--- title: A Contract Manager's Day With and Without Contractflow | Aavenir url: https://aavenir.com/contract-manager-before-and-after-aavenir-contractflow/ description: How a contract manager's work changes before signature, at execution and after signature when contracts run through Contractflow instead of email and shared drives. updated: 2026-11-07 --- [Home](https://aavenir.com/) / [Blog](https://aavenir.com/blogs/) / With and without Contractflow Contract lifecycle management # The life of a contract manager, with and without Contractflow Three stages, three familiar problems, and what changes when contract work runs on one platform. SM **Sonal Mehta**Jun 24, 2022 ยท 4 min read Contract managers sit between legal, procurement, finance and the business. When contract work runs through email and shared drives, they spend most of their week chasing comments, versions and dates. When it runs on one platform, the same week looks very different. This post follows three common situations, one at each stage of the contract lifecycle, and shows what changes with [Contractflow](https://aavenir.com/solutions/enterprise-contract-management-software/), Aavenir's contract lifecycle management app that runs natively on ServiceNow or standalone. We first published it in 2022 and have updated it to reflect how Aavenir AI now supports each stage. Key takeaways - Before signature, scattered comments and versions cause rework and missed points - At execution, third party paper and manual signature slow everything down - After signature, untracked service levels and penalties quietly cost money - One platform, with AI review and a person approving each result, fixes all three ## Before signature: comments in five places James, a chief procurement officer, sends a vendor contract for internal review. Two colleagues comment on the renewal clause in separate copies. James merges their notes by hand, misses one and sends the draft back to the vendor. The missed point surfaces just before signature, and the clause has to be reopened with the vendor. A week is lost. This is the most common failure before signature: comments, versions and approvals live in different places, so something always slips. ### What changes with Contractflow - Simple contracts are approved automatically within thresholds you set, while complex ones follow conditional workflows - Requesters create standard contracts from pre approved templates - Review and approval run as workflows with clear roles, so everyone sees the contract's status - All comments, related documents and messages stay with the contract, as a single source of truth - Aavenir AI flags clauses outside your playbook before a reviewer opens the document ## At execution: third party paper and slow signatures Jeanie works in legal and handles a heavy load of procurement contracts. Most arrive on the supplier's paper. Each one must be read in full to find unusual liability terms, data clauses and renewal language, and then sent for signature through a separate tool. Contracts that should take days take weeks. Execution matters because the signed agreement creates the legal relationship and its obligations. Errors here are expensive to fix later. ### What changes with Contractflow - Aavenir AI reads third party paper, compares each clause to your standards and points to what needs attention - Version control records every change, so nobody signs an outdated draft - Integrated electronic signature means contracts can be signed in days rather than weeks - Bulk migration and metadata extraction bring older contracts into the same repository - Low code configuration lets business teams adjust templates and forms without developers **Want to see Aavenir AI read your third party paper?**Send us a sample supplier agreement. We will run an Aavenir AI review against a playbook, with your team approving each finding. Schedule a demo ## After signature: the penalty nobody claimed Company A signs a supply agreement with Company B. The contract says Company B owes a penalty for every hour a delivery runs late. Company A manages contracts well up to signature, but nobody tracks service levels afterward. Late deliveries happen several times a quarter, and the penalties are never claimed. Over a year, the unclaimed amount becomes significant, and the supplier has little reason to improve. For many organizations, contract management stops at signature. Yet the period after execution is where contract value is won or lost: service levels, credits, rebates, reporting duties and renewal dates all live there. ### What changes with Contractflow and Obligationflow - Obligations are extracted from the signed contract and assigned to named owners after review - Reminders go out ahead of deadlines and notice periods - Evidence, such as delivery records or certificates, is checked against the clause - Service level breaches are visible, so credits and penalties can be claimed. See [service credit recovery](https://aavenir.com/use-cases/service-credit-recovery/) - Renewal dates surface early enough to renegotiate or exit ## The difference in one table | Stage | Without one platform | With Contractflow | | Before signature | Comments in separate copies, missed points, rework | One version, threshold approvals, AI first pass review | | --- | --- | --- | | Execution | Manual reading of supplier paper, separate signature tool | Avy clause checks, version control, integrated signature | | After signature | Service levels and penalties untracked | Obligations assigned, reminders, credits claimed | ## Why the platform matters Contract managers do not need another standalone tool to check. On ServiceNow, Contractflow runs in the same instance as service, procurement and vendor processes, under the roles and audit history your security team already governs. For companies without ServiceNow, the same app runs standalone. In both cases a named person approves every AI result. Learn more about [Contractflow on ServiceNow](https://aavenir.com/built-on-servicenow/). ## Where to start Most contract managers do not move every contract type at once. A common path is to start with the stage that causes the most pain today. If rework before signature is the problem, begin with templates, threshold approvals and AI first pass review on one high volume contract type, such as NDAs or standard supplier agreements. If the bigger risk is after signature, begin by migrating executed contracts and assigning their obligations to owners. Whichever stage comes first, measure it. Track review rounds per contract, days from request to signature and the number of service level breaches that were actually claimed. Those numbers show where the platform is earning its place, and where to expand next. ## The bottom line The contract manager's job does not change: protect the company and keep deals moving. What changes is where the time goes. With one platform, less of the week goes to chasing and more goes to judgment, negotiation and the obligations that hold contract value. ### In this article - Before signature: comments in five places - At execution: third party paper and slow signatures - After signature: the penalty nobody claimed - The difference in one table - Why the platform matters - Where to start **See Contractflow on your contracts**Bring a sample agreement. We will show review, signature and obligation tracking, natively on ServiceNow or standalone. Share [in](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Faavenir.com%2Fcontract-manager-before-and-after-aavenir-contractflow%2F)[X](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Faavenir.com%2Fcontract-manager-before-and-after-aavenir-contractflow%2F&text=The%20life%20of%20a%20contract%20manager%2C%20with%20and%20without%20Contractflow) Frequently asked questions (FAQ) ## Frequently asked questions ### ### How does Contractflow help contract managers before signature? Contractflow keeps comments, versions and approvals with the contract, routes it on thresholds you set and offers pre approved templates for standard agreements. Aavenir AI flags clauses outside your playbook before review, so fewer points are missed and fewer clauses reopen late. Explore [Contractflow](https://aavenir.com/solutions/enterprise-contract-management-software/). ### ### What happens to contracts after signature in Contractflow? Signed contracts are stored with consistent metadata, and their obligations are extracted, reviewed and assigned to owners. Reminders go out before deadlines, and evidence is checked against the clause, so service levels, penalties and renewals are not missed. See [Obligationflow](https://aavenir.com/solutions/contract-obligation-management-software/). ### ### Does Contractflow require ServiceNow? No. Contractflow runs natively on ServiceNow, inside the instance you already govern, and it also runs as a standalone deployment for companies that do not use ServiceNow. Both carry the same AI features, with a person approving every result. [Compare deployment options](https://aavenir.com/platform/deployment-options/). Have a question we have not answered? [Ask the Expert](https://aavenir.com/contact/) ## Keep reading [Contract lifecycle management Contract management workflow: the steps, the bottlenecks and the fixes The ten steps of a contract management workflow, from intake to renewal, plus the common bottlenecks and the practices that keep contracts moving and compliant. Read more](https://aavenir.com/contract-management-workflow/)[Contract governance Take control of your contracts, starting with audit trails Why contract audit trails matter, what every audit trail entry should record, which parts of the contract lifecycle to audit and how to build audits into daily work. Read more](https://aavenir.com/control-your-contracts-with-contract-audit-trails/)[Obligation management Contract obligation tracking: the basics, the challenges and the fix What contract obligation tracking is, why commitments get missed after signature, the main challenges and how to assign, monitor and prove every obligation. Read more](https://aavenir.com/contracts-obligations-compliance-tracking-management/) Schedule a demo ## See your contracts run on one record. - **1****A 30 minute walkthrough**Built around your team, whether that is procurement, legal, IT or finance. - **2****Your contracts, not ours**Bring a few sample agreements and watch Aavenir AI extract and review them. - **3****ServiceNow or standalone**We show the deployment that fits the systems you already run. Prefer to talk first? [Contact the team](https://aavenir.com/contact/). The form did not load. [Contact the team](https://aavenir.com/contact/) instead, or refresh the page.