A contract tracker is a list of contracts with dates that count down, and a contracts dashboard is the six figures read off that list every week. Most small legal teams have the list, in a spreadsheet, and none of the figures, because the spreadsheet holds end dates and values but not the arithmetic between them. Contract monitoring is the process of reading those figures on a schedule and acting on the ones that moved; contract monitoring tools are whatever makes the reading automatic. This page sets out the six figures, the monitoring process around them and the contract KPIs worth reporting, and uses the free contract tracking calculator on this site to show them on a worked register.
The six figures a contracts dashboard should carry
Renewals falling due each month; renewals and notice deadlines in the next window; how many of those renew themselves unless notice is given; the annual value renewing in the window; the value that renews itself; and the days until the first notice deadline. On the worked example a register of 120 contracts on a two year average term reads 5 renewals a month, 15 in the quarter, 9 evergreen, $270,000 renewing, $162,000 renewing itself, and 30 days to the first deadline. A contract dashboard that shows the count of contracts and their total value has shown the two figures nobody has to act on.
The contract monitoring process, weekly
Read the dashboard on the same day each week. For every notice deadline inside the next month, ask the owner for a decision and record it. For every obligation overdue, ask the owner for a date. For every renewal that has happened, update the term, the value and the next deadline. That is the whole of contract monitoring best practices for a team of one to five: a fixed day, a short list of questions, and a record of the answers. Contract monitoring tools exist to produce the list; the process is what makes the list matter.
Contract KPIs worth reporting to the business
Renewals decided before the deadline as a share of renewals due; evergreen renewals that renewed by default; obligations overdue as a share of obligations carried; and annual value under contract by counterparty. Those four are what a general counsel can put in front of a finance director, because each one is money or risk. The free calculator on this site returns the first three's inputs from averages; the paid register keeps them per contract so the KPIs are a report rather than an estimate.
Questions people ask about contract tracker
What should a contract tracker record for each contract?
Counterparty, term, renewal term, notice period, annual value, owner, the obligations it carries with due dates, and its status. The two dates that follow, the renewal and the notice deadline, are arithmetic and should never be typed in by hand.
Is a spreadsheet enough as a contract tracker?
For a few dozen contracts with an owner who reads it weekly, yes. It stops being enough when the notice deadline is not on it, when two people edit it, or when nobody is reminded. That is where a register with reminders starts.
Does the free calculator on this site track my contracts?
No. It sizes the renewals, deadlines and value in a window from your register's averages and returns them on the page. Keeping each contract with its dates and reminders is Clauselane Pro at $49 a month for the whole team.