Centralize all contracts and easily manage your legal processes

There is no single period: retention requirements depend on jurisdiction and document type. Common anchors: accounting and financial records must typically be kept 6 to 10 years (10 in much of the EU, commonly 7 in US practice) while contracts are usually retained for their full term plus 5 to 10 years, covering the limitation period for claims. The reliable approach is a retention schedule per document type, applied automatically by your document management system, with documented, defensible disposal at the end.

Keep the contract's counterparty, type, responsible owner, effective date, status and relevant renewal dates with the signed agreement. Preserve the versions and review records needed by the team's process, and configure access for the appropriate roles. Consistent metadata supports retrieval and follow-up; central storage alone does not establish who can read or change each contract.

Map the common contract types from request and drafting through review, negotiation, approval, signature, storage and renewal. Identify the people, systems and handoffs at each step. Record where responsibility is unclear or work waits for action. This creates a set of process requirements against which software can be evaluated.

Grant access according to the person's role and the contracts they need for their work. Define who may read, update or administer each record, then review access when responsibilities change. A centralized repository does not mean every employee can access every agreement; permissions need to be configured around the organization's confidentiality requirements.