Contract Insights

https://www.cobblestonesoftware.com/solutions/compare-contract-management-software-editions

Although an essential facet of running a business, managing contracts without a contract database can be a time-consuming headache. With so many different contracts with vendors and service companies, it can be challenging to keep track of them all without reliable contract software. The right solution can help you reduce the amount of time you spend searching through spreadsheets or shared drives so that you can work on growing your business. Here are just a few of the ways that a formal contract database can help your team maximize productivity:

DBE supplier tracking becomes easier when the right tools are in place.

Whether you’re a local municipality, city, state, or federal agency, chances are you have a goal defined for awarding contracts to disadvantaged business enterprises (DBE). Government agencies operate on “good faith” that they will make the conscious effort to consider these businesses when awarding new contracts. The problem, like managing any other contract, is the work involved to ensure that all criteria is being met and certifications are processed.

Electronic signatures are not new to contract management, but you may be skeptical of the validity compared to a wet signature. Rest-assured, electronic signatures are just as binding as hand written signatures with the same legal clout. If you're stressed about contract deadlines and signature delays negatively impacting negotiations and your ability to close more deals, read on to find out how e-signatures can help your organization.

 CobbleStone is proud to announce that the 2018 CobbleStone Conference is happening this November 7th-9th in Philadelphia! With contract AI, machine learning, risk migration, and more, this conference is set to be our best one yet.

What is Sarbanes-Oxley?

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) was an act that was passed in 2002 by the United States Congress to help protect investors from the likelihood of fraudulent accounting activities that were being done by different corporations. News had spread that corporate officials were filing misleading information about their financial statements and handing them over to their accounting firms after the well-known scandals. The firms that they were handing them over to were firms that they had a tight-knit relationship with and knew they would do them some favors. SOX was implemented to help standardize the accounting and contract management professions and turn bad back into good.

(This post was originally published April 24, 2017. Updated May 29, 2018)

Managing contract compliance can be tough.  It becomes even more difficult when important terms and clauses are buried deep within a contract.  Times that by the thousands of contracts a company will manage and you can find yourself more frustrated than ever.  Missing compliance can cost an organization much more than hefty fees and fines.  Reputations could tarnish and deals could go down the drain.  Your organization could be playing catch up for a while.  Being able to meet compliance becomes a top priority.  It becomes easier with the right contract management software in place.

There’s a lot of buzz when it comes to digital innovation in just about any part of an organization. When it comes down to it, what exactly does that entail?

It is very rare when an organization is so on point that others use them as a standard (we’re looking at you, Amazon). The ability to have most, or all, of your business processes fine-tuned and in sync is something that most organizations are often trying to accomplish. These types of changes could take years before they truly take effect. Unfortunately, business happens quick and organizations can’t afford to wait that long. Many areas of the organization including marketing, sales, and service departments have already eradicated outdated ways of operating.

The topic of digital innovation in the procurement process, however, seems to be the one area that tends to get overlooked. Why?

CobbleStone announces its newest release of our leading contract management software, Version 17.2. Building upon the success of Version 17, we have included new features throughout multiple modules in the system, along with improving overall capabilities and improving usability. Additionally, clients have the option to update select user accounts without compromising the settings of other user systems.