NEW
Sync and report on all your contracts from anywhere to Aline with a couple clicks! Explore the benefits.
Every contract has the same promise: it should move business forward. Yet too often the process drags everything backward.
When this happens, drafts sit idle, feedback piles up in inboxes, and signatures arrive weeks later than planned. What should be straightforward ends up draining time from people who already have plenty on their plates.
That’s why legal contract automation matters, especially now that your competitors are probably already taking advantage of it.
It removes the friction that slows deals, renewals, and agreements of all kinds. Automating the entire contract lifecycle, from drafting to reporting, gives legal professionals and business teams a process that finally keeps pace with the rest of the company.
In the next sections, we’ll break down how it works, what benefits it brings, and which tools make the biggest difference.
Contract automation is the use of software to handle repetitive tasks across the entire contract lifecycle. Yes, this includes everything from drafting and approvals to signing and storage.
When set up correctly, automation takes the manual work out of creating and managing agreements so that legal professionals and business teams can focus on more valuable tasks.
In practice, contract automation means you don’t have to do things like draft everything from scratch, chase signatures, or keep deadlines in a spreadsheet. A good contract management system takes care of those steps so you can stay focused on the actual deal.
Let’s go a step further.
Contract automation software works by combining templates, business rules, and AI tools to cut out repetitive steps in the contract process.
Different platforms might add their own features, but most follow the same mechanism: automate what slows people down and keep the contract management processes consistent.
Here’s how it usually works:
The result is a system that takes on the repetitive, mechanical work. This leaves legal teams and business users with more time to focus on reviewing terms and making decisions that matter.
So why are so many teams moving toward contract automation? The answer comes down to cutting wasted effort and getting more control over the contract process. Take a look at the biggest benefits:
Manual contract management tasks like drafting, emailing files for review, and waiting on signatures slow everything down. With automated workflows for contracts, those steps move on their own.
For example, you can create a sales agreement from a template, send it through review, and get it signed in one continuous flow. Compared to manual contract management, the whole process feels faster and more reliable.
When you rely on manual processes, errors slip through and can lead to delays or even financial penalties. But by implementing contract automation, you avoid the most common pitfalls:
Avoiding mistakes also reduces compliance risks. Implementing contract automation means every document follows the same templates and approval rules, which ensures consistent compliance across the board.
You don’t have to worry about someone slipping in outdated language or missing a mandatory clause. Automated checks keep agreements aligned with company policies and regulatory compliance standards from the start.
Contract managers spend a lot of time handling manual processes like drafting, sending, and reviewing contracts. Contract lifecycle automation takes those repetitive tasks off your plate and helps enhance efficiency.
For example, instead of creating each contract manually, you can pull from a pre-approved template, route it for review automatically, and get it signed faster.
One of the biggest frustrations with manual work is not knowing where things stand. With automation, you can see contract status at a glance: what’s been drafted, who’s reviewing, and what’s waiting for signature.
Just as important, key contract terms are captured automatically, so you don’t have to search through files to find renewal dates or payment details.
This level of visibility makes it easier to manage contracts across the entire lifecycle. When everyone can see the same information, you cut down on confusion, reduce delays, and stay confident that nothing important slips through.
Now that you’ve seen the benefits, it helps to look at how automation shows up in everyday work. Here are some of the most common examples you’ll run into when managing contracts.
Contract automation simplifies one of the hardest parts of the contract process: reviewing long documents packed with details. AI tools scan contracts, highlight key points, and flag risks so you don’t have to dig through every line alone.
It won’t replace legal judgment, but it delivers significant benefits by cutting down the heavy lifting and letting you zero in on the crucial details.
Some of the areas AI can support include:
Of course, this work still needs human review, especially for high-value or sensitive deals. But AI gives you a head start, so the review process takes hours instead of days.
Platforms like Aline take this even further. With Aline's AI-powered platform, you can review and redline contracts 5 to 10 times faster than traditional methods.
Ready to experience faster, smarter reviews? Start your free trial of Aline today.
Electronic signatures are one of the clearest wins of legal contract automation. They cut out manual intervention like printing, signing, and scanning, letting both sides approve a contract from any device.
That speed directly helps you close deals faster, whether it’s a customer agreement or a vendor contract.
Take a sales deal, for example. The document can be drafted, approved, and signed all on the same day. At the same time, e-signature platforms meet strict regulatory requirements, so you get efficiency without losing legal validity.
Not all contract storage platforms are built for legal work. While standard tools like Google Drive or Dropbox hold files, they don’t provide the structure needed for managing a growing contract portfolio.
On the flip side, platforms dedicated to legal documents give you a centralized repository designed with contracts in mind. Features like version control keep track of every change, and automated alerts flag upcoming renewals or deadlines so nothing slips by.
With Aline, the repository goes beyond storage. It also connects directly to drafting, reviewing, and signing. That means your contracts live in one system, always current and easy to search.
Want to see how it works? Check out Aline’s repository today.
Automated templates take the heavy lifting out of drafting by giving you ready-to-use documents that already include pre-approved clauses and company standards.
Rather than repeating the same time-consuming tasks every time a new contract is needed, you start with a base that’s already compliant and consistent.
Plus, these standardized contract templates also tie into workflow automation, so the right terms and details are added automatically.
Common examples include:
Every new agreement comes with details that need to be tracked, such as payment terms, obligations, and more. Unfortunately, pulling that information out by hand takes time and often leads to errors.
Automated extraction changes that by capturing those details instantly and feeding them into dashboards or reminders. In turn, this directly impacts forecasting accuracy and planning across the business.
By allowing legal and business teams to access reliable data without extra effort, extraction helps streamline processes from review to reporting. Done right, the result is a clearer view of your contracts and fewer surprises down the road.
Automation isn’t limited to storage and review. It also covers the creation of documents from the ground up. That includes contracts.
Using natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning, contract tools can pull data from templates, client records, or CRMs to generate documents automatically.
This frees you from repetitive contract drafting and gives you more time for higher-value work, while also driving real cost savings.
Examples of documents you can automate include:
With automation handling the first draft, you start with a document that’s structured, consistent, and ready for review. That means less typing, fewer errors, and a faster path to finalization.
Among all the features of legal contract automation, automated workflows are some of the most impactful.
Basically, they move agreements through key stages without constant oversight. AI workflows can even connect with your existing business systems, so the data in your CRM or finance platform lines up with what’s in your contracts.
These flows keep contracts on track by triggering automated reminders, routing documents based on contract language, and aligning each step with broader business objectives. They also support risk assessments, flagging areas that may need closer attention before final approval.
Here are a few additional workflows you can automate:
When these workflows run in the background, you get smoother operations, fewer delays, and contracts that stay aligned with company goals from start to finish.
So, where does that leave you? If you’ve been handling contracts manually, how much time are you losing on back-and-forth emails, missed dates, or repeated drafting?
And if you could take those tasks off your plate, what kind of work would you focus on instead?
If you’re going to start with automation, pick a tool that supports every key stage in the contract lifecycle, not just one or two.
That’s where Aline stands out. It gives you automation across drafting, review, approvals, signing, and reporting in one interconnected platform.
See how it all works. Start your free trial today.
You can automate contracts by using platforms that provide templates, workflows, and e-signatures. These tools handle drafting, contract approval, and reminders automatically, keeping stakeholders informed at every stage.
AI can draft contracts using pre-built clauses and company playbooks. It saves time, but human review is still needed for accuracy and ensuring compliance with regulations.
A CLM (contract lifecycle management) system manages contracts from creation to renewal. Features like automated contract review, tracking, and reporting help reduce risks and improve visibility.
Yes. AI can scan documents, extract terms, and run risk analysis. This allows sales teams and legal professionals to focus on more strategic tasks instead of manual review.
Automation tracks vendor performance, monitors deadlines, and improves vendor relationships by keeping obligations clear. It also reduces legal disputes by allowing employees to manage compliance more accurately.
Brent is an attorney, a full-stack JavaScript engineer and the CEO of Aline.
Subscribe to our newsletter to receive new posts straight to your inbox 👇
