Why contract management is indispensable for public organisations

Contract management is about more than just document retention. It is about the complete process: from collecting supplier data and recording agreements, to actively monitoring renewals and performance. "For government organisations, this is extra important. Think of legislation such as the Procurement Act, internal control requirements and accountability to boards and regulators," said Dirk Jan Leppers, Solution Consultant at ISPnext.

• Contracts are tacitly extended, without reconsideration; 
• Financial obligations are not properly recorded; 
• Accountability information is hard to find; 
• Knowledge is lost when staff change.

In addition to these situations, it can also have legal and financial consequences.

In many organisations, contract management remains underexposed for years, simply because it has ‘always been this way’. But this attitude is risky. Especially in a public context, where accountability and transparency are key, the absence of good contract management can lead to missed grants, undue expenditure or negative findings in auditor's reports. Moreover, precious hours are lost searching for documents or fixing errors. "Without good contract management, agreements are forgotten and risks become invisible," says Dirk Jan. By not investing in contract management, you are, unintentionally, investing in inefficiency and uncertainty.

• Insight and transparency: Everyone works with the same up-to-date information. Whether you are a procurement adviser, policy officer or controller. 
• Better compliance with rules: You have visibility into deadlines, procurement thresholds and obligations. 
• Fewer risks: No surprises in audits or management reports. 
• Better cooperation: Internal departments and external partners know where they stand.

Professionalising contract management is not a one-off action, but a process. "The first step? Making sure you know what you have in place. From there, you can build up the management step by step, matching the needs of your organisation," says Dirk Jan.