How to Document Key Contract Terms

Contracts are really really long. You can’t possibly care about everything on it right? Honestly? Focus on the really important stuff, make it clear, and keep it accessible. 

Create a contract summary sheet, think one-pager so you don’t have to read the sixty-pager every time. It should include: 

1. SLAs (Service Level Agreements) 
   1. Example: Vendor must maintain 99.9% uptime for the SaaS platform each month
   2. Example: Support tickets must be acknowledged within 1 hour and resolved within 24 hours for critical issues 
2. KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) 
   1. Example: Average response time for customer support should be under 30 minutes 
   2. Example: Monthly system availability should not fall below 99.8% 
3. Mid-Term Events (True ups, Vendor Reviews) 
   1. Example: 6-month performance review to assess SLA compliance and vendor responsiveness 
   2. Example: Annual true-up based on actual user count compared to contracted baseline
4. Renewal Dates (Contract End, Renewal clauses, exit language) 
   1. Example: Initial term ends on December 31 2026, Renewal notice must be sent at least 90 days prior. 
   2. Example: Auto-renewal clause triggers unless cancelled by October 1, 2026
   3. Example: Not to exceed 20% increase on renewal pricing. 
5. Pricing Models: 
   1. Example: Tiered pricing: $50 per user per month for up to 100 users, $45 per user per month for 101-500 users 
   2. Example: Annual subscription with upfront payment and 5% discount for multi-year commitment. 

Once you have this breakdown, it becomes the foundation for your Governance Framework. From there, it’s about assigning responsibilities, setting up monitoring and reporting, and creating calendar reminders so you have enough lead time for renewals and reviews. Doing this before the contract is signed makes operationalizing it later so much easier. Think of this as your pre-requisite for a stress-free future.

Sincerely, your friendly neighborhood contract manager

P.S. This isn’t Excel friendly, at worst, keep it in a OneDrive or Sharepoint system… if you love yourself visit SourceSight.io