Managing contracts shouldn’t feel like a constant battle with lost emails, slow approvals, and last-minute scrambles. But for many businesses, that’s exactly what happens.

Even worse, these inefficiencies add up—analysts at PricewaterhouseCoopers estimate that companies could save 2% of their annual expenses just by improving contract accuracy and compliance with automation.

That’s a lot of money left on the table.

Switching to automated contract workflows speeds things up, cuts down on errors, and keeps everything in one place. No more chasing signatures or wondering if you’re working with the right version of a contract.

If your contract process is slowing you down, it’s time to fix it. Let’s talk about the biggest benefits of automation and how to make it work for your business.

What Is a Contract Workflow?

A contract workflow is the step-by-step process of creating, reviewing, approving, signing, and managing contracts. Think of it as the roadmap that makes sure every agreement gets handled properly, from start to finish.

Without a structured workflow, contracts can get stuck in email chains, lost in folders, or delayed by slow approvals.

Here’s how a typical contract workflow should look:

1. Drafting the Contract

First, someone—usually legal, procurement, or sales—creates the contract. Instead of writing everything from scratch, businesses often use automated contract templates to save time and keep terms consistent.

2. Internal Review

Once drafted, the contract gets reviewed internally. This step involves checking for legal accuracy, making sure terms align with company policies, and verifying financial details. If something’s off, changes are made before moving forward.

3. Approvals

Before a contract can be sent out, it needs approval. This might mean sign-off from legal, finance, or department heads. Automating this step speeds up the process so contracts don’t get stuck waiting for someone’s response.

4. Negotiation and Redlining

Sometimes, the other party requests changes. This back-and-forth, known as redlining, allows both sides to make edits and finalize terms. A good contract management tool keeps track of these revisions in one place, avoiding confusion.

5. Final Approval

After all edits are settled, the final version gets a last review to confirm everything is accurate. This prevents mistakes that could cause issues later.

6. Signing the Contract

Once approved, it’s time to get signatures. Instead of printing and scanning, most businesses now use electronic signatures, making this step much faster.

7. Storing the Contract

A signed contract isn’t much use if you can’t find it later. Storing contracts in a central, searchable system makes future reference easy and keeps documents secure.

8. Tracking and Compliance

Contracts often have renewal dates, payment schedules, or performance obligations. Automated reminders help you stay on top of deadlines and compliance requirements.

A well-structured contract workflow keeps things moving without unnecessary delays. If any of these steps are taking too long, it might be time to automate.

8 Best Strategies to Automate Your Contract Lifecycle

Jumping into automation without a plan can lead to more confusion than improvement. To get the most out of automated contract management workflows, you need a clear strategy. Start with these:

1. Find Out What's Slowing You Down

Before automating anything, take a step back and figure out where the biggest issues are.

Are approvals taking too long? Are contracts getting lost in email chains? Is legal constantly fixing errors?

Pinpointing these roadblocks helps you focus on what actually needs improvement. Look at past contracts to spot trends—maybe renewal deadlines are being missed, or sales teams are waiting too long for approvals. 

Once you know the weak spots, you can build an automation plan that fixes them.

2. Take Advantage of Contract Templates

Writing every contract from scratch is a waste of time, especially when most agreements follow the same structure.

Instead of starting over each time, use contract templates to speed things up and keep terms consistent. Templates help make sure that important clauses aren’t left out, reduce the risk of errors, and make the whole process more efficient.

For example, if your business regularly signs NDAs or vendor agreements, having a pre-approved template means your team can fill in the details and move forward without waiting for legal to draft a new document every time. This keeps things moving while maintaining compliance.

Automating template use makes it even easier—just select the right one, customize the necessary fields, and send it off for approval. It’s a simple way to save time and avoid mistakes while keeping contracts standardized across the company.

3. Use Electronic Signatures

Printing, signing, scanning, and emailing a contract back? That’s way too much work. Electronic signatures cut out all that hassle, allowing people to sign from anywhere with just a few clicks.

Beyond saving time, e-signatures add security and keep things organized. Most tools track who signed what and when, so there’s a clear record if you ever need it. Signed contracts are stored in one place, so nothing gets lost in someone’s inbox. It’s faster, easier, and just makes sense.

4. Create a Contract Approval Process

A messy approval process slows everything down. When contracts bounce between departments with no clear workflow, deals get delayed, and important details get overlooked.

Automating the contract management process helps everything run smoothly by making sure contracts reach the right people without unnecessary back-and-forth.

To keep approvals moving without headaches, follow these steps:

• Define approval roles: Decide who needs to review contracts, whether it’s legal teams, finance, or department heads.
• Set up approval workflows: Automate the process so contracts go to the right people in the right order.
• Track contract progress: Use a dashboard to see exactly where contracts are in the approval process.
• Turn on instant notifications: Keep everyone in the loop when it’s their turn to take action.
• Standardize contract creation: Use templates to speed things up and avoid errors.

A structured approval process means contracts don’t get stuck in limbo, and business keeps moving without unnecessary delays.

5. Customize Alerts and Notifications

Missing a contract deadline or approval request can cause major delays, but constantly checking for updates isn’t realistic. Automated alerts and notifications take the guesswork out of the process and keep everything on track without constant manual follow-ups.

With the right setup, teams get notified when it’s their turn to review, approve, or sign a contract. Reminders can also be set for key dates like renewals or expirations so nothing falls through the cracks.

Instead of scrambling at the last minute, everyone stays informed and prepared. Customizing these alerts makes sure the right people get the right updates at the right time.

6. Review Your Contract Performance

Just because a contract is signed doesn’t mean the work is done. Regularly reviewing contract performance can help you track obligations, spot inefficiencies, and refine your contract management process.

Without proper monitoring, missed renewal dates, unfulfilled terms, or compliance issues can create unnecessary risks.

Using automation, you can track key metrics like approval times, contract value, renewal rates, and overall contract efficiency. If certain contracts take too long to finalize or frequently require renegotiation, that could indicate bottlenecks in the approval process or unclear terms. Tracking obligations makes sure that both parties meet their commitments, reducing the risk of disputes.

Reviewing contract performance also helps with future negotiations. If specific clauses consistently cause delays or revisions, it may be time to update templates or approval workflows.

With real-time insights, your business can make data-driven decisions to improve contract efficiency, reduce risks, and ensure better outcomes for future agreements.

7. Take Advantage of Task Assignment Features

Ever had a contract stall because no one was sure who needed to handle it next? Task assignment features solve that problem by making responsibilities clear.

When each step is assigned to the right person—whether it’s legal reviewing terms, finance approving budgets, or sales finalizing details—contracts move forward without unnecessary delays.

Automation keeps everything organized, so there’s no guessing or back-and-forth emails asking, “Who’s taking care of this?” The system tracks progress, sends reminders, and helps teams stay on top of their tasks.

8. Get Your Employees On The Same Page

Automating workflows creates a clear, standardized process so teams know exactly what to do.

With a centralized system, legal, finance, and sales can track approvals, access the latest versions, and stay updated—no more email searches or confusion. But automation only works if employees know how to use it. Here’s how to train them:

• Hold training sessions: Walk employees through the system and show them how each step works.
• Create simple guides: Keep instructions clear and easy to follow so no one gets overwhelmed.
• Assign role-specific training: Focus on what each department needs to know instead of a one-size-fits-all approach.
• Encourage hands-on practice: Let employees test the system with mock contracts before working on real ones.
• Provide ongoing support: Answer questions, offer refresher sessions, and update training as needed.

When everyone follows the same process, contracts move faster, and your team spends less time fixing preventable mistakes.

The Benefits of Automating Your Contract Process

Dealing with contracts shouldn’t feel like a never-ending game of email tag. Yet, for many businesses, that’s exactly what happens—documents get lost, approvals take forever, and deadlines sneak up out of nowhere. It’s frustrating, time-consuming, and risky.

If your contract process feels like a mess, it's time to automate. Let’s break down why automation makes sense, what it fixes, and how to set up a system that actually works.

Faster Contract Approvals

Waiting for someone to check their inbox and approve a contract can slow everything down. With automated workflows, contract requests are instantly routed to the right people, eliminating unnecessary delays.

No more follow-up emails or waiting on a signature for days. The system notifies approvers automatically, tracks progress, and even sends reminders if someone takes too long. This keeps the process moving without constant manual intervention.

Plus, approvals can happen from anywhere—whether someone’s at their desk or on the go. Faster contract approvals mean deals close sooner, projects move forward without holdups, and your team wastes less time chasing signatures.

Fewer Mistakes

Mistakes in contracts can cause serious headaches—delays, legal risks, and even lost deals. When everything’s handled manually, it’s easy for things to slip through the cracks. A small typo or missing clause might not seem like a big deal at first, but it can create problems down the line.

Automation helps by keeping everything consistent, using templates and built-in checks to catch errors before they become an issue.

Here are some common mistakes that happen with manual contract handling:

• Typos and wrong information
• Missing key clauses
• Version mix-ups
• Forgotten approvals

Automating your entire contract management process makes sure everything is accurate, which ultimately reduces the risk of costly errors.

Better Compliance

One missed deadline or overlooked clause could lead to fines or legal disputes. Automation makes compliance easier by keeping everything organized and making sure the right rules are followed every time.

Automated contract workflows can automatically flag missing approvals, track expiration dates, and make sure contracts include all necessary terms.

Plus, with everything stored in a secure system, there’s no risk of losing important documents. Instead of scrambling to meet requirements at the last minute, you’ll have a clear, structured process that keeps everything in check without the stress.

Improved Organization

Hunting down a contract shouldn’t feel like searching for a lost sock. But when documents are scattered across emails, shared drives, or filing cabinets, that’s exactly what happens. Automation solves this by keeping everything in one central place and making it easy to find what you need in seconds.

With search and filter options, you can pull up contracts by name, date, or status instead of scrolling through endless folders or chasing down coworkers for the latest version.

Everything stays organized, up to date, and accessible, so your team can focus on work instead of wasting time tracking down documents.

Easier Collaboration

When multiple departments are involved, keeping track of edits, approvals, and feedback can get messy fast. Automation makes collaboration smoother by keeping everything in one shared system. 

Teams can review, edit, and approve contracts in real time without worrying about version control or missing updates.

Instead of sifting through emails or waiting for someone to respond, everyone can see the latest changes instantly. Legal, finance, and sales stay aligned, and contracts move forward without unnecessary delays.

Time and Cost Savings

Managing contracts manually takes up way too much time. Chasing approvals, fixing errors, and digging through emails slows everything down and adds unnecessary costs. Automation handles the repetitive stuff, so employees can focus on bigger priorities instead of paperwork.

Take a sales team, for example. If approvals are stuck in someone’s inbox, deals get delayed. With an automated workflow, contracts go straight to the right person, cutting approval time from days to hours. 

Faster approvals mean quicker deals and fewer expensive mistakes.

Invest in the Right Contract Management Software

Managing contracts manually is frustrating. Slow approvals, lost documents, and endless back-and-forth make the process more complicated than it needs to be.

Automation takes the stress out of contract management, keeping everything organized, reducing delays, and making sure agreements get signed without unnecessary holdups.

Aline makes this even easier. Designed for legal, sales, and finance teams, Aline helps businesses draft, negotiate, and finalize contracts 5–10X faster.

Instead of juggling multiple tools, everything happens in one platform—AI-assisted redlining, dynamic templates, built-in e-signatures, and compliance tracking. Whether you’re closing deals or scaling your legal operations, Aline gives you a faster, smarter way to manage contracts.

If you’re ready to move past slow, outdated workflows, see how Aline can transform your contract process today!

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FAQs About Automated Workflows For Contracts

What are examples of workflow automation?

Workflow automation replaces repetitive manual tasks with software. In contract management, this includes automatically routing agreements for approval, sending electronic signature requests, and setting up deadline alerts. Other examples include generating templates, auto-filling contract details, and maintaining an audit trail. Automation speeds up processes, reduces errors, and ensures contracts move forward without unnecessary delays.

What is a contract workflow?

A contract workflow is the step-by-step process of drafting, reviewing, approving, signing, storing, and tracking contracts. Without a structured workflow, contracts can get stuck in approvals or lost in email chains. Automating this process keeps everything organized, ensures contracts reach the right people, and reduces the risk of missed deadlines or compliance issues.

What is an automated contracting system?

An automated contracting system is software that handles contract creation, approvals, and execution with minimal manual effort. It allows businesses to use templates, track changes in real time, collect e-signatures, and receive renewal reminders. By centralizing contract lifecycle management, businesses close deals faster, reduce errors and improve compliance.

What is an automated workflow?

An automated workflow is a series of predefined steps carried out by contract automation software. In contract management, this includes routing contracts for approval, sending notifications, and securely storing documents. Automation reduces delays, keeps teams aligned, and ensures every contract follows a consistent process.