E-signature vs. contract management system: what still needs managing after the signature

By the time a contract reaches signing, the terms are agreed and approvals are done. E-signature lets both sides sign online without sending paper, and records who signed, when and how.

If your main problem is couriering paper, waiting in line for company seals or slow signing across locations, e-signature solves it directly.

Before signing, a contract is drafted, reviewed by the business and legal teams, and approved according to amount and type. Common problems: people use outdated templates, approvals travel through chat apps, and after several rounds of edits nobody can say which version is final.

E-signature does not reach this stage. A contract management system keeps templates, review comments and approval flows in one place, and only the approved version goes on to signing.

A signature only makes the contract effective. Payment milestones, delivery and acceptance, renewal or termination all come later, and this is where many disputes and losses start: no one follows a payment milestone, a contract renews automatically before anyone notices, or the original cannot be found when it is needed.

A contract management system extracts key fields into a contract register, reminds owners of milestones and expiry dates, and archives the signed file with its approval history. For the fields a register should include, see contract register template: the fields you need.

• E-signature alone: low contract volume, simple approvals, little follow-up after signing; the goal is to save time on couriers and seals.
• A contract management system: many contracts of many types, layered approvals, payments and expiry dates to track after signing, and legal and finance teams who regularly look up past contracts.

Companies that need a contract management system usually use e-signature as well, and the two work together: the contract management system covers everything before and after signing, and e-signature handles the signing itself. When evaluating systems, go through what a contract management system should do and ask how it connects to the e-signature service you already use.

E-signature handles the signing; a contract management system handles what comes before and after it. Find the stage where your problem sits, then decide whether e-signature alone is enough or whether you need a contract management system with e-signature plugged in.

Zico (FIM) is a contract lifecycle management system covering drafting, negotiation, approval, signing, performance and archiving; its signing step can connect to the e-signature service a company already uses.