Case Study: Improving Accuracy with Contract Comparison Feature

Spotlight

Our client is a mid-sized oil and gas company dealing with multiple contracts every day. They have over 400 employees and work in five regions. They handle many important contracts for land use, equipment rental, drilling, and partnerships. These contracts are vital for their daily work and must be accurate to avoid problems.

Highlights

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Faster Review Cycles

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Fewer Missed Edits

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Drop in Contract Disputes

Customer’s Speak

Mike Reynolds

Legal Operations Manager

“

Managing contracts manually led to missed deadlines, compliance risks, and inefficiencies. With SharePoint Contract Management, automation streamlined workflows, reduced manual effort, and ensured compliance. Now, we focus more on clients instead of paperwork.

Challenges Faced Before Implementing CLM 365

The company had strong legal and commercial teams. Still, they faced challenges managing contracts. The issues came from handling many complex contracts across different regions.

1) Managing Multiple Drafts Across Teams

In a busy work environment, teams like procurement, legal, and field operations all worked on the same contract at different times. Without a contract comparison tool to track changes, they often worked on different versions without realizing it. Sometimes, old drafts were shared or approved by mistake because there was no clear way to know which version was the latest.

2) Missing Small Edits

Contracts in the oil and gas industry often include detailed terms about responsibilities, payments, and services. Small but important changes like dates or clauses are common during reviews. When checked by hand in long documents, these changes were sometimes missed.

3) Slow Review Process

With many contracts to review each month, checking them manually slowed down approvals. Legal and procurement teams had to read every line to catch all changes, especially for important contracts. This led to many back-and-forth reviews, which took extra time.

4) Important Terms Got Changed

With many people editing contracts, some key terms were removed or changed by accident. These edits were not always found before approval. This created problems later when the contract was used. The team acknowledged the challenge of coordinating contract inputs across departments.

5) Limited Visibility into Revision History

The team could not always tell who changed what or when it was changed. When something went wrong, they had to spend time figuring out how it happened. This made it tough to check contracts, do audits, or answer questions during reviews. It also made people less confident about which version was correct.

How We Solved It – The Solution

We introduced a contract comparison that fit their daily work needs. It helped the teams manage contracts better and avoid small but costly mistakes.

1) Centralized System for All Contracts

All contract versions were saved in one secure location. Teams could upload, check, and work on the latest draft without confusion. Everyone had access to the same version, and the system clearly showed even the smallest changes. This helped avoid mistakes and easier for contract comparison process.

2) Clear Contract Routing

The contract comparison guided each contract through the right steps. It sent it to the correct person at the right time for review or approval. Team members got alerts when action was needed. This made the contract comparison worlkflow smoother, avoided delays, and reduced the chances of missing a step.

3) Easy Contract Revision Tracking

Every change in the contract was easy to see. The tool showed what text was added, removed, or edited. This helped reviewers focus only on contract comparison and what had changed. It saved time, reduced the need to re-read the whole document, and made reviews more accurate.

4) Side-by-Side Comparison

The system allowed two versions of a contract to be viewed together on one screen. Teams could quickly see what was different. This made it simple to check updates and make fast decisions. It was especially helpful when many edits were made over time.

5) Reliable History and Records

Every time someone made a change, it was saved with their name and the time it happened. A detailed record captured every change made throughout the contract process. It helped answer questions later, supported internal reviews, and made audit checks much easier.

Results & Business Impact

Within just three months of leveraging the contract comparison feature, the oil & gas company saw clear and meaningful improvements in how contracts were reviewed and managed:

1) 85% Faster Review Cycles

Contract reviews that earlier took 3 to 4 days were now completed in less than 12 hours. Teams no longer had to read full documents line by line. This helped them respond quicker to project timelines and reduced overall delays.

2) 75% Fewer Missed Edits

Over 200 contracts were reviewed during this period. The tool helped the team catch around 75% of all important changes in the first round of review. Even small edits were highlighted, which reduced the risk of approving incorrect or incomplete drafts.

3) 60% Drop in Contract Disputes

Disputes with vendors went down by 60%. With clear version history and better visibility into changes, both internal teams and external partners had fewer misunderstandings. This led to smoother communication and faster agreement on terms.