What Is Contract Workflow Automation and How Can You Use It?

The contract management cycle is often more of a winding road than a perfect circle. A single document can travel through multiple departments and can see several phases before it’s finally approved for signatures and sent out. Read on to see how contract workflow automation can make this winding road a little less bumpy and a little more direct.

What is contract workflow automation?

Contract workflow automation is the use of software to streamline contract management processes like signing and deadline tracking, via contract management automation. It covers everything from contract approvals all the way to e-signatures, and beyond. 

Contract workflow automation vs. manual contract management

Let’s say you have a process for your contract workflow that looks something like this: You receive a contract. You then send the contract to several people for their review and notes. The contract gets sent back to you with any notes/approvals. The contract then gets sent to the client for signatures. 

Now let’s break down an overview of how that process would look if it was done manually vs streamlined with automation software.

🚫 Manually managing a contract workflow

Receive

You receive a contract. It might be a digital or a paper copy. If it’s a digital copy, you might file it in its appropriate place to find later. If it’s a paper copy it might stick around on someone’s desk until it’s finalized.

Send out separate copies for review

You send the contract to several people for review and notes–again it could be digital or paper copy. Each person makes notes to a stagnant document. That document isn’t being updated in real time where it can be viewed by all parties or the party who’s ultimately responsible for approval.

Multiple copies are sent back for changes

The contract then gets sent back to you from each party with any individual remarks. The original contract must be updated to reflect these remarks. You must make sure everyone who needs to approve the contract has done so before you can send it back out for final approval. 

Final changes, approval, and signatures

The contract gets sent back out again for a final approval. If everyone is in agreement, the final document can be sent out to the client for their signatures. Once it comes back it will need to be filed appropriately.

✅ Using an automated contract workflow

Receive and file

You receive a digital copy of the contract. You add it to the client’s digital file for easy retrieval later. 

Send out a single document for review

You simultaneously send the contract out to any necessary parties all at the same time and include an automated approval workflow to make sure anyone who needs to review the contract has reviewed it–and in the correct order. The document can be reviewed before moving on to the next department.

Receive notifications on a single document

Instead of waiting to receive notes on each copy of the contract, you receive a notification every time someone has made a change or added a note. You can see all the changes in real time and in one location.

Final changes and signatures

Once everyone has reviewed the document you can make any necessary remaining changes and send out for signatures using an automated signing workflow to make sure all essential parties have signed–again, in the correct order.

Automating your contract workflow can streamline the workflow process significantly, but it can also make things more chaotic without the help of automated approval workflows and automated signing workflows. These two aspects of contract management are especially important in the effort to save time and money. Let’s take a deeper look.

Automated approval workflows

Automated approval workflows are the pre-set conditions for who can review a document and in what order. If your organization has set processes for who needs to see and approve a document before it moves on to the next stage, this automation can be a huge time-saving resource. Here are just a few of the benefits.

Less back and forth between departments

Contracts move smoothly through each stage.

Smoother review process

less friction and more momentum to keep things moving.

Quicker turnaround

contracts get reviewed, approved, and signed faster

Automated signing workflows

Automated signing workflows are pre-set conditions for who can sign a document and in what order. If you have a contract that is required to be signed in a particular order by each party, this automation can be a big help for the following reasons.

Know who’s signed a contract in real time

You can instantly know who has completed their part and who still needs to sign just by looking at the updates to the contract.

Stay compliant

If the document is legally required to be signed by certain parties in a certain order, you can be sure it’s being done correctly per the automation’s settings.

There are many benefits to automated contract workflow. You’ll save time by allowing each person to review the contract in the correct order with automated approval workflows. You’ll also streamline processes by being able to see any changes being made in real time. This will help clear up bottlenecks in the workflow process and allow for faster turnaround times.

Additionally, by setting up automated signing workflows you can make sure all your documents are being signed by all necessary parties and in the right order. This is another important way you can aid in compliance and stay on top of your contracts.

Use contract workflow automation to streamline operations and save time, with Concord.

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