Best practices: how to work efficiently with ContractHero

Your benefit

Anyone who knows these practical recommendations reaches a reliable data set faster, saves themselves manual routine work through automations, and avoids the typical early mistakes — such as categories deleted too hastily, or text fields that cannot be analysed later on.

01 The basic mindset

Trying things out is allowed. Nothing is lost while you explore: every deletion prompts a confirmation, and all other steps are either reversible or harmless. The better you know ContractHero, the clearer the picture of your own contracts becomes.

Clarify your goal — on two levels: what do you personally want to achieve (accounting: reconciling contracts and invoices; legal: keeping track of deadlines)? And what is the company's goal — to map every contract-related document, or a pure contract database with strict data quality? Most of the remaining decisions follow from that answer.

Continuity beats heroic effort. Regular short editing sessions lead to a reliable data set faster than one dedicated clean-up day per month.

02 Getting contracts into the system

Importing by email forwarding is the fastest route to a complete data basis — ideal for temporary staff without full system access, as the target address on a document scanner, or when licences are limited but all contracts should end up in one place. Important: define who regularly checks the email inbox category and assigns its contents.
Uploading by category: if you have 50 contracts in the same category, upload them as a batch — this replaces assigning each one individually.
Creating contracts without a PDF: if a contract will only follow later, create it as a placeholder without a document.
Uploading without sorting is not a problem. Getting started is easier once the contracts are in the system: the overview improves immediately, deadlines stay visible, the search also reaches into the "Other [Weiteres]" category — and the permission concept lets you control who can see that category at all. The return on investment is usually higher when all contracts are in the system, even if the classification is still in progress.

03 AI extraction and summary

Verify — yes or no? That depends on your goal: if a genuine single source of truth is to emerge, one in which the PDF no longer plays a part, verify the AI data consistently. If the document is going to be checked anyway for important questions, selective verification is enough. Both approaches are common in practice.

The summary as a review tool: especially at the beginning, read the AI summary and check which information it contains that is missing from your fields — with two browser tabs you can create the missing field directly in the field builder [Feldbaukasten]. For linked contracts with several documents, the summary also takes downstream documents such as versions of terms and conditions into account.

Adjusting prompts: if the AI works less reliably on certain fields, the prompts can be adjusted in the field builder [Feldbaukasten] — feel free to raise the topic in your Quarterly Business Review.

04 Categories

Do not delete too hastily — deleted categories cannot be restored. Rename them instead, or leave unused categories in place: they only appear in the overview if there are contracts in them.

Less is more. A separate category is worthwhile if you collect different information there than elsewhere, if a relevant volume builds up (from around 15–30 contracts), or if you want to restrict permissions. If the same information is to be recorded for data processing agreements (AVV), NDAs and SLAs, a single "Non-disclosure agreement [Geheimhaltungsvereinbarung]" category with a list field to tell them apart is enough. With the advanced permission concept, access can additionally be controlled at field level — in which case no separate category is needed in order to assign rights.

05 Fields and field types

The right field type determines whether data can be analysed: anything that will later be filtered or used for reporting should not be a text field. A date belongs in a date field [Datumsfeld] (calendar, analysis by period), and recurring values in a list field [Listenfeld] (the cleanest filtering). The exception: with a very large number of values — around 150 locations, for example — a list is impractical; here an abbreviation in the contract title or a text field [Textfeld] is more suitable. Calculated fields [Berechnete Felder] determine values automatically, so that only the result appears in the overview.

06 The contract overview

The standard view is suitable for everyone who looks things up occasionally. Anyone who works actively with ContractHero should create at least one custom view and set it as the default view [Standardansicht] — exactly the data you need then appears immediately after logging in. Be sure to save views that took effort to build, otherwise the filtering is lost as soon as a contract is opened and left again. Saved views can be shared with the whole team. Move the most important columns to the front by drag and drop, and hide the ones you do not need via "Select columns [Spalten auswählen]".

07 Tasks and automations

This is where the greatest leverage lies: a one-off effort during setup permanently saves manual work.

The standard case: a reminder based on the end date, three or six months in advance, with an automatic task for the responsible person.
Dynamic instead of fixed dates: a common misunderstanding — you do not have to choose a specific date. The automation pulls the date field individually from each contract. Use a fixed date only for purely internal deadlines.
After building it, check the overview of the tasks created: this immediately shows whether the contract term fields are maintained or the automation is running into nothing. Use bulk editing [Massenbearbeitung] to fill in missing values directly.
Tasks without a due date are deliberately a nice-to-have. If a lot of them build up, portion them out (around 15–30 per month with fixed dates) or delete them in bulk if your data is verified anyway.
Mark automatically created tasks: adding "(Bot)" to the task title has proved effective — it is removed after the review. This creates a checklist, and managers can see at a glance what has been double-checked.
Think about cover arrangements: for important tasks, enter two assignees and document the order in the description, for example: "Responsible: Lina. Lisa takes over during holiday or sick leave."
Changes do not apply retroactively: tasks that have already been created are not adjusted when automations are revised — so give the new version a new name.

08 Collaborating on a contract

Use comments and @-mentions in the activity area instead of private chats or email threads: one click instead of four, a written paper trail (who was informed about what and when) and independent of location. A proven separation: hard data (responsible people, financial data) belongs in fields, the notification about it in comments — for example, the new name goes in the "Responsible [Verantwortlich]" field, and the comment reads: "@Gerry, I am taking over responsibility for this contract from now on." One prerequisite: the tagged people need access (at least a read licence) and matching notification settings.

09 Tags, document names and backups

Tags are sticky notes, not filter criteria. They are suitable for loose additional information ("Cost saving 2027") and for smaller setups where an elaborate field builder [Feldbaukasten] setup would be out of proportion. Tags apply across categories — agree on the spellings within the team.
Document names are overrated. The contract partner, date or cost centre are in the fields anyway, where they can be filtered and sorted. A rough basic structure is enough; some customers even hide the title in their view completely.
Calendar integration: particularly valuable for everyone who rarely opens ContractHero — deadlines appear directly in their own calendar, without logging into the system.
Your own backups: ContractHero creates its own backups, is ISO-certified, and the recycle bin [Papierkorb] catches deleted items. An additional backup of your own is still worthwhile — above all for your compliance requirements.

Frequently asked questions about getting the most out of ContractHero

Do I have to verify all AI-extracted data?
No — it depends on your goal. For a single source of truth: verify consistently. If the original is going to be checked anyway for important questions: selectively.

How many categories make sense?
There is no general guide figure — too many, however, come at the expense of the overview. Rule of thumb: a separate category only when different information needs to be collected, when the volume of contracts is relevant, or when permissions differ.

Can I restore a deleted category?
No, deleted categories cannot be restored. When in doubt, rename categories rather than delete them.

Where do I get help if I get stuck?
Book an appointment with your Customer Success team or write to us in the chat — often it is details that can be cleared up in a few minutes.

Good to know — the short version / cheat sheet:

Trying things out is allowed; nothing is lost in the process.
Clarify your goal — individually and at the overarching level.
Better to have all contracts in the system unsorted than sorted outside it.
Email forwarding speeds up building the data basis.
Do not delete categories; rename them.
The right field type determines whether data can be analysed later.
Build your own default view and save your filters.
Automations are the greatest lever — with a dynamic date.
After building it, check the tasks that were created.
Hard data in the fields, notifications in the comments.
Tags are sticky notes, not filter criteria.
Regular short editing sessions instead of infrequent heroic efforts.

How do I create automations?
How do I create a custom view in the contract list?
Field builder – How do I create and manage fields?
Updating contracts via bulk edit
How do I use the export?

Updated on: 08/26/2026

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