Key Takeaways:
- Prioritize contracts strategically with a matrix that balances revenue, urgency, and business impact.
- Plan ahead for holiday absences with backup approvers, shared calendars, and clear handoff procedures to avoid delays.
- Leverage AI and pre-approved templates to expedite routine agreements without sacrificing quality, saving time during the year-end rush.
As we approach the final weeks of the year, contract teams face the perennial challenge of closing contracts before December 31st. The combination of holiday schedules, competing priorities, and business needs creates a perfect storm that can overwhelm even the most seasoned contract pros.
Missing key renewal dates or rushing through reviews can cost your company lots of money – yet taking too long can mean missing out on crucial revenue opportunities or vendor relationships.
Having been in the trenches myself, I’ve learned that success depends not on working longer hours, but on implementing smart, systematic approaches to year-end closing. By using strategies like building a priority matrix and harnessing AI for contract review, I’ve uncovered 7 powerful tips to close contracts faster and more effectively as the year winds down.
1. Master the Priority Matrix
When every contract feels urgent in December, knowing what truly matters becomes your secret weapon. Therefore, it’s critical to create a systematic approach to decision-making that aligns with the goals of your business:
- Partner with sales to understand deal prioritization (revenue vs. strategic value)
- Work with procurement to identify critical vendor implementations
- Let business stakeholders drive prioritization decisions
- Create clear escalation paths for competing priorities
Pro-tip: Create a simple red/yellow/green priority system based on business impact and urgency to help your team focus on what matters most.
2. Build Your Holiday Coverage Strategy
Don’t let holiday schedules derail your closing timeline. Holiday coverage requires building resilient systems that maintain momentum even when key team members are away:
- Map out required approvers and their holiday schedules
- Identify and brief backup signatories
- Create shared availability calendars
- Establish clear handoff procedures
Pro-tip: Set up a dedicated Slack channel or text message group for urgent approvals during the holiday period. It’s a lifesaver when you need that crucial sign-off on Christmas Eve.
3. Tackle the Renewal Portfolio
January 1st is when you discover that the critical vendor agreement auto-renewed – the one you meant to renegotiate.
Having worked with companies both big and small, I’ve seen how unintended auto-renewals and missed renewal deadlines can create serious business disruptions. Act now on contracts ending December 31st:
- Review auto-renewal terms and notice periods
- Evaluate vendor relationships worth continuing
- Identify opportunities for renegotiation
- Flag regulatory updates affecting renewals
- Document critical renewal deadlines
Pro-tip: Create a simple spreadsheet tracking renewal dates, notice periods, and key stakeholders for each contract. Even with a Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) tool, a quick-reference spreadsheet can provide an added layer of visibility and accessibility.
4. Update Your Playbook for the New Year
I can’t stress enough how crucial it is to stay ahead of regulatory changes. Your playbook should be a living document that evolves with the legal landscape and your business priorities. Ensure your positions reflect current realities:
- Review the impact of new regulations (state-specific requirements, FTC rules, etc.)
- Update positions on AI usage and data privacy
- Align with procurement and sales to address unnecessary friction and identify untapped negotiation opportunities.
- Document new acceptable fallback positions
- Define clear must-haves vs. nice-to-haves
- Set boundaries for year-end concessions
Pro Tip: Tools like AI-powered playbooks allow you to automatically check contracts against your standards, providing a strong foundation for consistent and efficient reviews. Advanced solutions go further by incorporating evolving industry and legal standards, ensuring accurate reviews that keep pace with changing norms.
5. Streamline Cross-Functional Workflows
There are many reasons your contract can get stuck: maybe because Finance hasn’t approved the payment terms and Procurement is questioning the vendor assessment.
In my experience, effective cross-functional collaboration isn’t just about communication – it’s about creating clear, repeatable processes that everyone understands and can follow. Align key teams before year-end chaos hits:
- Coordinate payment term requirements with finance
- Confirm compliance requirements for new regulations
- Establish clear roles for procurement and sales
- Set up efficient signature routing
- Document conditional approval criteria
Pro-tip: Create a simple spreadsheet tracking who needs to be involved in each type of contract approval – this becomes invaluable during holiday coverage. If you have a CLM or an AI-powered playbook, ensure your system provides visibility into the approval process and identifies backup contacts to avoid delays.
6. Deploy Your Fast-Track Package
Every legal team has those standard agreements that shouldn’t take days to review, but somehow always do. Fast-tracking doesn’t mean cutting corners. From my experience, I’ve found that well-designed templates and pre-approved language can actually improve quality while increasing speed. Create tools to expedite closing:
- Develop streamlined templates for standard deals
- Prepare pre-approved fallback language
- Set up efficient signature routing
- Document fast-track approval criteria
- Create checklists for common deal types
Pro-tip: Keep your fast-track package in a shared folder where all team members can access it quickly, and remember, even a “fast” deal deserves proper scrutiny. Consider leveraging AI tools to supercharge your fast-track process – which brings me to my final tip…
7. Leverage AI for Speed and Accuracy
I’ve saved the most powerful tool for last. Is that MSA sitting in your inbox at 4:45 PM? It doesn’t have to ruin your evening. AI tools are adding real value here.
Having worked extensively with emerging technologies, I understand both the potential and limitations of AI in contract review. The key is using AI strategically to augment, not replace, human judgment. Modern AI tools such as LegalOn can dramatically accelerate review while maintaining quality:
- Automate initial contract review
- Quickly identify non-standard terms
- Flag potential risk and compliance issues
- Generate precise, context-aware redlines that match your preferred positions
- Compare any two versions to spot unmarked changes
- Access expert guidance on negotiation strategies for flagged issues
Pro-tip: Use AI tools early in the review process to identify potential issues before they become closing bottlenecks.
Download LegalOn’s Guide, The State of Contracting in the Age of AI, to learn how legal teams are embracing AI for smarter, faster contract review.
Making It Happen
Year-end contract closing doesn’t have to be a mad dash to the finish line. The key is starting early and working systematically. While these seven strategies provide a framework, remember that the goal isn’t perfection – it’s progress. You might be surprised how even small changes to your process can dramatically reduce year-end stress.
As you plan for the weeks ahead, consider which of these strategies would have the biggest impact on your specific challenges. Whether it’s finally updating that playbook or implementing an AI tool to accelerate reviews, the best time to start is now. Your future self – the one enjoying a slightly less chaotic December – will thank you.
Request a demo to see how LegalOn’s AI Contract Review solution can help your team wrap up contracts faster and with less stress.
