Finding a More Coordinated Way to Manage Contracts
For Nash County, North Carolina, managing contracts once required a combination of spreadsheets, shared drives, emails, and department-specific processes.
When Megan Page joined the County as Finance Specialist, Grants & Contracts, she quickly saw how much time it took to maintain visibility into agreements across the organization.
“When I came on, back in October last year, it was a lot of spreadsheets, shared drives, sending out a lot of emails and not really getting the responses that we needed,” Page said.
Without a centralized process, different departments maintained information in different ways, making it difficult for the finance team to consistently collect updates and stay ahead of important contract activity.
“A lot of departments just used what they wanted to use, there wasn’t a lot of coordination, so it was a lot of back and forth,” Page said. “I relied mainly on spreadsheets and created those by myself.”
Catryna Whitehurst, SLFRF Grant Manager and Administrator, worked alongside Page to keep the County’s contract information organized.
“We worked together on that process, and it took the two of us a lot of hours to stay up to date and manage our contracts,” Whitehurst said.
Nash County was already using DebtBook to manage its leases and subscription-based IT arrangements (SBITAs). When the team learned that DebtBook also offered Contract Management, they saw an opportunity to bring another critical financial process into the same platform.
“When I came on, we were already using it for our leases and subscriptions, so Catryna taught me how to manage our leases and subscriptions with DebtBook,” Page said. “Then we realized that DebtBook had a platform for contracts.”
The County evaluated other solutions, but its previous experience with DebtBook helped make the decision clear.
“We tested out a couple other ones, but based on the value we saw with DebtBook’s Lease and Subscriptions platforms, they were the one we really wanted to go with,” Page said.
Use Case #1: Replacing Spreadsheets and Email Follow-Ups with a Centralized Contract Process
Before DebtBook, tracking contracts required Page and Whitehurst to maintain spreadsheets, monitor shared files, contact departments, and manually follow up when information was missing.
The process was not only time-consuming but it also made it harder to establish a consistent workflow across the County.
With DebtBook, Nash County can now house contract information in one location, maintain a structured process, and gain greater visibility into upcoming activity.
“With Debtbook, just having everything housed in one location, centralized that whole process, with our contracts, our debt, our leases, subscriptions. Everything is all in one platform now, which makes it a lot easier for us to manage,” Whitehurst said.
DebtBook’s automated reminders are also helping the team stay ahead of renewals and other important contract dates.
“We’re getting ready to have some updates coming, new contracts, and I know this because DebtBook sends me reminders when they’re coming up to be renewed, or if they’re not going to be renewed. It’s taken out a lot of the guesswork and kept us on track so that we don’t miss a deadline.”
Rather than searching through spreadsheets or relying on individual departments to flag important dates, the finance team can use DebtBook to create a more consistent and proactive process.
“DebtBook’s Contract Management solution saves the time and manual work that you’re not going to miss. It provides a consistent workflow with how things are supposed to go,” Page said.
The platform also makes it easier to communicate accurate contract information back to departments and identify changes from one agreement to the next.
“The time-saving piece is not just uploading and reading all the contracts, but just reporting it to different departments, or if we see that something was wrong from the previous contract, or something has changed, DebtBook picks it out for you, so you really, truly don’t miss anything."
As the County rolls Contract Management out to more departments, Whitehurst expects the centralized process to create even greater efficiencies.
“It should reduce our workload once we get everything rolled out to all the departments and make it more efficient,” she said.
Use Case #2: Using AI to Review Contracts in Seconds
Reading and interpreting contracts was previously one of the most time-consuming parts of Page’s job.
Some agreements were several pages long and contained important details within dense or complicated language. Finding the information she needed could require reading the same document repeatedly.
“Some of those contracts, there’s a lot there,” Page said. “Some of the contracts and agreements are four and five pages long, and I would sit there and read and read and read, and get absolutely nowhere.”
DebtBook’s AI-powered contract analysis has transformed that process.
When Page uploads an agreement, the platform reviews the document and identifies key information, helping her move directly to the details she needs.
“Now, when I upload a contract and put it in DebtBook, it does all of that reading for me and takes me to where I need to go,” she said.
After using the feature on a newly received contract, Page immediately saw its value.
“That AI tool of DebtBook’s is amazing. I probably get too excited about it! It does everything for you.”
The platform extracted important information from the document, including payment terms, dates, and rates.
“DebtBook’s Contract Management solution found everything that I needed it to find, like the net pay date, when it ends, when it starts, when it stops, the amount per hour,” Page said. “It was done in 30 seconds, so I appreciate it. I’m really excited about it.”
DebtBook also helps flag potential errors or information that may require additional attention.
“I simply upload the contract, and DebtBook highlights everything, and it shows if you have an error and if you need to go back and fix it."
For Page, the result is a process that feels dramatically less manual.
“The only way that I can really think to sum up DebtBook's Contract Management solution, is that it pretty much does everything for you,” she said. “Once a contract is in there, the solution is pretty self-sufficient.”
Use Case #3: Establishing a Consistent Workflow Across Departments
Centralizing contracts is only one part of Nash County’s long-term vision. The team also plans to bring contract owners and larger departments directly into the process. This will allow departments to participate in maintaining their agreements while giving the finance team centralized oversight.
DebtBook’s team offered to assist with department-level training, permissions, and rollout planning, helping Nash County prepare for broader adoption without placing the entire training burden on Page and Whitehurst.
Whitehurst said additional training could be especially valuable for departments managing many contracts.
“We want to take DebtBook up on some of the trainings they’ve offered, especially for our larger departments that have a large volume of contracts,” she said.
For Page, that continued support provides confidence as the County moves into its next phase of implementation.
“DebtBook really went above and beyond, so we appreciate it,” she said.
The platform’s ease of use has also made Page more comfortable with introducing the process to additional users.
“It’s really easy,” she said. “I mean, it’s simple. I was worried a little bit at first, but the AI tool is just—it’s amazing. The whole thing is amazing.”
Use Case #4: Bringing Contracts, Debt, Leases, and Subscriptions Together
Although contract management was Nash County’s most recent priority, the value of DebtBook extends across several of the County’s financial processes.
Using DebtBook to manage contracts alongside debt, leases and SBITAs, the finance team no longer has to rely on disconnected systems for each type of obligation.
“Everything is all in one platform now, which makes it a lot easier for us to manage,” Whitehurst said.
That unified approach gives the County greater visibility and creates a more consistent experience across its financial data.
Instead of learning a completely separate system for contracts, Page was able to build on the County’s existing experience with DebtBook.
DebtBook’s training resources also helped reinforce the process.
“I watched one of DebtBook’s training videos a couple weeks ago, and when the team member was maneuvering through a process on DebtBook, once I watched that, the next time I went on the platform to do that same step, it just clicked,” Page said.
Use Case #5: Saving Time on GASB Compliance and Audit Reporting
DebtBook has also helped Nash County simplify the work associated with GASB compliance for leases and SBITAs.
Whitehurst said the AI-supported workflow helps the team evaluate agreements and determine whether they fall within the applicable GASB requirements.
“With the leases and subscriptions, especially the GASB requirements, it’s definitely a time saver when you can do the AI feature and upload those leases or subscriptions. You answer a few questions, and it tells you, ‘yes, this is GASB’, ‘no, this isn’t.’”
The platform also helps generate the schedules and supporting information the County needs for its audit and financial reporting processes.
“The audit notes, the schedules, all of that good stuff—it’s amazing how much time we used to spend, especially on audit notes and now with DebtBook it’s so quick and easy,” Whitehurst said.
DebtBook has created similar efficiencies for debt reporting.
“Roll-forward schedules for the debt—it saves a lot of time now,” Whitehurst said. “That feature is amazing to me.”
Rather than assembling audit notes and roll-forward schedules manually, the team can generate them using the information already maintained in the platform.
“That’s worth it to me, just to have that peace of mind, knowing that once you put in all of your information, you can click that one button and you’re going to get your audit notes, your roll-forward schedules, you know, all of that good stuff."
Building Confidence and Reducing Reliance on Institutional Knowledge
For Page, GASB reporting initially felt intimidating. Much of that knowledge resided with Whitehurst, creating concern about how work would continue if she were unavailable.
“That GASB stuff, it’s very, very intimidating,” Page said.
After seeing how DebtBook’s AI tools guide users through the process, Page felt more confident in her ability to keep the work moving.
“Now I feel confident if she were to go on vacation, or, you know, win the lottery and retire, that I would still be a little nervous about managing GASB, but with DebtBook I know it would easily just do it for me,” Page said.
That confidence gives Nash County greater operational continuity. Critical processes no longer depend entirely on one employee’s memory or knowledge of a complicated spreadsheet.
“The AI tool in DebtBook is really just great. It cuts down on the manual processes and acts as your memory.”
More Time, Greater Visibility, and a More Sustainable Process
The County is replacing manual spreadsheets and repeated email follow-ups with a centralized platform that creates a consistent workflow and keeps important information accessible.
For organizations still relying on manual contract processes, Page sees time savings as one of the strongest reasons to make a change.
“What I love about DebtBook is the time-saving piece for me, and just understanding contracts,” she said.
With DebtBook reviewing documents, identifying key terms, tracking dates, and organizing information, the Nash County team can spend less time searching through contracts and more time managing them strategically.
“DebtBook does all of that reading for me and takes me to where I need to go,” Page said. “Their Contract Management tool is excellent.”
See How DebtBook Can Simplify Contract Management
Centralize agreements, uncover important contract details, monitor deadlines, and connect contract management with your broader treasury and accounting processes.
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