Version control is often the Achille's heel of contract management. In-house legal teams often struggle because of inefficient workflow in getting contract and documents through multiple reviews by different parties. This is especially true when creating, downloading, and comparing new versions in different programs and relying on email to share the revised versions.
Version control is essential to the maintenance of back-end records that prove user assent to a digital contract. You may find your company with thousands of unenforceable contracts or even significant legal liability without it.
The advantages of version control in CLM are countless. With Lexion, you can track version control with an incredibly easy-to-use contract management system. Lexion makes legal teams happy and highly productive by accelerating contract review and tools like the Document Comparison feature. You should not be stuck with a manual review of contract versions that leaves you open to legal liability and lost deals. You can use the dashboard to clearly show the status of revisions, which version is the most recent, and store all your versions for future reference in the repository.
The Basics of Version Control
Version control means knowing what version of a contract your user signed at a particular moment in time. Think about your current system: can you quickly and easily determine the version of the consumer's agreement? For most companies, the process to determine which version was signed is cumbersome and difficult. Many are unable to do it at all and can never prove what version was actually signed by the consumer.
Contract versioning is critical to online contract enforceability. Many companies fail to enforce their agreements because they cannot prove what agreement was signed, when, and by what customer. Version control management helps alleviate this problem because it:
- Accesses earlier and current versions of a contract throughout a revision history
- Tracks differences between files and contract versions
- Uses a remote repository to store contract versions and signed documents
- Shows who signed the agreement, when, and with what type of signature
- Shows what version of the contract was live when the user signed the agreement
- Keeps accurate back-end records of version control and signed contracts
Contract management systems let you create and store multiple versions of contracts. You can easily track which version of an agreement is current and use that information to enforce a valid contract. You can take the guesswork out of version control by trusting a comprehensive CLM software to help you do your job the right way.
Benefits of Version Control in Contract Lifecycle Management
Version control is a powerful tool you need when handling your contract lifecycle. Without it, you run the risk of significant legal liability and unenforceable agreements. You can take the guesswork out of version control by using high-quality contract lifecycle management software.
Access All Earlier Versions of Files Through Revision History
You can access all of your contracts in one place. This intelligent repository uses AI to help you organize and report on your contracts and files under revision control. Now you are able to collect and properly manage all versions of a contract through their revision history.
Contracts change over time but you need to store all of these agreements in your records. Failure to show proper back-end records is one of the leading reasons for unenforceable contracts. Instead, you can get organized for a single source of truth for all of your contracts. The intelligent repository will even give you quick insights about what is in your contract, including details about its version, previous revisions, and other key information you need.
The intuitive search feature makes it easy to find contracts of a particular version. You can even search for multiple versions of the same contract. With this ease of access and powerful reporting tools, you can build custom, automated reports about your contracts in seconds.
Track Differences Between Files With Branched Files
Version control built into the CLM software allows you to copy a particular file version and amend it for a different purpose without affecting the original file. This is referred to as "branching" or creating "branched" files. The user that accesses the intelligent repository can copy a folder or file from one location to a separate branch. The branch can then point to the original file in its history and create two distinct versions of the same file. This saves you considerable time and effort.
With CLM software, you can track the differences between the branched files automatically. Instead of a tedious manual review to find the changes, the system does it for you in a way that is easy to read. This lets you version contracts over time while retaining the original source material. Branched files make it easy not only to track differences but also to maintain a consistent standard in your contracts. Long-term, this saves you many headaches and potential legal liability that can cost your company hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Watch this quick video to see how easy that is to do using Lexion’s Document Comparison feature.
Use Remote Repositories To Ease Collaboration Across All File Versions
Remote repositories allow you to collaborate with other stakeholders and interested parties in all versions of a particular file. This means that you can access different versions of a contract to streamline how you edit, modify, and adopt new agreements in this increasingly digital world. With advanced CLM software to help, you can work with fellow employees, counterparties, and others to negotiate and complete agreements as well.
Easy collaboration means less time and frustration dealing with different versions of contracts. It also means you can focus your attention on more important tasks that help your company generate revenue.
Use a CLM With Centralized Version Control System Tools
A version management system is such an important part of contract lifecycle management. Lexion uses centralized version control system tools to empower you to stay on top of your version control. You can use automatic systems to stay organized and use the integrated AI to help manage, store, and analyze your contract versions. You want to be ready to prove user acceptance and enforce all of your online or legacy agreements.
With Lexion, you can manage all versions of a contract to help ensure you are always accurate and up to date. Lexion distributed version control systems let you store in a central repository and manage your file types. Let Lexion help you get started.
