The legal and financial departments at Trace One are required to communicate on a daily basis. We spoke with Vincent Lemaine, the group's financial department manager, and Valérie Duroux, the legal manager. Our goal was to understand how Hyperlex helped to rationalize and improve the relationship between the legal department and the financial department.
More than 5,000 businesses from more than 100 countries collaborate on the Trace One platform. It is intended to assist brands in expanding their operations and enhancing their social and environmental impact. Additionally, it helps these companies get past the difficulty of product management. With many useful applications, Trace One is an unique and inclusive platform. These applications regulate the lifecycle of products, particularly those of Private Brands, from conception to quality control, including product specification, packaging, and even the search and selection of innovative industrialists.
How does Hyperlex ease exchanges between the legal and financial departments? The practical example of Trace One.
What aspects of the contracts do you each work on?
Valerie: We intervene at each stage of the contract lifecycle.
- At the very beginning, to prepare the contract and the various points to be addressed.
- In the negotiation phase, with the service provider or the customer.
- On the signature aspect, when the contract has been finalized.
- And last but not least, on storage and contract management.
Vincent: We are involved in all the financial aspects, i.e. controlling the rate, negotiating payment terms and everything related to payment conditions.
Have you noticed a change in the way you work together before and after Hyperlex?
Vincent: Yes, there has been a change: exchanging information is much smoother and faster. In a company like ours, the legal department plays a key role. We have a business model and a corporate culture that integrates the legal aspect, because we need to ensure that we are compliant when it comes to our discussions with third parties.
The financial and legal departments are thus used to working together. Digitized contract management simplifies collaboration. There is no need to exchange information constantly.
If I have questions about a contract today, I am not going to write an email to the legal department; I directly connect to the Hyperlex tool. And if some of the information is not clear, I contact the concerned department.
Valerie: The legal department and the financial department work hand in hand, because they have the same goal. We often exchange information, so smooth interaction is crucial on a daily basis. Hyperlex has simplified our exchanges by optimizing the sharing of information.
What did you expect from the Hyperlex solution? Did you have any specific goals in mind?
Valerie: Before Hyperlex, like many legal departments, we worked in “the old fashioned manner”, which means, with Excel tables. Then we printed the contracts and put them in cabinets - everything was filed manually.
We had three main goals in mind with the arrival of Hyperlex:
- Digitize the legal department by dematerializing our contract base.
- Allow targeted people to access contracts (example: certain operational staff, the finance department, etc.).
- Set up contract reminders to avoid missing deadlines. We wanted to be able to put the operational staff concerned by the contract, to be in the loop, so that the entire team is called back on time, and is organized more efficiently.
We’ve attained our goals!
How did the legal department understand the needs of the finance department?
Vincent: At Trace One, all purchases are legally, commercially, and financially covered by a contract. There was a global requirement, and most of all a legal requirement, to be able to centralize this entire contract database. In the past, everything was managed through Excel files, which could be complicated. This requires a follow-up and a transfer of skills which is done much more easily when everything is dematerialized.
How did the implementation of the tool go on the legal and financial side?
Valerie: We were trained by the Hyperlex Customer Success team. Compared to competing solutions that we have seen; the tool is intuitive and easy to use. Artificial intelligence recognizes fields, identifies them, and saves us a lot of time.
Vincent: The training given by the Hyperlex teams was carried out by the legal department. As the tool is quite intuitive, we were able to use it rather quickly. In terms of finances, the solution meets our expectations.
How do the CFO and the legal department make use of the Hyperlex solution?
Valerie: The legal team uses Hyperlex between once and several times a day.
Vincent: At least once a day. For example, one day, I can look at a piece of information on budget tracking and expenses, and another day, I analyze two or three contracts to see what was drafted.
Which fields of the summary sheet interest you the most?
Valerie: Mainly the dates (renewals, deadlines, notices). The summary sheet is very practical for this because we immediately see the key date, in addition to the reminder that we set up! No need to review the contract, we are aware of the notice period right away!
What were your first impressions of Hyperlex?
Vincent: I said to myself: “Finally!” We've been talking about this for a while. We are an innovative company, so paper contracts and Excel tracking are outdated. It's much more flexible to have a solution which is available anytime, anywhere.
What are the main benefits for you when it comes to Hyperlex?
Vincent : Data within reach!
Valerie: Efficient information sharing, which saves time for the legal department! And especially securing deadlines, thanks to all the reminders in the summary sheet.
When working manually with Excel files, there is a risk of missing some deadlines ... Since we implemented Hyperlex, we haven’t missed any.
👉 Read also: Contract management solution, what are the financial benefits?
What advice would you give to a general counsel or a financial director, who wants to initiate a digital transition?
Vincent : Clearly define your needs. For a solution like Hyperlex, you need a certain volume of contracts and types of contracts. If they're always the same, and you only have a few vendors, that's not necessarily useful.
This is a basic principle when implementing a solution: you have to make an inventory to know if there is any use in using a dematerialized tool. And then you have to know who is going to use it, the number of people it represents in your company. It is important to have a ROI approach and to quantify what benefits it will bring the company.
Valerie: Be prepared in advance, with an updated contract databasis. For example, it is necessary to determine and classify current contracts that have already been terminated ... In order to optimize the use of the tool, it was necessary to carry out a sorting process. This might take time depending on the volume of contracts.
👉 Read also: How to defend your legaltech project internally?
Hyperlex in a few words for you....
Valerie: It is our day-to-day contract management, our contract library that enables the efficient exchange of information with the teams.
Vincent: It is a library of contracts, available at any given time, with information shared by all stakeholders on the contract, regardless of the company department.
Learn more about the Trace One + Hyperlex adventure. 👇
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