Contract Review Software for ISO 9001 and AS9100 Manufacturers
Our contract review software gives manufacturers a controlled, cross-functional process for reviewing customer purchase orders before acceptance. Sales, order entry, engineering, quality, and production can verify requirements, document concerns, record approvals, and preserve an audit-ready history for every order and line item.
Control Customer Requirements Before Accepting the Order
Customer purchase orders often contain much more than a part number, quantity, price, and delivery date. They can include drawing revisions, specifications, quality clauses, inspection requirements, special processes, certifications, packaging instructions, source-inspection requirements, flow-down obligations, and delivery commitments.
If those requirements are not identified before the order is accepted, the problem moves downstream into planning, purchasing, production, inspection, shipping, or invoicing. A structured contract review process helps determine whether the requirements are understood, whether differences from the quote have been resolved, and whether the organization can meet the commitment.
Purpose of contract review
The objective is not simply to approve a purchase order. It is to establish a documented agreement between what the customer requires, what the organization quoted, what the organization can deliver, and what must be communicated to every responsible department.
Supporting ISO 9001 and AS9100 Requirements
ISO 9001:2015 addresses customer communication, determining requirements for products and services, reviewing those requirements before commitment, and controlling changes to requirements. AS9100 Rev D incorporates the ISO 9001 foundation and adds aerospace-focused considerations such as operational risk, configuration management, product safety, special requirements, and critical items where applicable.
Contract review software supports these processes by creating a repeatable workflow and retaining documented evidence. Software alone does not guarantee compliance or certification; the organization must configure and use the system in accordance with its approved procedures, customer contracts, regulatory obligations, and certification scope.
Determine Requirements
Capture commercial, technical, quality, delivery, regulatory, and customer-specific requirements.
Confirm Capability
Document whether each responsible function can meet the requirements before the order is accepted.
Control Changes
Review revisions and amendments, communicate changes, and retain the resulting approval history.
Contract Review Software Workflow
The workflow moves each customer order or purchase-order line through the required functional reviews before final acceptance.
- Create the review: Record the customer, purchase order, order line, quote reference, part, revision, quantity, price, and required delivery.
- Identify requirements: Capture drawings, specifications, quality clauses, certifications, inspection requirements, special processes, and other commitments.
- Route functional reviews: Assign the applicable review work to Sales, Order Entry, Engineering, Quality, Production, Planning, or other responsible groups.
- Evaluate capability and risk: Each group determines whether its requirements are understood and achievable.
- Resolve differences: Place the review on hold when the purchase order conflicts with the quote, contains unclear requirements, or requires customer clarification.
- Record decisions: Capture approvals, rejections, holds, reviewer identity, dates, and comments.
- Release the order: Enter or release the order only after the required reviews are complete.
- Control later changes: Reopen or revise the review when the customer changes requirements after acceptance.
What Each Department Reviews
Review responsibilities can be configured around your organization. A typical manufacturing contract review includes the following functions.
| Functional group | Typical review responsibility |
|---|---|
| Sales | Compare the purchase order with the quotation, contract, letter of intent, forecast, pricing, terms, and customer commitments. |
| Order Entry | Verify that part, revision, quantity, price, delivery schedule, customer information, and requirements are entered accurately. |
| Engineering | Review drawings, specifications, models, revision status, technical feasibility, configuration, tooling, and required engineering data. |
| Quality | Review quality clauses, inspection and test requirements, certifications, traceability, FAI, customer-source inspection, and special-process controls. |
| Production and Planning | Confirm capacity, routing, equipment, tooling, materials, lead time, outside processing, scheduling, and delivery feasibility. |
| Purchasing | Evaluate supplier availability, material lead times, approved-source requirements, outside services, and required supplier flow-downs. |
Core Contract Review Software Features
Purchase Order and Line-Item Review
Review requirements at the order and line-item level so different parts, revisions, quantities, and delivery schedules receive the appropriate evaluation.
Cross-Functional Approval Routing
Direct each review to the responsible departments and record an approve, reject, or hold decision.
Functional Review Tabs
Give Sales, Order Entry, Engineering, Quality, Production, and Planning dedicated areas for requirements, capability decisions, tasks, and comments.
Search and Filtering
Locate reviews using multiple fields and display outstanding work by customer, order, status, reviewer, or functional group.
Open-Review Dashboard
Show employees the reviews that require attention from their assigned functional group.
Approval and Processing History
Record who completed each review, the decision, comments, and completion date for traceability and audit support.
Three-Part Contract Review Layout
The application organizes each contract review into three connected areas so users can see the customer order, overall status, and department-level details without searching through separate forms or documents.
1. General PO Information
Customer, purchase order, quote, part, revision, quantity, price, delivery, and line-item details.
2. Review Summary
High-level visibility into each functional group's status, decisions, outstanding work, and overall readiness.
3. Functional Group Tabs
Department-specific requirements, capability evaluations, assigned actions, comments, and approval records.
Approve, Reject, or Place the Review on Hold
A reviewer should not be forced to approve an incomplete or unclear order. Each functional group can record the appropriate status:
- Approved: The requirements are understood and the department confirms its ability to support the order.
- Rejected: The department identifies a requirement the organization cannot or will not accept.
- On Hold: The review cannot be completed until a discrepancy is resolved, information is received, or an assigned action is finished.
Recording the reviewer, decision date, and supporting comments makes the basis for order acceptance visible during internal audits, certification audits, and customer inquiries.
Control Purchase Order Revisions and Requirement Changes
Contract review does not end when the original order is accepted. Customers may revise quantities, delivery dates, drawings, specifications, quality clauses, or other requirements. Those changes must be evaluated and communicated to affected personnel.
An effective change-control process should:
- Identify the purchase-order revision or amendment
- Describe what changed
- Determine which functions must review the change
- Reevaluate capability, schedule, cost, risk, and compliance impact
- Record revised approvals and customer clarification
- Communicate accepted changes to planning, production, purchasing, quality, and shipping
- Preserve the prior review history
Benefits of Electronic Contract Review
Fewer Missed Requirements
Structured department reviews reduce reliance on memory, email chains, and informal handoffs.
Faster Order Decisions
Dashboards and functional-group filters make incomplete reviews and bottlenecks easier to identify.
Better Audit Evidence
Reviewer identity, decisions, dates, comments, and status history provide objective evidence of the process.
Improved Planning
Production, quality, engineering, and purchasing receive accurate requirements before work begins.
Reduced Order Risk
Commercial, technical, quality, capacity, and delivery concerns are addressed before commitment.
Clear Accountability
Each functional group can see its assigned reviews, open actions, and completed decisions.
Integrate Contract Review with Your QMS
Requirements identified during contract review often drive downstream quality and manufacturing activities. Integrating the review process with other QMS modules helps prevent duplicate entry and preserves requirement traceability throughout the product lifecycle.
- Inspection and Nonconforming Material
- Inspection Control Plans
- First Article Inspection
- Document Control
- Employee Training
- Corrective Action
- Calibration Management
- Internal Auditing
Contract Review Software is available as a $599 stand-alone application or as a $399 optional add-on when purchased with the Database Providers QA Suite .
Open-Source and Customizable Microsoft Access Software
The Contract Review application is delivered as an open-source Microsoft Access solution. Your organization receives the application database, including its forms, queries, reports, tables, and VBA code, so the workflow can be adapted to your procedures and customer requirements.
Microsoft Access Backend
A cost-effective option for smaller teams and lighter transaction volumes using a properly split front-end/backend deployment.
SQL Server Backend
Recommended for larger multi-user deployments that require stronger concurrency, security, scalability, and centralized data management.
The open-source design allows authorized organizations to:
- Add customer-specific review questions and fields
- Modify forms, dashboards, reports, and approval logic
- Configure functional groups and review responsibilities
- Integrate with existing sales order, ERP, or QMS data
- Create additional searches, notifications, and management reports
- Maintain ownership and control of application data
Database Providers can implement, customize, and support the application or work with your internal Microsoft Access and SQL Server developers.
Contract Review Software Pricing
Choose Contract Review as a stand-alone application or add it to the Database Providers QA Suite at discounted package pricing. Both options use a one-time licensing model with unlimited users and no recurring subscription fees.
Stand-Alone Contract Review — $599
Purchase Contract Review Software as an independent, open-source Microsoft Access application for a one-time license fee of $599.
- Unlimited users
- No annual licensing or subscription fees
- Open-source Microsoft Access front end
- Microsoft Access or SQL Server backend
- Forms, queries, reports, tables, and VBA source code
- Customizable review questions and workflows
- Cross-functional approvals and audit history
Add to the QA Suite — $399
Add Contract Review Software when purchasing the Database Providers QA Suite for a discounted one-time price of $399.
- Integrated QA Suite navigation
- Shared customer and application information
- Cross-module quality requirement traceability
- Integration with Inspection and NCMR
- Integration with Document Control
- Integration with Corrective Action
- One-time licensing with unlimited users
QA Suite with Contract Review
The base QA Suite is $2,499. Adding Contract Review at the time of purchase is $399, for a combined one-time software license price of $2,898.
Optional implementation, customization, data conversion, training, and ongoing support services are quoted separately based on your requirements.
Who Uses Contract Review Software?
The software is designed for organizations that must evaluate customer requirements before accepting orders, particularly when multiple departments share responsibility for successful delivery.
Aerospace and Defense
Control technical data, quality clauses, traceability, configuration, risk, and customer flow-down requirements.
Machine and Job Shops
Confirm drawings, revisions, materials, outside processing, inspection, capacity, and delivery before accepting work.
Precision Manufacturing
Coordinate commercial, engineering, quality, purchasing, planning, and production requirements.
Electronics Manufacturing
Review specifications, approved sources, workmanship, testing, documentation, and delivery requirements.
Medical Device Supply Chain
Document customer, technical, quality, traceability, and applicable regulatory requirements.
ISO 9001 Organizations
Standardize the review of requirements for products and services before making a customer commitment.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is contract review software?
Contract review software provides a structured process for evaluating customer orders, requirements, organizational capability, risks, differences, approvals, and changes before and after order acceptance.
Does ISO 9001 require contract review?
ISO 9001:2015 requires organizations to determine and review requirements for products and services before committing to supply them and to control changes to those requirements. Organizations may call this process contract review, order review, or customer-requirements review.
What does AS9100 add to the review process?
AS9100 applies the ISO 9001 requirements in an aviation, space, and defense context and adds considerations that can include operational risk, configuration management, product safety, special requirements, and critical items, depending on the order and organization.
Can each department have different review questions?
Yes. The open-source Access design can be configured so each functional group evaluates the requirements, risks, and tasks relevant to its responsibilities.
Can the software track purchase-order changes?
The application can be customized to identify revisions, route affected requirements for renewed review, document decisions, and preserve the change and approval history.
How much does Contract Review Software cost?
Contract Review Software is $599 as a stand-alone application or $399 when added at the time of a QA Suite purchase. Both options use a one-time licensing model with unlimited users and no recurring subscription fees.
Is Contract Review included in the base QA Suite?
Contract Review is available as an optional QA Suite module for $399 when purchased with the suite. It is not one of the five modules included in the $2,499 base QA Suite.
Is the software available with SQL Server?
Yes. It can use a Microsoft Access backend or an Access front end connected to SQL Server Express or full SQL Server.
Quality Management References
Organizations should evaluate their contract review process against the standards, customer requirements, and regulations applicable to their products and certification scope.
Strengthen Contract Review and Order Acceptance
See how open-source Contract Review Software can standardize cross-functional approvals, improve customer-requirement traceability, and preserve an audit-ready review history.