Contract management
Contract management: when a spreadsheet is enough and when you need software
A contract register in Excel with the right columns, where it goes wrong and what contract management software costs: eight packages compared on price.
A contract register in Excel or Google Sheets is enough for many businesses, until you miss a tacit renewal. We show which columns you need, when software pays off and what eight packages cost, from Trackado to Oneflow.
Contract management: the short answer
If you have a few dozen contracts and one person who keeps track of them, a well-organised register in Excel or Google Sheets is enough. It gets difficult once contracts sit in different mailboxes, several colleagues sign contracts or you miss a tacit renewal because nobody kept an eye on the notice period. That is when software with reminders, searchable storage and approvals pays off. A simple register such as Trackado starts free for 15 contracts; paid packages cost from about €9 per user per month to a few hundred euros per month for a team. On 22 October 2026 we went through the pricing pages of eight packages. This article is written for businesses in the Netherlands and Belgium.
What is contract management?
Contract management means keeping track of which contracts your business has, what is in them and when you need to act. Think of lease contracts, software subscriptions, rent, maintenance, suppliers and customers. The questions are always the same: where is the signed contract, who owns it, when does it end, how long is the notice period and is it renewed automatically?
Contract management software is also called CLM: contract lifecycle management. That goes further than a register. A CLM package also helps with drafting, approving and digitally signing contracts.
A contract register in Excel or Google Sheets
Start with one tab in which each contract is one row. These are the columns you need:
| Column | What you enter |
|---|---|
| Contract party | The name of the supplier, customer or landlord |
| Topic | What the contract is about, for example "van lease" or "CRM subscription" |
| Start date | The date on which the contract began |
| Term | For example 12 or 36 months |
| End date | Start date plus term. Excel calculates it with the EDATE function, called ZELFDE.DAG in Dutch Excel |
| Renewal | Tacitly renewed yes or no, and for what period |
| Notice period | How many months or days before the end date you have to give notice |
| Last notice date | End date minus notice period: the most important column of the register |
| Eigenaar (Owner) | The colleague who decides on renewing or terminating |
| Value per year | What the contract costs or earns per year |
| Location | A link to the signed contract in your shared folder |
Sort by the last notice date and use conditional formatting to colour the rows where that date falls within three months. Also put one recurring appointment in your calendar, for example the first Monday of the month, to go through the register. A spreadsheet does not send reminders by itself; that appointment is your reminder.
Where a spreadsheet falls short
A register works as long as someone keeps it up to date. In practice it goes wrong on these points:
- Missed renewals: nobody opens the file in the month the notice period starts. The contract continues tacitly, sometimes for another year.
- Contracts in different places: the signed copy sits as an attachment in someone's mailbox, not in the shared folder. If that colleague is ill or leaves, it is gone.
- No reminders per owner: the spreadsheet does not know who should get a nudge and when. Everyone has to check for themselves.
- No approval: who may sign a contract of €20,000? In a spreadsheet you can see afterwards that it happened, but you do not arrange it beforehand.
- No search in the text: you find "van lease" in the row, but not which contracts have a penalty clause or price indexation.
If you recognise two or more of these points, or if more than a few contracts are added each month, it is time to look at software.
Tacit renewal between businesses
In the Netherlands, the Van Dam Act (Wet Van Dam) protects consumers: after a tacit renewal, a consumer can terminate at any time, with a notice period of at most one month. That protection does not apply between businesses. A business contract is renewed as the contract says, even for another full year, and the notice period from the contract applies. Belgium and other countries have their own rules; check them if you sign contracts there. So read the renewal and termination clause of every new contract and put it in your register. If you are unsure about a specific contract, ask a lawyer for advice.
What does contract management software cost?
The packages in our contract management software category, with the prices the supplier shows on its own site on 22 October 2026. Trackado and PandaDoc charge in US dollars.
| Package | Type | Free | Price | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trackado | Register with reminders | Yes: 1 user, 15 contracts | Starter $49 per month ($39 with annual billing) for 3 users and 60 contracts; Business $159 per month ($129 annually) for 8 users, 300 contracts and workflows; extra user $12 per month ($10 annually). The page does not mention VAT | prices |
| Mochadocs | Register and contract management, expandable with drafting and signing | Yes: Starter, for registering contracts | Professional €15 per user per month (€165 per user per year); Team €45 per user per month, at least 2 users; Enterprise €75, at least 3. View-only users from €2.50 per view-only user per month. The page does not mention VAT | plans |
| Diliforce | Contract management with a board portal | No, but a 14-day trial | Standard €8.70 per user per month; Advanced €27 per user per month, at least 5 users; both billed annually, excluding VAT. Electronic signing through a connected service, which costs extra | prices |
| Zoho Contracts | CLM with approvals and signing | Yes: 3 users, 10 contracts | Standard €30 per user per month (€25 with annual billing), 25 contracts per user per month; Professional €48 (€40 annually), unlimited contracts. Zoho Sign is included; VAT is added | prices |
| Oneflow | CLM with approvals and signing | No, but a 14-day trial | Business from €250 per month for 5 users, billed annually only; Enterprise on quote, from 10 users. The page does not mention VAT | prices |
| PandaDoc | Documents, quotes and signing | Yes: 5 documents per month | Starter $35 per user per month ($19 with annual billing); Business $65 ($49 annually), with approval workflows; excluding tax | prices |
| Contractify | Contract management with AI, Belgian supplier | No, but a demo | No prices on the site: Centralize with 5 seats, Collaborate from 5 and Control from 10 users; you request a quote | prices |
| Juro | CLM with drafting and signing | No, but a demo | No prices on the site: the price depends on the number of contracts per month; you request a quote | prices |
Which kind of package suits you?
A register with reminders
Trackado and the free version of Mochadocs do what your spreadsheet does, but with reminders per contract and per owner, and with the signed document attached to the row. That is enough if you receive contracts from others and mainly want to know when to give notice. With the free version of Trackado you can try 15 contracts; after that you pay per bundle of users, not per user.
Contract management for several departments
Diliforce and the paid subscriptions of Mochadocs add permissions per department or entity, search in the text and a full history. At €8.70 per user per month, Diliforce is the cheapest paid package in the table, but you pay a year in advance.
Drafting, approving and signing contracts
If you draft many contracts yourself, such as sales contracts or employment contracts, you also want templates, an approval step and a digital signature. Zoho Contracts, Oneflow, PandaDoc and Juro do that in one package. Of these, only Zoho Contracts has a free version for a small team. At Oneflow you start at €250 per month for five users.
If you only need a digital signature and keep the register in a spreadsheet, also look at digital signature software. It is often cheaper than a full CLM package.
What should you look for when choosing?
- Reminders per owner: can you set per contract who gets a reminder and when, even if the owner leaves?
- Importing: can you import your existing register from Excel, including the dates?
- Search: does the package search only the fields, or also the text of scanned contracts?
- Pricing model: do you pay per user, per bundle of users or per number of contracts? View-only users are sometimes cheaper or free.
- Annual or monthly: Oneflow and Diliforce only bill annually. At Trackado, Zoho Contracts and PandaDoc you pay more with monthly billing: from 20 percent at Zoho Contracts to almost double at PandaDoc Starter.
- Data and privacy: contracts contain personal data. Ask where the data is stored and whether the supplier offers a data processing agreement. Under the GDPR (AVG in Dutch) it is required if the supplier processes personal data on your behalf.
Frequently asked questions about contract management
Is Excel enough for contract management?
For a small business with a few dozen contracts and one administrator, yes, as long as you keep the last notice date column up to date and go through the register every month. Excel does not send reminders by itself and does not record who approved what.
What does contract management software cost?
On 22 October 2026 there were free versions for small numbers of contracts at Trackado, Mochadocs, Zoho Contracts and PandaDoc. Paid packages start at €8.70 per user per month (Diliforce, billed annually) and rise to €250 per month for a team of five at Oneflow. Contractify and Juro only give a price on quote.
What is the difference between contract management and CLM?
Contract management is about contracts that have already been signed: where they are and when you need to terminate or renew. CLM (contract lifecycle management) also covers drafting, negotiating, approving and signing.
Does the Van Dam Act also apply to business contracts?
No. In the Netherlands, the Van Dam Act only protects consumers. Between businesses, the renewal and termination terms in the contract itself apply.
Can I also sign digitally with contract management software?
Zoho Contracts, Oneflow, PandaDoc and Juro include signing in the package. Diliforce connects to a separate signing service, which you pay for separately. A register such as Trackado does not do signing.
