Contract management

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Contract Management (known alternatively as Contracts Management or Contract(s) Administration) encompasses all the activities that an enterprise or an individual engages in, while entering into a business transaction with one or more trading partners and fulfilling all the obligations of the terms and conditions agreed upon in the contract.

Almost all the transactions that occur in the business world are governed by a contract is some shape or form. Some of the common examples of contracts we deal with in our day-to-day life are employment letters, sales invoices, purchase orders, utility contracts.

[edit] Areas of Contract Management

The business-standard contract management model, as employed by many organizations in the United States, typically exercises purview over four key business disciplines:

Transactional systems provide a baseline necessary to allow companies to measure and monitor contract performance, project management performance, and provide a method for appraising a legal team's efficiency against the cost of the contract and possible areas of exposure and risk. Effective transactional controls reduce administrative and material costs, shorten contract cycle times, enhance procurement decisions, and diminish operational and regulatory risk. With these metrics in place, organizations that integrate Contract Management solutions with transactional systems experience much better contract compliance than those that don't.


[edit] What is a contract?

A contract is a legally binding agreement between the parties identified in the agreement to fulfill all the terms and conditions outlined in the agreement. A contract is typically enforceable only when all the parties to the contract have signed and agreed to the obligations and entitlements.

Contracts can be of many types sales contracts (including leases), purchasing contracts, partnership agreements, trade agreements, and intellectual property agreements.

A Sales Contract is a contract between your company (the Seller) and a Customer that you are promising to sell products and/or services. The customer in return is obligated to pay for the product/services bought.

A Purchasing Contract is a contract between your company (the Buyer) and a Supplier who is promising to sell you products and/or services.

This business-related article is a stub. You can help by expanding it.

[edit] External links

  • Upside Software, Global leader in enterprise contract management software
  • Symfact AG, International provider of the leading XML architected ECM solution, ContractX
  • Realyst, Leading provider of software and consulting resources in contract management
  • IACCM, International Association for Contract and Commercial Management
  • Nextance, The top choice for enterprise-wide contract management software
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