Do you often struggle to find old contracts? Does your legal team spend hours locating contracts in different drives, folders, and cabinets? If so, your contract storage may be disorganized.
A survey conducted by EY Global revealed that over 49% of businesses don’t have a defined process to store contracts after execution. The same survey also states that 90% of contracting professionals find it challenging to locate stored contracts when required.
So how do businesses make their contracts accessible, visible, and organized? The answer is simple- by using a contract repository. This repository centralizes business contracts and makes agreements searchable, accessible, and secure.
This blog provides detailed information on contract repositories. Learn how to use a contract repository to store and manage contracts over time and maximize your contract visibility. Let’s start.
What is a contract repository?
A contract repository is a centralized document location that stores and organizes an organization’s signed contracts and agreements. Storing contracts in a document repository helps maintain a single source of truth where all documents are handled in one place.
Legal teams use contract repository software to manage the contract database centrally. This software helps store, organize, track, and analyze contracts—all post-signing stages of the contract lifecycle management process.
A modern contract repository is an evolved version of a traditional ‘contract storage.’ While traditional contract storages can store contract data, they are inefficient in contract management. Let’s find out how.
What is the difference between traditional contract storage and a cloud-based contract repository?
TTraditional contract storage is an outdated mechanism businesses use to store contracts. This could mean any form of physical storage, from storing documents in cabinets to using Excel and Spreadsheets or even drive folders.
Therefore, it is possible to store contracts using traditional storage tools. However, these tools are not designed for handling contracts, and using them for contract management decreases CLM efficiency. Wondering why? Here’s a head-to-head comparison between traditional contract storage and modern repositories to give you a better overview of the two:
| Aspect | Traditional Contract Storage | Modern Contract Repository |
| Accessibility |  Limited to physical access or local drives |  Accessible from anywhere, anytime via the cloud |
| Search Capability | Manual, slow, and requires physically going through files | Advanced keyword and metadata-based search for fast, efficient retrieval |
| Version Control | Manual tracking of changes; risk of outdated versions being used | Built-in version control ensures users always work with the latest version |
| Compliance & Renewal Alerts | Manually managed; high risk of missing deadlines | Automated alerts for renewals, expirations, and compliance requirements |
| Security & Access Control | Vulnerable to unauthorized access or loss | Encrypted storage, multi-factor authentication, and role-based access control |
Modern contract repositories are efficient, automated, and accessible compared to traditional storage mediums. Using a digital contract repository also has many other benefits like enhanced trackability, elevated analytics, and robust security. The coming section sheds light on the benefits of digital repositories.
What are the benefits of using a modern contract repository management system?
Why is investing in smart contract repository software and centralizing your contract portfolio a good idea? Here are some key benefits of repository-based contract storage.
1. Unifies contract storage, searching, sorting, and management
Scattered contract storage makes agreements difficult to trace, find, and prioritize. Businesses with high contract volumes often spend a lot of time finding old contracts when required. The result is increased contract administration time and higher contract regeneration costs.
A central contract repository helps store, search, sort, and manage all new and legacy contracts in the same place. Advanced repositories like the one offered by HyperStart are efficient in pulling contracts regardless of their age. Finding contracts becomes easy with powerful searching, sorting, and organization functionalities.
2. Enables contract analytics
Analyzing contract data helps understand an organization’s contract management performance. Certain contract data points also give insights into department-wise performance. For example:
Sales: Contract signing time helps understand customer onboarding efficiency.
Finance: Average contract value helps with financial forecasting and budgeting.
HR: Employee contract renewal dates help renew employment bonds.
Procurement: Vendor contract expiration dates help with vendor management activities like renewal planning, deal renegotiation, and vendor hunting.
Using a contact repository system helps analyze all this contract data and gain actionable insights from it. Data visualization tools integrated with digital repositories help turn contract data into contract performance visualization dashboards to help understand contractual performance at any given time.
3. Streamlines contract tracking
Tracking helps trace and fulfill contractual obligations, avoid legal penalties, and maintain positive relationships with counterparties. Traditional contract repositories don’t have built-in functionalities to track contracts.
A contract repository system effortlessly tracks key contract dates and other obligations. Contract management software like HyperStart automatically extracts important terms from contracts and generates alerts based on these terms. From never missing contract renewals again to tracking upcoming payments, digital storage is excellent in all matters.
4. Helps manage legacy contracts
Do you have a bundle of legacy contracts stored in cabinets, drives, and local folders? If so, a contract document repository can help you store all these agreements centrally and maintain a single source of truth.
Cloud-based contract repository software like HyperStart uses Artificial Intelligence (for PDF and Word contracts) and Optical Character Recognition (for paper and image contacts) to intake documents, extract information, and store and analyze legacy business agreements.
5. Enhances contract security
Contracts contain sensitive data on business, customers, strategies, and deals. Ensuring data security is often challenging with decentralized contract storage. Contract mismanagement leads to compliance issues, NDA violations, and legal troubles.
Digital contract repositories fix this problem through advanced security features like permission control, data encryption, and blockchain storage. These repositories make contracts easily accessible but at the same time secure through controlled access permissions. Repositories also track contract versions for a transparent audit trail and the utmost accountability.
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Top 3 contract repository software solutions
Storage is just one part of the contract management process. You can get a single-module digital repository system or even go for an end-to-end contract lifecycle management software and digitalize the entire contract process. Either way, here are a few contract repository tools offering both options.
| HyperStart | Juro | Spotdraft |
| Extracts contract data with 99% accuracy | Straightforward implementation | Extensive database search functionalities |
| OCR-based extraction and auto-tagging | Strict access permissions and control | Economical solution |
| 2-Sec contract retrieval | Responsive customer support | Slack-based customer support |
| Single-click import | If-Then logic for data extraction | Easy user interface |
| Automatic extraction of 30+ key contract terms | Limited contract searchability | Limited automation |
| Multi-source bulk import | Limited contract analytics | Complex templatization |
| Steep learning curve | ||
| Standout Feature Instant data access with an in-built risk analysis system | Standout Feature Structured search based on contract terms | Standout Feature Document repository with analytics dashboard |
If you want to know more about the top CLM solutions, check out our detailed blog on the best contract lifecycle management tools and get more information.
The table above shows that HyperStart’s contract repository management solution is a competitive option for automatically managing contracts and contract-related tasks. The coming section discusses the key capabilities and functionalities of HyperStart’s agreement repository solution.
8 key features of HyperStart’s contract repository software
Built using a 99% accurate AI engine, HyperStart’s agreement repository software is all you need to store your business’ entire contract portfolio. Let’s understand the key features of this solution.
1. Single-click import
Bulk import your contracts from multiple sources such as Salesforce, Gmail, Zoho Mail, Google Drive, OneDrive, and others to maintain a single source of truth. HyperStart connects seamlessly with your legacy systems for single-click import. The dashboard is ready within 48 hours, saving you from juggling between platforms to find contracts.
2. Auto extract contract metadata
Extract key dates, contract values, expiration dates, counterparty names, and other contractual information automatically through a robust and 99% accurate AI engine. With a record of handling over 1 billion contracts, HyperStart’s AI model is fine-tuned for precise data extraction. This gives you instant access to all contract data in a single-stop contract dashboard.
3. Automated tagging
Tag key contract data within the document with OCR-based auto-tagging. HyperStart’s OCR engine is trained to detect and tag important clauses. This helps locate key contract data within the document effortlessly.
4. 2-second retrieval
Get on-demand access to all contracts and easily find specific documents through AI-powered search. This feature turns your contract repository into a searchable archive where you can use advanced search options to retrieve contracts based on entities, dates, and other elements.
5. Contract filtering and sorting
HyperStart’s contract repository makes locating contracts easy through advanced filtering, sorting, and organization mechanisms. Filter contracts based on advanced filtering options like counterparty names and other data. Create custom filters and sort contracts as per your requirements. You can also organize contacts in folders and subfolders for easy retrieval.
6. Data visualization
Turn your contract data into a visual dashboard and make informed decisions using charts and graphs. HyperStart pushes contract repository data into dashboard analytics to help you gain detailed overviews of your in-flight and signed contracts—making contract reporting and analytics easy.
7. Data security
Secure your organization’s contracts from data leakage through advanced security mechanisms. Being a leading CLM solution provider, HyperStart offers a secure contract repository solution that complies with AICPA SOC 2 regulations. Practice granular permission control and share contracts only with authorized users with further control on view, redline, and edit levels.
8. Automated tracking
Leverage AI to ensure compliance with legal obligations and streamline contractual processes through HyperStart’s automated contract tracking solution. Generate automated reminders for contract renewals and other important obligations. This feature helps you stay ahead of renewal dates and fulfill all regulatory requirements automatically.
9. Advanced search capabilities
Metadata tagging and keyword search make it easy to retrieve specific contracts in seconds, unlike manually searching through folders.
Contracts Made Available at Your Fingertips
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By now, you know why a digital contract repository is important. However, a few additional factors must be considered while storing contracts in a digital contract repository. Let’s take a look at these factors.
Additional functionalities to consider
Regarding digital contract repositories, there are a few critical factors to keep in mind. Considering these factors helps ensure that your contracts are optimally stored, can be easily retrieved, and are available whenever required. Here are these factors:
Access control: Granular permission control helps increase contract visibility while ensuring the integrity of sensitive information. User-based access management is a must-have feature for all repositories.
AI-led automation: Digital agreement storage solutions with AI enablement help minimize storage, organization, and sorting time. AI helps with all storage processes—minimizing contract admin time.
Audit trails: Being able to run audit trails on contracts helps maintain transparency. Version control and change logs help keep the contract repository transparent, accountable, and secure.
Integration with third-party systems: Connecting your contract repository to external systems like CRMs and HR software helps automatically push signed contracts into the repository. This way, you can ensure all your contracts end up in the same place.
These were a few additional factors to remember while using a contract repository. Now that you know what’s important and what matters in contract storage, you are all set to implement a contract repository system and centralize your contracts.
Manage all contracts in one place with HyperStart
Unorganized contracts are harmful to your business processes. They act as bottlenecks in contract management strategy and hamper overall operational efficiency. Your business needs an intelligent, efficient, and feature-rich contract repository solution that streamlines contract handling.
Simplify contract storage and retrieval with HyperStart—your one-stop solution for contract lifecycle management. Our contract repository software helps overcome contract chaos and keep your agreements organized. Book a demo with our team today to start streamlining your contracts.
