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Contract management software simplifies legal contract creation
Head of Product - CPO, AODocs · May 3, 2023 · Updated Oct 6, 2026
Law firms have long had access to technologies that allow them to do legal work more efficiently and with heightened accuracy. In-house legal departments can use Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) tools to organize standard drafting and review tasks.
Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) software allows businesses to automate contract processes at every key stage. This includes common contracting tasks like contract creation and generation, negotiation, approval, execution, ongoing management, as well as renewal of the agreements. In this blog post, we will focus on the very first step of the process: contract creation (sometimes called contract generation).
Put simply, with a comprehensive CLM solution, authorized users can generate standard contract drafts from approved templates and required inputs. Does this sound too good to be true? It’s not! Let me explain how it works.
It all starts with a smart template. The legal team prepares, approves and publishes a template for a frequently used contract. On the basis of this smart template, authorized users can generate a contract draft for the required review automatically by simply filling out a form. The questionnaire supplies the values populated into the template, generating a draft that follows the configured template and review rules.
Populating approved templates can reduce repeated manual entry. Users still need to verify the inputs and route exceptions for review. It’s particularly valuable when you are dealing with an important volume of similar contracts (which is often the case for NDAs, client agreements, or employment agreements).
Who Benefits From Automated Contract Creation and Generation?
Of course, legal teams are the first to benefit from such capabilities. No more copy and pasting information in the same type of contract over and over again. Reviewers still need to verify the generated wording and any requested changes before approval. Freed from tedious and repetitive work, the legal department will be able to focus on business-critical issues and become more valued partners to the business.
Where template and approval rules fit the process, there are a lot of other stakeholders who will benefit from automated contract generation. The business users, like those on the sales team, the procurement team, or the HR team will all be less dependent on the legal team.
Authorized business users will have the capability to autonomously create the standard contracts they use on a daily basis, freeing your legal team from repetitive contract creation work and speeding up your entire contract process. And of course, to avoid issues, the contract management software balances this autonomy in contract generation with a tight review and approval process so the legal team can review nonstandard terms and confirm the required approvals before signature.
With a true Contract Lifecycle Management solution:
- Legal teams can automate the creation of approved contract templates and defined variations. Other legal documents can be considered where their wording and inputs can be standardized (e.g. annual shareholder meeting minutes).
- Sales teams can generate approved-template drafts of NDAs, quotes, order forms, SOW, etc.
- Procurement teams can generate approved-template drafts of purchase orders and other supplier contracts.
- HR teams can generate approved-template drafts of offer letters, employment contracts, termination letters, etc.
If you want to allow your legal team, sales team, or HR team to generate standard contract drafts under your template and approval rules, AODocs CLM supports contract document workflows. Confirm the template, input and approval configuration for your use case. Beyond automated contract generation, a Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) solution can bring a lot more benefits to your business. Check our earlier blog post on “Why Should You Automate Your Contract Management Process” to find out the 10 key benefits of a CLM Solution.
Frequently asked questions
What needs to be approved before business users generate contracts from templates?
Legal should approve the template, allowed clauses, required inputs and rules for when review is needed. Define who can publish or change the template and ensure users select the current approved version. Self-service generation works within those boundaries; it does not give every user authority to introduce new terms or approve the agreement.
How should a contract generation workflow handle nonstandard terms?
Route nonstandard terms to the designated legal reviewer instead of treating the generated document as ready for signature. Identify the requested change, preserve the proposed wording and record the approval decision. A form can collect contract data, but exceptions need an explicit review path so the template does not conceal an unapproved negotiation change.
Which contract types are suitable for template-based generation?
Start with recurring agreements whose wording and inputs can be standardized by the legal team. Define the permitted variations and review conditions for each template. A contract with unusual obligations or substantial negotiated terms may need a different review path. Suitability depends on the agreement and the organization's rules, not simply its document type.
