Contract Review Software: Pre-Signature vs. Post-Signature Solutions

Pre-signature focused contract review software

Contract review software that is pre-signature focused, like DocJuris, helps legal teams get contracts ready for signature by helping with review steps, including:

●      Analyzing the contract

●      Negotiating the contract

●      Comparing the contract

●      Commenting on the contract

●      Exchanging drafts of the contract

Analyzing the contract

Contract reviews are often the most time-consuming part of the contract creation process. With contract review software, you can easily redline contracts and apply edits and changes with just a click. This saves time and headaches since you aren’t dealing with multiple copies of a contract or getting lost in a myriad of track changes.

Negotiating the contract

Contract negotiations can be tricky, so make sure you have a contract negotiation playbook ready that everyone on your team can follow to ensure a smooth negotiation process. Contract review software like that from DocJuris lets you easily and quickly input changes based on the negotiation so you can get it ready to sign.

Comparing the contract

Pre-signature contract review software makes it easy to redline and compare the contract. Edit within the software and make the contract accessible to everyone who will be involved in editing, redlining, finalizing, and approving it.

Commenting on the contract

With easy redline options, and no versioning to keep track of, contract review software makes it simple to comment on the contract without confusion.

Exchanging drafts of the contract

Once you’ve made changes, exchange your draft of the contract with the opposing side within the software platform. This keeps track of your document and makes sure everyone who needs it still has access to it.

Post-signature focused contract review software

You can either get written signatures or digital signatures on your contracts. Once your contract is signed by both parties, post-signature focused contract review software keeps your contracts in one safe, secure digital location that can be accessed by both parties.

In particular, post-signature focused contract review software helps with the following:

• Storing the contract and manage contract records
• Search and retrieval of contracts
• Audits and reporting
• Renewals

Storing the contract (aka, repository)

Even if your contract is signed manually, you need a safe way to store a digital copy of it so that you can access and refer to it whenever you need to. Post-signature focused contract review software makes it easy to store your contract so you can easily manage your contract records.

Search and retrieval of contracts

Having your contracts stored within one software makes it simple for anyone on your team to search and retrieve contracts. You can apply filters to easily sort and search for a particular contract or set of contracts.

Audits and reporting

Due diligence is essential for any contract, and contract review software makes it easy to go through your contract repository to understand key terms and legal concepts across a large trance of already negotiated deals.

Contract review software also tracks who access contracts and when so you can easily mine data and run audits and create reports when you need to.

Renewals

Contracts that are set to renew need to do so before the date on the contract to protect both parties from financial and legal risk. Contract review software will help you manage renewals so you always renew contracts on time.

Takeaways

Contract review software is great for all stages of the contract lifecycle, from creation to renewal. Knowing the differences between pre-signature focused contract review software and post-signature contract renewal software is critical. If the solution offers both, investigate in detail the capabilities of each piece to determine how deep the tool really goes.

At DocJuris, we're big proponents of picking solutions that solve specific pain points. If you and your team spend most of your time, money, and effort on contract negotiation, consider a review system like us.  On the other hand, if you're involved in significant M&A and due diligence, there are a plethora of tools out there.  Get in touch, we'd be happy to point you in the right direction.