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Managing contracts shouldn’t feel like a constant battle with lost emails, slow approvals, and last-minute scrambles. But for many businesses, that’s exactly what happens.
Even worse, these inefficiencies add up—analysts at PricewaterhouseCoopers estimate that companies could save 2% of their annual expenses just by improving contract accuracy and compliance with automation.
That’s a lot of money left on the table.
Switching to automated contract workflows speeds things up, cuts down on errors, and keeps everything in one place. No more chasing signatures or wondering if you’re working with the right version of a contract.
If your contract process is slowing you down, it’s time to fix it. Let’s talk about the biggest benefits of automation and how to make it work for your business.
Jumping into automation without a plan can lead to more confusion than improvement. To get the most out of automated contract management workflows, you need a clear strategy. Start with these:
Before diving into contract workflow automation, take a step back and figure out where things are getting stuck. Try asking yourself:
Identifying these roadblocks is the first step to streamlining contract workflows. Dig into past contracts. Maybe you’re missing renewal deadlines, or sales deals are stalled waiting for sign-off. These patterns will show you exactly where the gaps are.
Once you know what’s holding you back, you can focus your automation efforts where they’ll make the biggest impact.
Writing every contract from scratch is a waste of time, especially when most agreements follow the same structure.
Instead of starting over each time, use standardized contract templates to speed things up and keep terms consistent. Templates help make sure that important clauses aren’t left out, reduce the risk of errors, and make the whole process more efficient.
For example, if your business regularly signs NDAs or vendor agreements, having a pre-approved template means your team can fill in the details and move forward without waiting for legal to draft a new document every time. This keeps things moving while maintaining compliance.
Automating template use makes it even easier—just select the right one, customize the necessary fields, and send it off for approval. It’s a simple way to save time and avoid mistakes while keeping contracts standardized across the company.
Printing, signing, scanning, and emailing a contract back? That’s way too much work. Electronic signatures cut out all that hassle, allowing people to sign from anywhere with just a few clicks.
Beyond saving time, e-signatures add security and keep things organized. Most tools track who signed what and when, so there’s a clear record if you ever need it.
Signed contracts are stored in one place (like a centralized repository), so nothing gets lost in someone’s inbox. It’s faster, easier, and just makes sense.
A messy approval process slows everything down. When contracts bounce between departments with no clear workflow, deals get delayed, and important details get overlooked.
Automating the contract management process helps everything run smoothly by making sure contracts reach the right people without unnecessary back-and-forth.
To keep approvals moving without headaches, follow these steps:
A structured approval process means contracts don’t get stuck in limbo, and business keeps moving without unnecessary delays.
Missing a key step, like a deadline or approval, can slow everything down. But expecting contract managers to constantly check emails or dashboards? Not realistic.
Automated alerts solve this by keeping everyone in the loop without the manual hassle. For example, if a contract is set to expire in 30 days, the system can automatically remind the legal and procurement teams to review it for contract renewals.
Or, when a contract is ready for signature, the relevant stakeholder gets an instant nudge to keep the contract execution process on track.
These reminders make sure no one’s guessing about what comes next. And when you customize alerts to fit each person’s role, the right updates go to the right people at exactly the right time.
Just because a contract is signed doesn’t mean you’re done. If you’re not checking how contracts are performing, you’re missing a big opportunity to improve the entire process.
Regularly reviewing contract data helps you spot inefficiencies, track obligations, and strengthen your risk mitigation strategy.
For example, if renewal deadlines are getting missed or certain clauses keep slowing things down, those are signs that something in your negotiation process or approval flow needs work.
Automation makes it easier to monitor performance across the board. You can track key performance metrics like:
By analyzing your contract performance, you’ll see which parts of your workflow need fine-tuning and where automation can take the pressure off. That means fewer surprises, better outcomes, and more confidence in every agreement you manage.
Ever had a contract stall because no one knew who was supposed to take the next step? That kind of confusion slows down the entire contract lifecycle.
Task assignment features are a key part of contract management workflow automation. They eliminate ambiguity by clearly assigning responsibilities at every stage, whether it’s legal reviewing terms, finance approving budgets, or sales finalizing details.
When each person knows exactly what to do and when to do it, contracts keep moving without unnecessary delays.
Instead of chasing updates or juggling email threads, your team can rely on automation to keep things organized. The system tracks progress, sends reminders, and ensures that nothing slips through the cracks.
This way, every step of the contract lifecycle, from drafting to execution, stays on schedule and fully accountable.
Automating workflows creates a clear, standardized process so teams know exactly what to do.
With a centralized system, legal, finance, and sales can track approvals, access the latest versions, and stay updated—no more email searches or confusion. But automation only works if employees know how to use it. Here’s how to train them:
When everyone follows the same process, contracts move faster, and your team spends less time fixing preventable mistakes.
A contract workflow is the step-by-step process of creating, reviewing, approving, signing, and managing contracts. Think of it as the roadmap that makes sure every agreement gets handled properly, from start to finish.
Without a structured workflow, contracts can get stuck in email chains, lost in folders, or delayed by slow approvals.
Here’s how a typical contract workflow should look:
This is where the contract management lifecycle begins, and it starts with you or your team putting together the first draft. Typically, that’s legal, procurement, or sales. But here’s the thing: writing every contract from scratch is a massive time sink.
Instead, use automated contract templates. They save you hours, keep your language consistent, and make sure you’re covering all the necessary terms. It’s a smart way to kick off the contract management lifecycle with fewer mistakes and a lot less back-and-forth.
Once drafted, the contract gets reviewed internally. This step involves checking for legal accuracy, making sure terms align with company policies, and verifying financial details.
If something’s off, changes are made before moving forward.
Before a contract can be sent out, it needs approval. This might mean sign-off from legal, finance, or department heads.
Automating this step speeds up the process so contracts don’t get stuck waiting for someone’s response.
Once the draft is sent out, you might get some feedback; maybe the other party wants to tweak a few things. This back-and-forth process, known as redlining, is a key part of the contract negotiation workflow.
During this stage, both sides review and revise the contract terms until everything feels fair and final. It’s easy for things to get messy here if you’re juggling edits through email.
That’s why a solid contract management tool is so useful. It keeps every revision, comment, and version in one place so nothing gets lost or overlooked.
After all edits are settled, the final version gets a last review to confirm everything is accurate. This prevents mistakes that could cause issues later.
Once approved, it’s time to get signatures. Instead of printing and scanning, most businesses now use electronic signatures, making this step much faster.
A signed contract isn’t much use if you can’t find it later. Storing contracts in a central, searchable system makes future reference easy and keeps documents secure.
Once a contract is signed, the real work begins—keeping up with contractual obligations like renewal dates, payment terms, and performance milestones. Missing any of these can lead to serious issues down the line.
Automated tracking tools make it easier to manage deadlines and ensure contracts adhere to agreed-upon terms. You can set up reminders for upcoming renewals, required deliverables, or audit timelines so nothing slips through the cracks.
This kind of oversight is a big win for risk management. It helps you avoid penalties, disputes, or compliance failures by keeping everyone accountable. And if you notice delays in these steps, it’s a clear sign that your workflow could benefit from automation.
Dealing with contracts shouldn’t feel like a never-ending game of email tag. Yet, for many businesses, that’s exactly what happens—documents get lost, approvals take forever, and deadlines sneak up out of nowhere. It’s frustrating, time-consuming, and risky.
If your contract process feels like a mess, it's time to automate. Let’s break down why automation makes sense, what it fixes, and how to set up a system that actually works.
Waiting for someone to check their inbox and approve a contract can slow everything down. With automated workflows, contract requests are instantly routed to the right people, eliminating unnecessary delays.
No more follow-up emails or waiting on a signature for days. The system notifies approvers automatically, tracks progress, and even sends reminders if someone takes too long. This keeps the process moving without constant manual intervention.
Plus, approvals can happen from anywhere, whether someone’s at their desk or on the go. Faster contract approvals mean deals close sooner, projects move forward without holdups, and your team wastes less time chasing signatures.
Mistakes in contracts can cause serious headaches, such as delays, legal risks, and even lost deals. When everything’s handled manually, it’s easy for things to slip through the cracks. A small typo or missing clause might not seem like a big deal at first, but it can create problems down the line.
Automation helps by keeping everything consistent, using templates and built-in checks to catch errors before they become an issue.
Here are some common mistakes that happen with manual contract handling:
Automating your entire contract management process makes sure everything is accurate, which ultimately reduces the risk of costly errors.
All it takes is one missed clause or forgotten deadline to land your team in hot water with fines, legal disputes, or failed audits. But with intelligent automation, you can stay ahead of these risks and ensure compliance at every stage.
Automated workflows help flag missing approvals, track expiration dates, and verify that key terms are in place before a contract moves forward. When you draft contracts using standardized templates and automated checks, there’s less room for error and fewer surprises later.
Everything is stored in one secure, searchable system. This structure doesn’t just keep you organized but also helps enhance efficiency across your team and makes staying compliant part of the process, not a last-minute scramble.
Hunting down a contract shouldn’t feel like searching for a lost sock. But when documents are scattered across emails, shared drives, or filing cabinets, that’s exactly what happens.
Automation solves this by keeping everything in one central place and making it easy to find what you need in seconds.
With search and filter options, you can pull up contracts by name, date, or status instead of scrolling through endless folders or chasing down coworkers for the latest version.
Everything stays organized, up to date, and accessible, so your team can focus on work instead of wasting time tracking down documents.
When multiple departments are involved, keeping track of edits, approvals, and feedback can get messy fast. Automation makes collaboration smoother by keeping everything in one shared system.
Teams can review, edit, and approve contracts in real time without worrying about version control or missing updates.
Instead of sifting through emails or waiting for someone to respond, everyone can see the latest changes instantly. Legal, finance, and sales stay aligned, and contracts move forward without unnecessary delays.
Managing contracts manually takes up way too much time. Chasing approvals, fixing errors, and digging through emails slows everything down and adds unnecessary costs. Automation handles the repetitive stuff, so employees can focus on bigger priorities instead of paperwork.
Take a sales team, for example. If approvals are stuck in someone’s inbox, deals get delayed. With an automated workflow, contracts go straight to the right person, cutting approval time from days to hours.
Faster approvals mean quicker deals and fewer expensive mistakes.
Managing contracts manually is frustrating. Slow approvals, lost documents, and endless back-and-forth make the process more complicated than it needs to be.
Automation takes the stress out of contract management, keeping everything organized, reducing delays, and making sure agreements get signed without unnecessary holdups.
Aline makes this even easier. Designed for legal, sales, and finance teams, Aline helps businesses draft, negotiate, and finalize contracts 5-10X faster.
Instead of juggling multiple tools, everything happens in one platform—AI-assisted redlining, dynamic templates, built-in e-signatures, and compliance tracking. Whether you’re closing deals or scaling your legal operations, Aline gives you a faster, smarter way to manage contracts.
If you’re ready to move past slow, outdated workflows, see how Aline can transform your contract process today!
Workflow automation replaces repetitive tasks with software. In contract management, this includes automatically routing agreements for approval, sending electronic signature requests, and setting up deadline alerts. Other examples include generating templates, auto-filling contract details, and maintaining an audit trail. Automation speeds up processes, reduces errors, and helps you meet business objectives more efficiently.
A contract workflow is the step-by-step process of drafting, reviewing, approving, signing, storing, and tracking contracts. Without a structured workflow, contracts can get stuck in approvals or lost in email chains. Automating this process keeps everything organized, ensures contracts reach the right people, and reduces the risk of missed deadlines or compliance issues.
An automated contracting system is software that handles contract creation, approvals, and execution with minimal manual effort. It allows businesses to use templates, track changes in real time, collect e-signatures, and receive automated reminders. By centralizing contract lifecycle management, businesses close deals faster, reduce errors, and improve compliance.
An automated workflow is a series of predefined steps carried out by contract automation software. In contract management, this includes routing contracts for approval, sending notifications, and securely storing documents. Automation reduces delays, keeps teams aligned, and ensures every contract follows a consistent process.
The six stages of contract management typically include:
By managing each stage properly, you gain better visibility into your agreements, improve compliance, and make smarter business decisions based on real-time contract data.
Brent is an attorney, a full-stack JavaScript engineer and the CEO of Aline.
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