How to Keep on Top with Contract Tracking Software

By Dustin FjeldPublished On: May 5th, 2021Tags: Build to Rent, Property Management, Proptech Solutions, Purpose Built Student Accommodation

Keeping on top of contract data is a huge headache in the BTR & PBSA sectors. Every vendor whose services you employ will have their own reporting style and management suite, meaning you have to master each and every one in order to stay in control.

To make matters more difficult, the length of contracts can reach over 40 pages and will be written in legalise. Unless you happen to be a very fast reader with a firm understanding of complex legal language, staying on top of all your contracts is a near impossible task.

However, keeping everything in order doesn’t have to be difficult if you explore contract tracking solutions. Our own system — Contract Tracking — provides a holistic view without making matters complicated.

With our contract tracking platform, you’ll find it a lot easier to keep on top of renewal dates and property maintenance. You can then use the data collected to make better, more cost-effective decisions on how to run your residential building.

How Contract Tracking Solutions Help With Renewals

Have you ever been caught out by a contract that automatically renews? That small lapse of concentration is why streaming services and other providers auto renew their service after a free trial. If the buyer doesn’t want to continue using it, they’ll still be charged for another term if they forget to cancel.

When a renewed contract catches a residential building operator out, it can cost the company a huge amount of money.

Lift contracts are notorious for their renewal policies. In many cases, you have to terminate the service with a year’s notice or you could end up trapped in another agreement lasting up to five years.

A simple to use contract tracking platform will warn you as you approach the point of renewal, which can help in negotiations. If you make your service provider aware of the fact you know your contract is coming to an end, you can go to them and ask for a better price.

If they say it isn’t possible, you can end the agreement before it auto renews, allowing you to find a new provider.

Using a Contract Tracking Platform to Manage Property Maintenance

The service level agreement defines the expectations you have from a vendor including:

How quality service is measured
How often on-site work or inspections need to take place
The repercussions should the vendor fail to adhere to the fixed and pre-agreed callout charges and attendance timelines

Contract Tracking software is programmed to help you stay on top of all your service level agreements. If a provider falls below standards, using a Contract Tracking system will make it easier to take notes and to highlight exactly what the vendor agreed to.

Most service providers are very reliable and will stick to the SLA, but you may find the scope of work needs to be increased. With a platform in place, you can track how many times the vendor has been called out and for how many hours.

If you’ve needed them more than expected, you need to consider how it affects costs. The data you gather will let you make smarter decisions, which includes making amends to the SLA.

Our Contract Tracking Case Study

Contract Tracking is an invaluable system for a particular client of ours. We were asked to collect, track and monitor a wide range of vendor contracts, while evaluating the performance KPIs and contract effectiveness.

The platform had to be cloud based with a linked reporting system, both of which needed to be user friendly and designed for purpose. Here’s how we did it:

Fjeld Consulting collected, scanned and catalogued every contract, capturing important information such as retained budget and key dates.
We condensed the contracts into “one-page cheat sheets” for property managers, making sure the most important information was easily accessible.
The property asset registers were standardised.
All the information was then loaded into a bespoke cloud database with real time access to the manager.
We requested all the key services providers to provide us with a standardised Excel report. Service providers included: security, internet, mechanical, lifts, concierge services, parcel tracking, debt recovery, fire security systems, parking and laundry rooms.
All the data was then loaded into the cloud based storage alongside useful reports with drill-down capability.
Automatic alerts were then set up for key dates on each contract.

What Were the Results?

Fjeld Consulting more than delivered on our client’s needs. The end result was a bespoke report suite and business intelligence interface that was able to highlight the following:

WiFi reports made it clear which amenity spaces residents favoured, meaning the next development could be built with these popular amenities in mind.
One property had been underpaid on revenue share. They were able to collect £12,000 of short paid income.
Improved call-out response times from vendors.

Stay on Top of Your Contracts

Planning ahead with your contracts makes it much easier to run a profitable development. Contract Tracking is designed to be user-friendly and requires minimal input from your team.

With our platform, the key benefits include: