Automation · Contract Management

No contract renews itself anymore because nobody looked in time.

We build a central contract register with term, notice period, renewal rule, contract value and responsible person. Deadline monitoring runs automatically: reminder with lead time, escalation to management if nobody responds, and a decision that's documented. Whether to terminate or continue is still your call.

The problem

Contracts are everywhere, deadlines are nowhere.

The maintenance contract quietly renews for another year, the framework agreement with the supplier has run for months without a price adjustment, and the Excel list of termination deadlines was last maintained by someone who's no longer there. It's always only noticed once it's too late.

  • 01Contracts with automatic renewal keep running because nobody kept an eye on the notice period. The extra cost only shows up in the next invoice.
  • 02The deadline list in Excel isn't wrong, it's just old. New contracts only end up there if someone remembers.
  • 03Nobody can say offhand how many contracts are running, what they cost per year, and who's responsible for them.
  • 04A reminder in one person's Outlook calendar isn't a process. If that person is on leave or has left, the deadline quietly lapses.
Use cases
01

What we specifically automate in contract management.

This isn't about filing documents, it's about controlling contracts: deadlines, renewals, terminations, contract values. Five tracks we build regularly.

01

Building a contract register from existing contracts

Existing contracts from mailboxes, file servers and folders are read out via AI document recognition: contracting party, start date, term, notice period, renewal clause and contract value land as structured fields in a central register. Whatever the recognition can't read reliably ends up in a review basket instead of entering the system incorrectly. This is the first time a complete list of what you've actually signed exists.

Impact Complete contract overview instead of an Excel fragment
02

Deadline monitoring with escalation

The system calculates the actual deadline from every term and notice period and alerts you with the lead time you set per contract type. If the responsible person doesn't respond, the reminder goes to their deputy after a defined time and then to management. The deadline no longer quietly lapses — it only does so if someone consciously decides against it.

Savings 2–5 h per week of deadline upkeep
03

Termination and renewal as a workflow

The reminder leads directly to a decision: terminate, renegotiate or continue. In case of termination, the workflow generates the letter from the template using data from the register, presents it for signature and documents the dispatch with a date. The decision and its rationale stay attached to the contract and remain traceable two years later.

Impact Termination documented instead of verbal
04

Automatically capturing new contracts

A signed contract arriving in the mailbox or from the signature solution is recognized and creates the register entry itself, including deadlines and the responsible person. This means the completeness of the register no longer depends on whether someone remembers to maintain it after signing. That's exactly where almost all Excel solutions fall apart.

Impact Register stays complete without discipline
05

Analysis of terms and contract values

The register produces an ongoing analysis: which contracts expire in the next six months, what the recurring costs per year are, which suppliers appear more than once. Before your next negotiation with a supplier, you'll know the volume you're holding instead of guessing.

Impact Negotiate with numbers instead of gut feeling
Tools

Built with what's already running for you.

A functioning contract management rarely needs its own contract management software with per-user license costs. In most mid-sized companies, the existing Microsoft environment is enough, complemented by automation and document recognition. Which path fits is decided by your existing contracts, not by our favorite tool.

Microsoft 365
Power Automate for deadlines and reminders

If your daily work runs in Microsoft 365, we build the register on a SharePoint list and have Power Automate check deadlines, send reminders and escalate every day. You already have the license in many Microsoft 365 plans — it's just not being used.

Cross-system
n8n once ERP and accounting are involved

As soon as contract data needs to be matched with ERP, accounting or supplier master data, we use n8n, self-hosted on German servers if desired. This also lets us connect systems for which there's no ready-made connector in the Microsoft world.

AI
Document recognition for clauses and deadlines

Notice periods rarely sit in the same field — they're somewhere in the contract's running text. An AI agent reads term, renewal clause and contract value from the document and proposes the register fields. A human confirms the proposal so that no wrong deadline slips unnoticed into the system.

How we work

The 30-day model.

From the first conversation to a running contract register with deadline monitoring in 30 days, at a fixed price agreed in advance instead of an open timesheet.

1

Free initial analysis

In 60 minutes we clarify which contract types you have, where they currently sit, and which deadlines actually hurt. Afterwards you'll know whether the effort is worth it for your portfolio.

2

Register structure and fixed price

We define the register's fields, the lead times per contract type and the escalation levels. You get a fixed-price offer before we start building.

3

Capturing contracts and activating deadlines

We populate the register from your real contracts, not sample data, and initially run the deadline logic in test mode. Only once the calculated deadlines are correct do reminders go out to the real recipients.

4

Handover and control

You get documentation and training, and you can change deadlines, lead times and responsible people yourself without needing us. Nothing is ever terminated automatically: the system reminds and documents, you decide.

Next step

Is your issue more about filing or about approvals?

This page covers controlling running contracts: deadlines, renewals, terminations, contract values. If your actual problem is filing and finding documents again, or approval before signing, other tracks get you there faster. The overview shows you which ones.

View all services
Free initial analysis

Do you know which contract renews automatically next?

In the free initial analysis, we look at your contract portfolio and your current deadline upkeep in 60 minutes and tell you honestly what can be automated and what can't. No obligation, no sales pressure.

  • Free and no obligation
  • Fixed price instead of an open timesheet
  • Nothing is ever terminated automatically — you stay in control
Frequently asked questions
05

What businesses often ask about automated contract management.

Do we need our own contract management software?

Not in most mid-sized companies. A contract register based on SharePoint or a database, combined with automatic deadline monitoring, covers the requirements and costs no additional per-user license. Specialized contract management software only pays off with very large portfolios or special legal requirements such as clause libraries, and we'll tell you that honestly in the initial analysis.

Does the system terminate contracts automatically?

No, and that's deliberate. The system calculates the deadline, reminds in good time, escalates if there's silence, and generates the termination letter from the template on request. The decision and the signature stay with you, because an automatically sent termination can cause more damage than a missed deadline.

How do our existing contracts get into the register?

We read the existing portfolio using document recognition: contracting party, term, notice period and contract value are suggested and confirmed once by a human. Contracts that the recognition can't read reliably end up in a review basket instead of entering the system incorrectly. This one-time pass is the most demanding part of the project; afterwards the register maintains itself as new contracts come in.

Isn't that the same as document management?

No. Document management ensures a contract is filed correctly and can be found again. Contract management controls what happens to the contract over its term: calculating deadlines, reminding before renewal, triggering termination, evaluating contract values. The two work together, and if your filing is already clean, the register goes together all the faster.

What does it cost to automate contract management?

After the free initial analysis you get a fixed price, not an open timesheet. The effort depends mainly on how many existing contracts need to be captured and how varied your contract types are, so we won't name a flat rate out of thin air. As a digitalization consultancy for mid-sized businesses, a BAFA grant can also cover part of the consulting costs.