Document Review

Summarize and flag risks in a commercial contract

Get a finance-focused summary of a vendor or customer contract: key terms with section references, a calendar of financial obligations, flags against your standard positions and questions for counsel.

Time
About 15 minutes
Level
Beginner
Works with
Claude, ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Gemini

What you need

  • The contract as a PDF or Word file, including exhibits and amendments
  • Your standard positions: payment terms, liability cap, auto-renewal, termination and so on

Steps

  1. Check the contract's confidentiality clause and your AI policy before uploading.
  2. Upload the contract with all exhibits and amendments.
  3. Paste the prompt with your standard positions filled in.
  4. Verify each term against the section cited, and send the questions to counsel for material contracts.

The prompt

Fill in the highlighted brackets
Act as a finance reviewer, not legal counsel. Review the attached contract.

Our standard positions:
- Payment terms: [e.g. net 30]
- Liability cap: [e.g. 12 months of fees]
- Auto-renewal: [e.g. allowed only with 60+ days' notice]
- Termination: [e.g. for convenience with 30 days' notice]
- [other positions]

Provide:
1. A one-paragraph plain-English summary.
2. A key terms table: parties, effective date and term, renewal and notice period, pricing and escalators, payment terms, minimum commitments, termination rights, liability cap, indemnities, insurance requirements, assignment, governing law. Cite the section number for each. If a term is not in the document, write "Not found" rather than inferring.
3. A calendar of financial obligations: dates, amounts and notice deadlines.
4. Deviations from our standard positions, rated High, Medium or Low.
5. Accounting considerations to evaluate, such as an embedded lease or revenue recognition terms.
6. Questions to send to legal counsel.

Review before you use it

  • Each term was checked against the cited section.
  • All exhibits, schedules and amendments were included in the upload.
  • Notice deadlines are on the calendar.
  • Material contracts went to an attorney. This workflow doesn't replace legal review.

Never paste into an AI tool

  • Contracts whose confidentiality terms prohibit sharing with third-party services
  • Use a business or enterprise AI plan that does not train on your data, and follow your company's AI policy.

Educational content, not professional advice. AI output can be wrong; review it before relying on it. Disclaimer