As contract volume grows across legal, procurement, finance and sales, small inefficiencies add up. Decisions slow down, service quality slips and the business misses chances it would have caught with better information. Left alone, the same problems lead to strained relationships and, sometimes, penalties.
Below are fourteen challenges we see again and again, grouped by where they appear in the lifecycle, each with a practical fix. Most of the fixes are a mix of process discipline and the right contract lifecycle management (CLM) platform.
Drafting and standards
1. No standard way of contracting
When each team uses its own templates and approval habits, clauses get read differently and stakeholders expect different outcomes from what they signed. Fix: adopt standard templates with predefined terms and a shared library of approved clauses, so every contract starts from the same position.
2. Too much manual work
Drafting, data entry and chasing feedback are simple tasks that demand care. Done in a hurry, they produce misplaced details, inconsistencies and delays. Fix: automate the routine steps. Rules can create documents from templates, and AI can summarize progress and send reminders, which frees people for negotiation and relationships.
3. Unclear language
Interpretation problems often trace back to wording. Inconsistent definitions and vague obligations invite disputes later. Fix: use the clause library for standard language and review new templates with the people who will actually manage the contract.
Visibility and tracking
4. Hard to track progress and dates
Teams handling many contracts at once struggle to follow milestones, expiries and termination windows. Missing one forces a scramble to meet the obligation while other work suffers. Fix: use automated alerts and dashboards that show every stakeholder what is due, so deadlines are planned rather than discovered.
5. Limited visibility and reporting
With many active contracts, getting a picture of status and performance means asking several departments and stitching answers together. Decisions on compliance, spend and risk wait. Fix: report from one system with real time dashboards each team can tailor. In Aavenir, Atlas answers portfolio questions in plain language.
6. No version control
Each contract passes through many drafts. When people are unsure which one is current, the result is miscommunication, delay and a less professional face to the counterparty. Fix: keep one master document with automatic version history, so everyone sees the latest version and can open earlier ones when needed.
People and process
7. Teams working in silos
Contracts move between departments in sequence, and each one often uses a different tool for its step. Information stalls at each handoff. Fix: run review, approval and storage on a single platform, so every party sees the same document, approvals and status.
8. Negotiation and approval bottlenecks
Long back and forth and layered approval hierarchies delay signature and squeeze delivery timelines afterward. Fix: set up automated approval routing so each contract moves to the next approver as soon as the last one signs off, and replace wet signatures with electronic ones. See contract approval workflow.
9. Changes and disputes handled ad hoc
Edits to price or scope are normal, but they must be recorded and communicated. Disagreements between internal teams or with the counterparty need a fair route to resolution. Fix: keep an amendment log that everyone can see, and agree a dispute resolution process, ideally written into the contract itself.
Compliance and security
10. Fast changing regulation
Rules on data protection, employment and specific industries keep changing, and AI has added a new layer. Falling behind brings fines, losses and damaged trust. Fix: audit contracts and workflows on a schedule against current law in every relevant jurisdiction, and use AI review to flag clauses that need an update. Our contract audit guide explains how.
11. Security and privacy gaps
Contracts hold sensitive financial, personal and legal information. Spreading them across many tools and inboxes multiplies the points where data can leak. Fix: keep contracts in one secure platform with encryption, role based access and a log of who opened or changed what.
After signature
12. Missed renewals and expirations
Without active management, contracts roll over on unfavorable terms or end awkwardly. Fix: monitor renewal and expiry dates with alerts well before each notice window, and review the relationship and performance in time to decide. See contract renewal management.
13. Cost overruns and scope creep
Projects sometimes need more than planned because requirements change or the contract was vague. Costs rise, timelines slip and frustration builds. Fix: define scope and cost precisely at the start, include a clause for revisiting budget and timeline when deliverables change, and stay in regular contact to spot drift early.
14. Missed obligations and lost value
Obligations go well beyond payment and delivery: insurance, licensing, maintenance, warranties and more. One slip can trigger penalties or disputes, and over time a contract that is never revisited delivers less than it should. Fix: extract every obligation into a list with an owner and due date, and measure contract value against clear metrics so you can renegotiate when conditions change. Obligationflow does this with Aavenir AI and a person approving the list.
The bottom line
Every stage of the lifecycle has its own way of leaking time and value, but the fixes share a pattern: standardize the inputs, put everything on one platform, automate the routine steps and keep watching contracts after signature. Aavenir Contractflow brings those together, natively on ServiceNow or standalone.