Industry Insights
Do you work in legal corporate housekeeping and would you like to start digitizing your workflows? This article aims to provide guidance in your buying journey.
Amid the disruption and uncertainty that’s marked the past year and beyond, it’s hard to tell the long-term outcome of certain industry dynamics. However, one thing we're pretty sure of is the fact that the future will be digital first.
Hence why it's time to explore the opportunities digital legal entity management platforms offer.
- What is a Legal Entity Management Platform?
- Key Features and Considerations
- How to pick the best alternative?
After reading this article you should be able to make an informed decision about purchasing a legal entity management platform.
What is a Legal Entity Management Platform?
Legal Entity Management Platforms enable companies and organizations to manage legal entities and generate detailed insights into ownership structures, voting rights and management bodies. Needless to say, they're a very valuable tool for business owners, managers and legal advisors.
Most platforms are flexible enough to accommodate almost any organization type, and using them has become best practice for legal practitioners. The industry as a whole is moving away from a spreadsheet-based approach and turning towards cloud-based solutions.
In any case, the benefits of transitioning to a modern legal entity management software platform definitely outweigh the investment.
Key Features and Considerations
There are several considerations to take into account when selecting a legal entity management software. To provide you with a good starting point, here's a list of the features we believe to be the core of legal entity management platforms, and the key considerations.
Mandates & Participations
Apart from the basic legal entity details, the main data points you want to keep track of are mandates and participations (both shareholders and entity shareholdings). Integrations with company registers are a real time-saver in this regard.
Shareholder Registers
Depending on the jurisdiction, you can replace your traditional paper share registers with a digital alternative. E.g. Corporify enables legal teams to draft and download fully compliant (with Belgian law) digital share registers.
Org charting
If you've ever tried creating an elaborate Org Chart, you know how hard it is. Being able to visualize entire group structures in just one click is a real time saver. In addition, automated UBO (Ultimate Beneficial Owner) calculations are a game changer as well.
Board Portals
Being able to centralize all your data is one thing. Being able to make it accessible to internal and external stakeholders is a whole other thing. Stop bothering people with tedious email chains gather, exchange and validate company information.
e-Signatures
With the entire world shifting to digital contracting as a result of the pandemic, having e-Signature integrations available is definitely a must-have. Having document generation features on the other hand is a nice-to-have, as doc gen legal technology companies constitute an entire vertical of their own.
Security
Probably even the most important consideration. You wouldn’t want your spreadsheets with confidential data to end up on the dark web, would you? Proper ISO-certifications, multi-factor authentication and advanced user permissions are key elements to keep an eye out for when comparing alternatives.
How to pick the best alternative?
While there are numerous companies focussing on individualized features such as document generation, e-Signature collection, Org Charting,.. we believe in a single-source-of-truth approach for legal matters.
You will obviously need to list your own business and technical requirements first to see which solutions meet your essential criteria. The list of key features and considerations higher up is a great starting point for navigating the provider landscape.
Ultimately you'll need to choose a software provider you can trust. A company with a knowledgeable support team able to provide a proper onboarding and to help you out when you get stuck. Like us for example!
Want to learn how Corporify can help you improve your Legal Entity Management?
