Contract Lifecycle Management Process: From Creation to Termination

Do you have a good contract lifecycle management process or does it include juggling info on spreadsheets, Word docs, and emails? This old-school way isn't just time-consuming and super manual, it's also like an open invitation to mistakes. What if you could seamlessly track the life of a contract from the moment it's born to the time it's fully up and running? (Hint: You can.)

What you need is an end-to-end contract lifecycle management (CLM) tool. It's like adding a superpower to your team, letting them create contract workflows and automate the entire contract lifecycle management process. At LinkSquares, we’re all about making life easier for the legal team, boosting efficiency, and helping them bring real value to your business. Let’s have a look at how a CLM tool can streamline your process. 

The contract lifecycle management process

Depending on how you slice it, the contract lifecycle management process can have as few as three and as many as 10 steps. Here’s how we break it down:

• Contract generation
  • Creation
  • Negotiation
  • Review and Approval
• Contract execution
  • Sign
• Contract management
  • Storage
  • Analysis
  • Renewal
• Contract termination
  
  

Contract generation

Contract creation — This is the process of bringing a contract into existence. You can create contracts from scratch, using templates, or by automating contract requests.

Contract negotiation — During this stage, both parties take turns redlining a contract and agreeing on terms that are acceptable to both parties.

Contract review and approval — When both parties are satisfied with the terms, the contract is shared with stakeholders for review and approval.

LinkSquares Finalize helps streamline the contract creation process with an editor that facilitates smooth contract creation and tracks redlines. Finalize enables automated contract review and alerts and notifications, making this stage of the contract lifecycle management process as smooth as possible.  

Contract execution

Contract signing — To formalize their agreements, each party signs the contract. While some companies still print contracts to sign them, a CLM tool with eSignature built-in is your best bet.

LinkSquares Sign allows parties to sign their contracts within the same platform it was created. Sign also lets stakeholders know whose hands hold the pen during this stage of the contract lifecycle management process.

Contract management

Contract storage — Keep track of your executed agreements through efficient contract storage. Use a centralized, searchable repository to store your agreements so you always know your obligations.

Contract analysis — Contracts are chock-full of useful business data. Use KPIs and key metrics to get a good look at how your team, your business, and your contracts are doing. Track important dates and governing law as well as contract volume and execution rate.

Contract renewal — The terms of the contract will change over the course of its lifetime. As you increase your obligations, honor regulations, and bolster contract risk mitigation, your contracts will need to reflect those changes during renewal. 

LinkSquares Analyze gives users the power to store their contracts in a centralized repository at this stage in the contract lifecycle management process. With dashboards and reporting features, legal can use Analyze to extract contract data and present it visually.

Takeaways

The final stage in the process is contract termination, which can refer to the end of a particular agreement/terms or the end of an entire contractual relationship. CLM technology gives your team the power to manage the moving parts of the contract lifecycle management process, allowing you to keep track of your contracts, execute them quickly, and analyze and present contract data. 

See how LinkSquares CLM can help you automate your contract lifecycle management process from start to finish and drive value in your business — contact us today.