TopContracts – an expert contract management systemHere to protect you, and to put things in order!

Assembly will help you analyze your contracts and enter them into the system in a way that delivers maximum value to the business, with minimum operational effort

• We'll identify the contractual pitfalls you should avoid, and create alerts for them
• We'll identify benefits worth using, and create alerts for them as well
• We'll identify the topics worth summarizing, to save time finding them later on
• We'll learn how to get the most out of the email alert mechanism, to make sure what needs to happen does happen, and even to manage "mini projects" with interim reports from multiple recipients
• We'll identify data worth entering for easy retrieval of contracts in the future, for producing reports, for sharing with colleagues to save time…
• We'll set up automatic rules that save time and prevent mistakes
• We'll examine how to create even more value with advanced mechanisms such as approval workflows, Active Directory synchronization, a direct connection to Outlook, etc…
• We'll activate interfaces to other systems in your organization to enable efficient work

Contract templates of various types, based on accumulated knowledge, ready for immediate use

Extended templates for a variety of common contract types: fields and tables tailored to each contract type

• The module comes with dozens of unique, extended templates for a wide range of contract types (including matching lists and catalogs), with a dedicated template tailored to each contract type
• Product purchase contracts, for example, include a "Warranty and Service" table, with warranty and service end dates, service prices and links to the products and the sites where they are installed, etc.; the same contracts also handle service calls, exceptions and penalties, service allocation and utilization, etc.

Shorter system setup and implementation

• The ready-made templates are based on experience gained setting up and managing thousands of contracts at the system's customers, and form an "expert system" for thorough, correct contract management.
• The ready-made templates save time in setting up and implementing the system, since there is no need to build templates individually for each customer

Quick and simple creation of a "computerized contract", with fast input and a concise display

• Entering contracts using ready-made templates, or templates built specifically for the customer
• Managing related files and documents – attach files to contracts, and access them from within the system
• Simple, fast retrieval of contracts with a Google-like search engine
• Two security circles for access management
• An advanced, modern, browser-based user interface (no installations needed)
• A cross-organizational system (all departments and employees, all engagements and contracts)
• Advanced time-saving actions – duplicating contracts, bulk updates, etc…
• Quantitative data and formulas based on a calculation engine
• Related contracts with mutual links
• Natural connectivity to other software systems in the organization (and in the cloud)
• Extensibility through a rules engine based on schedules or on actions in the system
• An interface in the language that suits you – Hebrew/English (additional languages possible)

Tracking important contractual dates ("events") with email alerts

Automatic delivery of email alerts

• For each contract you can define dates on which an "event" of a certain type occurs – contract end, guarantee expiry, expiry of an extension option, etc.
• Any number of "alerts" can be attached to each event, with different dates and different recipient lists.
• When each alert falls due, the system starts sending "alert messages" (emails) to the recipients, and keeps resending them as long as no "done" has been reported for them. The messages include a link that opens the contract directly, plus other valuable information: subject, how to handle it, handling deadline, notes…!

A screen for managing and tracking alert handling status

• The system provides advanced management and tracking of alerts and their handling: checking each recipient's handling status, cancelling all alerts for all recipients at once (or those related to the same event), postponing an alert to a future date, etc.
• The system also allows entering an interim status, which appears both on the alert management screen and in the email sent to all recipients (mini projects)

"Special" alerts

• Alerts can also be created based on conditions met in data outside the system (in other systems in the organization, or even outside it), where the date is not known in advance. This requires adaptations by the system vendor, according to the specification of the conditions and the matching alerts

Finding contracts based on advanced queries

Parameter-based search – finding contracts by building advanced queries

• Parameter-based search allows precise retrieval of contracts based on the values stored in them.
• You can search by approximate value, exact value, values picked from a list, yes/no, number and price ranges, rolling dates (from "today" to "end of quarter", for example), etc.
• The search mechanism also allows searching by the calculated results of formula fields, and is the basis for creating indicators in the dashboard and reports in the reporting system

Saving and loading searches

• Searches can be saved, given a name and a description, and shared with colleagues. A search is run by loading the saved search, without re-entering the search criteria

Saving searches as browser bookmarks/favorites for quick reuse

• Searches can be saved as browser bookmarks (also called "favorites"). The search is run by navigating to the bookmark, without re-entering it

Exporting contract data to Excel files, based on editable templates from several design "families", including scheduled automatic reports

Excel-based reports

• The system lets you select contracts from search results (the report source) and create an Excel report from them by choosing a ready-made template that defines the report's structure and the data shown in it. Producing a report is simple and fast

Reports are based on templates that can be extended and adapted to customer requirements

• Reports are easily produced from Excel-based "report templates", each with a name and a description, that define their design (fonts, colors, etc.) and structure: table or pages, displayed fields, etc. Additional report templates can be set up at any time (customers can also set them up on their own)

You can also define "automatic reports" based on a saved search, a report template and a recipient list, which are sent automatically on a suitable schedule

Graphical display of analyzed contract data, personalized for each employee

Graphical display of data analyses and queries

• A personal dashboard lets each employee see, at a glance, a variety of analyses of contract data, from a single indicator showing the number of contracts expiring next month, to a bar chart of budget versus utilization. Clicking an indicator leads to the matching list of contracts. Indicators always show up-to-date information.

Quick-action buttons for common tasks

• The personal dashboard allows defining quick-action buttons for each employee, for common tasks in their day-to-day work – for example, creating a contract of a predefined type, or adding a report record without first opening the contract it is added to

Approval of documents by several people in the organization, from within the system

How it works:

• Approval requests are distributed through the system's built-in "email alerts" mechanism: all requests are consolidated into a daily email, with all the necessary information together with a link to the approval screen, repeated daily until approval is received; the approval screen lets you approve, reject, or upload a corrected document as a new version, all with comments
• There is no need to rely on email, since all alerts also appear on the alert management screen inside the system, and the approval status and approval buttons also appear in the item's view/edit screen
• The rules mechanism allows setting an order, so as not to "bother" people later in the process until those before them have approved; the mechanism's rule parameters can be updated from within the system…

Defining unlimited roles, assigning each employee to one or more roles; setting contract permissions by role rather than by name; blocking certain fields from viewing or editing by role…

Extending security to three circles (instead of two) – "role"-based permissions

• A "third security circle" is added to the system in the form of "roles": roles are mapped to contract types so that each action (read, update, delete), in each section of the contract, can be set separately. Each employee is assigned a "role", which determines what they may view/edit in the contract, and what not.

Automatic adaptation of the contract view to the role

• Although each contract is stored only once, each employee may see it differently, because the view is built dynamically according to their role in the organization. There is no need to keep the same contract in multiple copies!

Role-based contract permissions, instead of permissions based on a list of employees

• Contract permissions can be assigned based on roles, not only on a list of employees. That way, changes in the employee list are reflected automatically in the contracts, without manually updating user lists, all based on the different roles assigned to employees

An employee can have different roles in different contracts

• Each employee has a primary role that serves as the default, but can receive, ad hoc, a different role in specific contracts. For example, as "Procurement Manager" the employee may edit procurement contracts in full, but can still be assigned to the HR contracts of their own staff in an "information only" role.

Creating documents (letters, reports, contracts, etc.) by merging contract data from the system

Generating a contract document from data entered in the system

• The module lets system users create a complete contract document as a Word file, by merging the data entered in the contract management system with a contract document template containing the full, complex legal text.

Creating letters and reports from contract data

• The module allows merging data from contracts in the system into a document template of any type needed, not only contracts – for example, "a notice to a supplier requesting insurance renewal". You can also create contract reports based on a Word document, and then format them as needed with Word's tools.

Simple filing of email messages in the contracts they relate to; quick retrieval of files from contracts, to attach them to an email

Available actions:

• Filing an email directly from Outlook to an item (such as a contract) stored on the server, without opening the system and performing a manual action
• Retrieving files from items stored on the server (such as contracts) and attaching them to an email being written in Outlook, without opening the system and performing a manual action

Emails saved to an item on the server are analyzed, and their important information is stored alongside them, so you can understand what they are about without opening them, and find them using the search screens. They are also saved as files that can be opened directly, with all attachments, recipients, message body, etc.

Synchronizing the system's employee list with the employee directory managed in Active Directory

New employees automatically receive permissions to items by role

• When permissions to items in the system are granted by role (rather than by name), synchronization means that new employees who joined the company and were defined in Active Directory automatically get access to the system, and permission to all the items their colleagues in the same role have

Updating permissions for employees who changed roles

• Synchronization means that employees whose role was changed in Active Directory (a common action, since each role requires a completely different set of organization-wide permissions) automatically receive permission to all the items their colleagues in the new role have, and lose permissions to items granted to them under their old role

Finding contracts based on text that appears in their attached files

"Quick" search inside attached files

• The system can find a contract based on text appearing in one or more of its attached files.
• The search covers all files of supporting types (Word documents, PDF, email, etc.).
• The mechanism has an extension that allows searching with "conditions": or, and, exact phrase.

Combining file search with the "parameter-based search" module

• Searching inside files is also possible as part of a broader parameter-based search, for example: show all contracts with "Active" status that have "construction" written in one or more of their files.

Making adaptations on your own, without code, in contract/report templates, catalogs and dashboards

Customer independence in adapting the system

• This module lets customers set up a professional in-house "customization center" that can adapt the system independently in the following areas: contract templates (fields and sections, lists and catalogs, calculations, etc.), report templates (from all "families" except "special reports"), and employee dashboards. Customers don't need to purchase this module to benefit from templates and dashboards (which are part of the system core), only to design them on their own.

Training a team of "designers"

• The "designers" team doesn't need to learn code, since all customization is done from the system's user interface. To benefit from the module, the organization will need to allocate time for appropriate training of the employees who will carry out the customizations

Using several interface languages at the same time (for international companies)

Contract management in international companies – in several languages in parallel (with true support for text direction)

• In international companies, it is important that employees at different sites around the world can use the system in the language that suits them. Language support applies first and foremost to the labels shown on the system's pages, but also to text direction, date and number formats, etc.

Managing contract data in several languages at once, with a single meaning per value

• Regardless of the content of a contract's text fields (written in one language – the language of the contract document), a contract status is the same status whether it reads "פעיל" in Hebrew, "Active" in English or a matching word in any other language. The system therefore stores lookup fields (lists and catalogs) in several languages at once, so each employee sees the value in their own language, while the actual meaning of the value is language-independent

Making adaptations that require coding on your own: rules, interfaces to other systems, etc.

Customer independence in advanced system extensions

• The module enables the organization to independently develop software interfaces from third-party software to the contract management system (through a programmatic interface – SDK/API). The module provides access to most of the system's standard operations: creating and updating contract data, reading contract data, creating alerts, running a quick search, running a parameter-based search, etc. The module is provided in 3 "interface languages": SOAP, XML, JSON.