results, and commitments throughout the contract's life.
- Review or End: When the contract is close to ending, the involved parties need to look at how it performed. They will decide whether to renew, change, or end it. This decision needs careful thought about how well it worked and the current business situation.
By following these steps, organizations can manage their contracts better. This lowers risks and boosts overall productivity.
Why is contract lifecycle management important?
Contract lifecycle management (CLM) is key for organizations. It has many benefits. It improves how businesses perform and helps lower risks.
- Efficiency Gains: A CLM system makes the contracting process easier. It saves time on tasks and paperwork. By automating key stages, businesses can create and sign contracts faster. This helps them make quicker decisions.
- Risk Mitigation: A good CLM finds and manages risks linked to contracts. By following laws and rules, organizations can avoid costly disputes and fines.
- Improved Visibility and Control: A central CLM system gives organizations a clear view of all contracts. This helps them track obligations and deadlines, ensuring that key terms are met.
- Enhanced Collaboration: A CLM supports teamwork by providing tools for communication and document sharing. This teamwork helps in making informed decisions and building strong relationships.
- Data-Driven Insights: CLM systems include analytics and reporting features that offer helpful insights into contract performance. Organizations can use this information to improve contract terms, enhance relationships with suppliers, and drive strategic actions.
Contract lifecycle management is very important. It helps operations run more smoothly. It also reduces risks and supports teamwork. All of this leads to the long-term success of the organization.
Key Metrics for Evaluating Contract Lifecycle Management Success
To effectively measure the success of contract lifecycle management (CLM), organizations should focus on several key metrics that provide insights into efficiency, compliance, and overall contract performance. These metrics include the time taken for contract approvals, which helps identify bottlenecks in the process, ensuring quicker turnaround times. Another crucial metric is the percentage of contracts that meet compliance standards; tracking this not only mitigates risks associated with non-compliance but also reinforces governance practices. Additionally, measuring contract utilization—understanding how often contracts are being engaged and if they are driving business as intended—can uncover opportunities for enhanced negotiation tactics or adjustments to terms. The cost savings resulting from effective CLM practices are also significant; analyzing how much money is saved through negotiation improvements and reduced errors highlights the financial impact of a well-implemented system. Lastly, a review of user activity within the CLM software can provide valuable information on engagement and training needs, illustrating how effectively teams are utilizing the tools at their disposal. By concentrating on these key metrics, organizations can not only assess the success of their contract management processes but also continuously improve their strategies, leading to stronger business outcomes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Simonyi
The Future of Contract Lifecycle Management
The future of contract lifecycle management (CLM) is poised for transformative advancements driven by technology, demand for efficiency, and evolving business needs. As organizations increasingly recognize the value of streamlined contract processes, the adoption of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automation will reshape how contracts are created, negotiated, managed, and analyzed. AI-powered tools are expected to enhance compliance oversight and risk management by automatically flagging discrepancies and providing insights based on historical contract performance. Furthermore, with the growing trend of remote work and digital collaboration, CLM solutions will harness cloud capabilities to enable seamless access and real-time collaboration across teams, regardless of location. The integration of blockchain technology stands to revolutionize contract security and transparency, allowing for immutable records and smart contracts that automate execution terms upon the fulfillment of specified conditions. Overall, the future of CLM is not just about efficiency—it's about creating strategic partnerships, improving decision-making, and reducing risks in a rapidly evolving business landscape. Companies that embrace these innovations will be better positioned to navigate complexities and unlock the full potential of their contractual relationships.
Additional Reading and References
https://www.doi.gov/ibc/services/finance/financial-systems/oracle-contract-mgmt
https://www.worldcc.com/Resources/Content-Hub/View/ArticleId/9773/Poor-Contract-Mana
