
Contract document automation is a game-changer for businesses, allowing them to streamline contract management and document creation.
Manual contract processes can take up to 30% of a company's time, but automation reduces this to just 2-5% of time spent on contract management tasks.
Automated contract document creation saves companies an average of 75% of the time and resources spent on document creation, allowing them to focus on more strategic tasks.
With automation, contracts can be reviewed, approved, and signed in as little as 30 minutes, compared to the hours or even days it would take manually.
What Is Contract Document Automation
Contract document automation is the technology used to make the drafting stage easier. It fundamentally works like this: the user answers some questions and the system spits out a contract that is tailored based on the answers.
You can answer these questions in the browser using a form, but there are alternatives such as using chatbots, which tend to focus on access to justice use cases.
Contract automation software gathers data from different sources, like databases and CRM systems, to fill in dynamic fields in contract templates. This saves time and reduces errors compared to manually creating each contract from scratch.
Automating a contract can bring many benefits, including simplifying repetitive tasks associated with contract lifecycle management, such as drafting, reviewing, approval, and storage.
With contract automation, you could create a system where a freelancer fills out a form with their details, such as name, rate, and project specifics, and the software automatically generates a customized contract based on that information.
Benefits of Automation
Automating contracts can save up to 80% of the time it takes to create them, accelerating contract creation and reducing manual errors.
You can reduce manual data entry errors that can lead to costly disputes by up to 80%. This is a significant reduction in errors that can be achieved through automation.
Automating contracts also ensures regulatory requirements are consistently met through standardized templates and automated checks. This is a major benefit of using document automation.
Organizations that implement contract automation solutions can reduce manual errors, enhance compliance, improve visibility, and decrease administrative overhead. They can also reduce paper-based processes and decrease their environmental footprint.
Here are some specific benefits of contract automation:
By automating contracts, you can also reduce friction points and increase accuracy. This is because automation tools can streamline contract creation workflows through templates, content libraries, and e-signing.
Automating contracts can save you up to 75% of the time it takes to finalize a contract, according to Aberdeen's benchmarks. This is a significant time savings that can be achieved through automation.
Who Benefits
Business managers spend time coordinating between different teams to finalize contracts, leading to inefficiencies and delays. Automation provides them with real-time insights into contract status, improves collaboration between teams, and enables better decision-making based on contract data and analytics.
By implementing contract document automation, organizations can reduce manual errors by up to 80% and minimize costly disputes. This is achieved through standardized templates and automated checks that ensure regulatory requirements are consistently met.
Manual contract processes can lead to misunderstandings, delays, and disputes between customers/suppliers and the company. However, automation streamlines contract negotiation and execution, improving transparency, reducing errors, and enhancing trust and satisfaction between parties.
Here are some key benefits that different groups can expect from contract document automation:
- Business managers: Improved collaboration, better decision-making, and real-time insights into contract status
- Customers and suppliers: Improved transparency, reduced errors, and enhanced trust and satisfaction
A trade financing client made template revisions 67% more efficiently after implementing MHC's contract document automation platform, while simultaneously reducing their environmental footprint and strengthening vendor relationships.
Business Managers
Business managers spend time coordinating between different teams to finalize contracts, leading to inefficiencies and delays. Automation provides them with real-time insights into contract status, improving collaboration between teams and enabling better decision-making based on contract data and analytics.
Manual contract management is a significant operational challenge for business managers, creating bottlenecks and increasing risk due to time-consuming drafting and lack of centralized template management.
Automation helps business managers by streamlining contract management, reducing the need for manual drafting and improving post-execution management. This enables them to make more informed decisions and respond quickly to changing circumstances.
Customers and Suppliers
When you automate contract negotiation and execution, you can improve transparency between customers and suppliers. This leads to a better understanding of expectations and responsibilities.
Manual contract processes can cause misunderstandings between customers/suppliers and the company, resulting in disputes and delays. Automation reduces errors and improves trust between parties.
Automating contract negotiation and execution can enhance satisfaction between customers and suppliers.
Automating Tasks
Automating tasks is a game-changer in contract document automation. By automating tasks, you can save time and reduce errors.
Document creation can be streamlined with automated templates, eliminating the need to start from scratch each time. This saves time by providing standardized formats that can be easily customized.
Data entry can be reduced with automation tools that extract data from various sources and populate contract fields automatically, minimizing manual data entry and error risks.
E-signatures enable contracts to be signed from anywhere, eliminating the need for printing, signing, scanning, and mailing documents. This makes the process faster and more convenient.
Consider reading: Contract Document Management
Version control can be ensured with automation, providing all stakeholders with access to the latest version of the contract. This eliminates time wasted on tracking updates or reconciling conflicting versions.
Contract automation software can have features like "bulk creation" to populate dynamic fields with relevant information, generating multiple contracts quickly and reducing manual effort. With this feature, you can create multiple contracts in no time.
Automating tasks also enables business users to create standardized contracts from pre-approved templates without technical assistance, ensuring consistency and compliance. This capability creates a better experience for vendor partners and customers.
With automated contract generation, each contract follows clear and accurate guidelines, minimizing the risk of errors. Creating better contracts reduces waste, strengthens your organization's reputation, and accelerates business relationships.
If this caught your attention, see: Legal Business Contract
How To Automate
To automate contracts, start by using contract automation software that allows you to create standardized templates. This will streamline the creation of contracts and save time by providing formats that can be easily customized.
Automate document creation by using pre-approved templates that can be populated with dynamic fields. This reduces manual effort and minimizes errors.
With contract automation software, you can extract data from various sources and populate contract fields automatically, reducing manual data entry and error risks. This process is called data entry automation.
Use electronic signatures to enable contracts to be signed from anywhere, eliminating the need for printing, signing, scanning, and mailing documents. This feature is called e-signatures.
To generate multiple contracts quickly, use a feature like "bulk creation" in contract automation software. This allows you to populate dynamic fields with relevant information provided by the user.
Automate version control to ensure that all stakeholders have access to the latest version of the contract. This eliminates time wasted on tracking updates or reconciling conflicting versions.
To create standardized contracts, use pre-approved templates and intuitive template design tools. This ensures consistency and compliance while creating a better experience for vendor partners and customers.
With contract automation software, you can create contracts quickly and accurately, reducing the risk of potentially costly errors. This capability creates better contracts that reduce waste and strengthen your organization's reputation.
A different take: Automate Cryptotab
Features and Templates
Contract document automation is all about streamlining the contracting process, and templates play a crucial role in this. Templates can be premade for various contract use cases, such as influencer agreements, and can be customized with rich text formatting features.
You can also create custom templates from scratch, but this can be time-consuming. That's why many contract automation software solutions offer premade templates to get you started.
Standardized templates can minimize manual input errors and improve the overall quality and reliability of your documents. This is particularly useful for businesses that need to generate multiple contracts on a regular basis.
Some contract automation software solutions, like MHC NorthStar, offer comprehensive contract document automation capabilities that empower business users while reducing IT dependencies.
Dynamic fields are a key feature of contract templates, allowing you to insert placeholders for data that can be automatically populated from external databases or conditions. These can include variables, conditionals, loops, tables, bulleted lists, numbered lists, dynamic images, QR codes, and more.
Here are some examples of dynamic fields you can insert in your contract templates:
By incorporating these features and templates into your contract document automation process, you can save time, reduce errors, and improve the overall quality and reliability of your documents.
Implementation and Best Practices
Implementing contract automation requires a strategic approach to maximize its benefits. Start by identifying repetitive contract workflows that offer the highest automation potential.
To standardize templates, develop and approve templates for common contract types before implementation. This ensures consistency and reduces errors.
Map approval processes with stakeholder input to define clear workflows. This step ensures buy-in and minimizes disruptions.
To integrate strategically, prioritize integration with your core business systems to maximize data consistency. This enables seamless data exchange and reduces manual errors.
Empowering business users is crucial for successful implementation. Provide training that enables non-technical staff to manage contract processes, ensuring they can effectively use the automation tools.
Here are the best practices for implementing contract automation:
Implementing contract automation in phases helps to ensure a smooth transition and minimizes disruptions. Begin with high-volume, low-complexity contracts to maximize the benefits of automation.
Best Practices for Implementation
To implement contract automation effectively, you need to start with a process assessment to identify repetitive contract workflows with high automation potential. This is crucial for maximizing your return on investment (ROI) and accelerating time to value.
Begin by standardizing templates for common contract types before implementation. This will save you time and effort in the long run.
Define clear workflows by mapping approval processes with stakeholder input to ensure buy-in. This will help you avoid any potential roadblocks or resistance to change.
To integrate contract automation with your core business systems, prioritize integration to maximize data consistency. This will help you get the most out of your contract automation technology.
Empowering business users is also key. Provide training that enables non-technical staff to manage contract processes, so they can take ownership of contract automation.
Implement contract automation in phases, starting with high-volume, low-complexity contracts before tackling more complex agreements. This will help you test and refine your implementation as you go.
Finally, measure the results of your contract automation implementation by tracking improvements in cycle time, error rates, and compliance. This will help you identify areas for further improvement and optimize your contract automation technology for maximum ROI.
Centralized Repository
Having a centralized contract repository can be a game-changer for efficient contract management. It eliminates the productivity losses associated with hunting for contracts across departments or systems.
With a centralized repository, authorized users can quickly locate documents using multiple search criteria, such as vendor or customer name, contract type or category, execution date ranges, value thresholds, expiration dates, and custom metadata tags.
Imagine being able to find a contract in seconds, rather than spending hours searching through physical storage or disparate systems. This is exactly what MHC's solution provides, a centralized, searchable contract repository.
Here are some benefits of a centralized repository:
- Reduced time spent searching for contracts
- Eliminated productivity losses
- Ensured everyone works from the most current version
By implementing a centralized repository, organizations can streamline their contract management processes and improve efficiency. It's a simple yet effective way to manage contracts and stay organized.
Real-Time Operational Dashboard for Company-Wide Status and Compliance
A real-time operational dashboard is a game-changer for companies looking to streamline their document workflows. Avokaado's new OIP dashboard centralizes key data, streamlining workflows with real-time insights.
Users can track drafts, approvals, and reminders in one place, boosting efficiency and simplifying decision-making. This is especially useful for companies with multiple stakeholders involved in the contract process.
The Avokaado and BambooHR integration is a great example of how this can be achieved. By integrating HRIS systems, companies can automate the creation of compliant contracts and reduce manual errors.
Here are some key features of Avokaado's OIP dashboard:
- Real-time tracking of document status
- Automated notifications for pending actions
- Custom alerts for expiring contracts
- Dashboard visualizations of contract status
- Performance metrics for contract cycle times
By implementing a real-time operational dashboard, companies can ensure that all stakeholders are on the same page and that contracts are executed on time. This can lead to significant cost savings and improved business outcomes.
Ensured regulatory compliance
Ensured regulatory compliance is a top priority for any business, and contract document automation can help you achieve this goal. With the right tools, you can streamline your compliance processes and reduce the risk of errors or non-compliance.
Custom fields can be added to your templates to guide users in entering the right details and to automatically enforce regulatory or business rules. This reduces human error and maintains compliance.
Automating contract workflows can simplify KYC checks and document workflows, improving efficiency and enhancing customer onboarding. This is especially important in regulated industries like financial services, healthcare, and manufacturing.
Key regulatory safeguards include role-based access controls, comprehensive audit trails, and secure document storage with encryption. These measures reduce exposure to fraud or external threats while consistently meeting regulatory requirements.
Here are some of the key features that support regulatory compliance:
- Role-based access controls
- Comprehensive audit trails
- Secure document storage with encryption
- Version control to track all document changes
- Electronic signature capabilities that meet legal requirements
By implementing these features, you can ensure that your documents are always compliant and up-to-date. This saves time and reduces the risk of errors or non-compliance.
Scalability and Integration
Scalability and integration are crucial aspects of contract document automation.
MHC's contract document automation technology scales with your organization, handling growing contract volumes without performance degradation. This means you can rely on the system to keep up with your business needs, no matter how fast you grow.
The platform integrates seamlessly with critical business systems, including ERP platforms, CRM systems, financial management software, HR systems, enterprise content management solutions, and cloud storage platforms. This integration capability allows MHC to retrieve and synchronize information across your technology ecosystem.
By integrating with these systems, you can create a single source of truth for contract data while eliminating redundant data entry.
If this caught your attention, see: Smart Contract Platforms
Scalability and Integration
Scalability and integration are crucial for businesses that want to grow without getting bogged down by manual processes. MHC's contract document automation technology scales with your organization, handling growing contract volumes without performance degradation.
Integration is key to streamlining your workflow and eliminating redundant data entry. MHC's platform integrates seamlessly with critical business systems, including ERP platforms, CRM systems, financial management software, HR systems, and more.
On a similar theme: How to Make a Legal Contract without a Lawyer
To give you a better idea of the systems MHC integrates with, here are some examples:
- ERP platforms
- CRM systems
- Financial management software
- HR systems
- Enterprise content management solutions
- Cloud storage platforms
This integration capability allows MHC to retrieve and synchronize information across your technology ecosystem, creating a single source of truth for contract data.
Real-Time Monitoring
Real-Time Monitoring is a game-changer for businesses looking to scale efficiently. It provides visibility into contract status, allowing authorized users to track contracts in real-time throughout their lifecycle.
With real-time monitoring, users can get updates when documents are reviewed, approved, and ready for execution. This level of transparency is essential for effective business planning.
MHC's real-time contract monitoring features include custom alerts for expiring contracts and automated notifications for pending actions. These alerts and notifications help ensure critical contracts are executed on time.
Here are some key features of MHC's real-time contract monitoring:
- Custom alerts for expiring contracts
- Automated notifications for pending actions
- Dashboard visualizations of contract status
- Performance metrics for contract cycle times
By leveraging these features, organizational leaders can identify process improvement opportunities and make informed decisions.
Creating and Managing in Salesforce
Creating and managing contracts in Salesforce can be a game-changer for businesses. This platform allows you to simplify and speed up your entire deal-closing and contracting process, eliminating back-and-forth emails, contract stress, and process inefficiencies in your sales and legal workflows.
Avokaado's solution enables top sales teams to automate their document management, eliminating manual tasks and getting faster deal cycles, improved accuracy, and a happier, more productive workflow.
MHC's contract document automation technology integrates seamlessly with critical business systems, including CRM systems like Salesforce, to create a single source of truth for contract data.
Here are some key benefits of automating contract management in Salesforce:
- Eliminate manual tasks and get faster deal cycles
- Improve accuracy and reduce errors
- Get a happier, more productive workflow
- Integrate with CRM systems like Salesforce
By automating contract management in Salesforce, businesses can stay ahead of the game and create a more efficient and effective sales and legal workflow.
Industry-Specific Solutions
MHC offers proven contract document automation solutions that empower organizations to work more efficiently.
Their platform, MHC NorthStar, enables business users to take control of contract processes without IT dependencies, creating a more agile and responsive approach to document management.
Contract automation in financial services can be challenging, but Avokaado's no-code platform offers a solution by streamlining contract management, enhancing compliance, and improving collaboration.
Case Study: New Hampshire
New Hampshire implemented MHC's automation solution, which led to significant environmental and operational benefits.
Manual contract management is a common challenge faced by factoring service providers, causing bottlenecks and increased risk due to time-consuming drafting and lack of centralized template management.
Automation is key to solving these challenges, as seen in New Hampshire's case, where MHC's solution improved operational efficiency.
Avokaado offers automation, centralization, and scalability to eliminate manual contract management, reducing risk and increasing efficiency for factoring service providers.
Financial Services Organization Case Study
A leading financial services provider reduced their contract processing time by 70% after implementing Avokaado's contract automation platform.
This significant reduction in processing time was achieved by automating manual document handling, which previously took up 200 hours annually.
Improved efficiency wasn't the only benefit - the organization also decreased compliance exceptions and enhanced vendor satisfaction scores.
By empowering business users to manage contract templates without IT assistance, the company streamlined its contract management process and improved collaboration among teams.
Manage in Salesforce 2024
Managing contracts in Salesforce in 2024 is a game-changer for sales and legal teams. You can simplify and speed up your entire deal-closing and contracting process like a pro.
Electronic contracts are a great way to go, as they are legally binding agreements drafted and signed electronically. They can be created, signed, and managed with ease.
Contract stress and process inefficiencies are a thing of the past when you use Salesforce to manage contracts. Back-and-forth emails are no longer necessary.
Salesforce makes it easy to manage electronic contracts, streamlining your sales and legal workflows. You can say goodbye to contract stress and hello to efficiency.
Explore further: Is a Contract Binding If Not Signed by All Parties
Project Management and HR
Contract automation can be a game-changer for HR teams, as seen at HR Expo 2023 where Avokaado's workshops showcased its innovative approach to contract management and seamless HRIS integrations.
Manual contract creation can lead to errors, such as salary and start date discrepancies, as experienced by Glogloby.io, a hiring agency. This can cause wasted time and a poor first impression on new hires.
Automation helps HR teams improve contract integrity and new hires' experience, saving time in the process.
Sales Team
Top sales teams use automation to streamline their document management, eliminating manual tasks and getting faster deal cycles. This results in improved accuracy and a happier, more productive workflow.
The typical contracting process often involves sales teams relying on legal for contract creation, leading to delays in closing deals. This can be frustrating for both sales teams and customers.
With automation, sales teams can generate contracts quickly using pre-approved templates, customize terms as needed, and accelerate the sales cycle. This leads to faster deal closure and improved customer satisfaction.
Sales teams that automate their document management can reduce errors and improve the overall experience for customers.
Human Resources
HR teams handle various contracts that often lead to errors when done manually, like employment agreements and NDAs.
Manual contract creation can cause wasted time and a poor first impression on new hires, as Glogloby.io, a hiring agency, experienced with salary and start date discrepancies.
Automation helps HR teams improve contract integrity, improve new hires' experience, and save time, as Glogloby's post-automation experience shows.
HR teams can gain real-time insights into contract status with automation, which improves collaboration between teams and enables better decision-making based on contract data and analytics.
Trends and Predictions
Automation and document management are undergoing significant changes in 2025, with new regulations coming into force that will impact businesses.
The Avokaado Operational Intelligence Platform (OIP) is well-positioned to help businesses stay compliant and efficient in a demanding year ahead.
Key trends in automation and document management shaping 2025 include the integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning to streamline processes.
These technologies will enable businesses to automate repetitive tasks and reduce manual errors, leading to increased productivity and cost savings.
The use of cloud-based document management systems will also become more prevalent, allowing businesses to access and manage their documents from anywhere.
This shift to cloud-based systems will provide greater flexibility and scalability for businesses, enabling them to respond quickly to changing market conditions.
New regulations coming into force in 2025 will require businesses to implement more robust document management systems, with a focus on data security and compliance.
The Avokaado OIP is designed to help businesses meet these regulatory requirements, providing a secure and compliant platform for document management and automation.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does woodpecker document automation cost?
Woodpecker document automation is included in MyCase's Advanced plan, priced at $119/month (monthly billing) or $109/month (annual billing). To learn more about pricing and plans, please visit our website.
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