Tool to Link Contracts to Budget
A tool to link contracts to budget will give you visibility into contract costs, so you can forecast future spend more accurately. Contract management software is designed specifically to help you link contracts to budgets, by making it easy to extract and export contract data.
For example, a contract management platform like Concord provides native integrations with HubSpot and Salesforce, as well the ability to extract many contracts’ conditions as an Excel file — plus an open API to connect directly with your in-house budgeting tools.
Let’s take a closer look at seven key ways in which a contract management tool can help you link contracts to budgets.
1. Auto-updating contract status and details
Integrating a contract management tool with your budgeting system streamlines financial oversight by automatically updating budget allocations as contract details change. For instance, when a contract is amended in Concord, the changes in terms, especially those related to costs or payment schedules, can be instantly reflected in a budgeting tool that you’ve linked through Zapier, or through Concord’s API — or by exporting contract data as an Excel file, which you can import into your budget analysis tool.
2. Simplifying cost tracking and analysis
With Concord, you can manually extract contract-related costs and terms into an Excel file. Once you have this data, you can import it into your budgeting software. This process allows you to see how each contract’s costs are impacting your budget, aiding in the comparison of actual spending with your budgeted forecasts. Using Concord’s API, or the Zapier integration, can help automate the transfer of this data, so your budget forecast reflects the latest contract terms and expenses.
3. Enhancing visibility into contract spend
In Concord, you can set up budget alerts and notifications related to your contracts. First, you’ll need to manually track your contract spending against your budget by using the exported or synced data from Concord. After importing this data into your enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, or syncing it via the API or an integration like Zapier, you can configure alerts within your budgeting tool. For example, you can set an alert for when contract spending approaches or exceeds a specific portion of the allocated budget.
4. Providing automated budget alerts
Start by tracking your contract costs through the Excel data exported from Concord, or through an integration that syncs data between Concord and your ERP tool. Once this data is synced with your budgeting tool, you can use that tool’s features to set up automated alerts, to complement the automated deadline alerts in Concord. These alerts can notify you when spending on a specific contract is nearing or exceeding its allocated budget.
5. Organizing data for reporting and analytics
Concord’s reporting dashboard offers an overview of contract performance. Financial professionals can export detailed contract data from Concord, either directly into Excel or by using Concord’s API or Zapier integration to sync with external budgetary tools. This approach enables a more granular spend analysis, variance reporting, and monitoring of key performance indicators (KPIs) related to contract management. The extracted data allows your financial team to deeply analyze contractual obligations and expenditures, aligning them with your organization’s financial strategy and operational budgets.
6. Tracking renewal dates and associated costs
To manage contract renewals and associated costs, start by using its Concord’s Summary Panel to mark and track renewal dates. Automated reminders for each contract’s renewal date, will make sure you’re alerted well in advance. This foresight is critical for budget planning, allowing you to prepare for upcoming expenses. Alongside these reminders, Concord also allows you to clearly document the financial terms associated with each contract, including any renewal costs. This is particularly useful for budget forecasting, as it enables you to anticipate and earmark funds for these future financial commitments.
7. Allocating contractual spend into correct budget categories
A CLM tool makes it much easier to identify and categorize each contract based on its nature and associated expenses — sorting into a category such as marketing, operations, or capital expenditures. Once you’ve categorized your contracts, you can use Concord’s tagging functionality to segment contract expenses for clearer financial tracking. When exporting contract data to your budgeting tool, either manually or through Concord’s API or Zapier integration, you can make sure these categories are reflected in the raw data your team analyzes. This direct mapping makes it easier to track and manage spend by budget category, providing clear visibility into where and how funds are being spent across different departments.
Across all these areas, a contract management platform serves as a powerful tool for linking contracts to your organizational budget. Whether you’re working within the CLM tool, exporting and analyzing data in Excel, or syncing with an ERP tool via an integration or the API, a contract management tool keeps your data up-to-date — so your budget forecasts stay accurate.
