JOHANNESBURG, October 2026. PaperTrail, the content management platform from Egis Software, is highlighting how its Contract Management module lets legal teams work in Microsoft Word while every draft, comment and approval stays inside one controlled environment. The module now uses the Web Open Platform Interface protocol, known as WOPI, to connect familiar Office editing with PaperTrail’s contract workflow. The timing is practical: October is when many South African businesses start finalising supplier agreements, service contracts and renewals so they are signed before the December slowdown.
Legal and administrative teams rarely struggle with the wording of a contract alone. The friction usually sits in the process around it: downloading a file to edit it, emailing versions back and forth, forgetting to check a document back in, and losing track of which copy holds the latest comments. PaperTrail’s approach to contract management software is to remove those steps rather than add new tools for people to learn.
Word, without leaving the platform
With PaperTrail Contract Management, legal teams use the applications they already know, including MS Word, while enjoying a seamless integration with the PaperTrail platform. Comments can be tracked and reviewed in real time in Word without ever leaving the PaperTrail Contract Management environment.
The WOPI protocol is what makes this possible. By using WOPI, PaperTrail Contract Management offers a smoother, more secure and more collaborative contract workflow, so teams can concentrate on legal and business priorities instead of manual processes. One visible result is that there is no need to manually check documents in and out. Users open a contract, work on it and move on, while the platform keeps the record in order.
That matters most when several people need the same agreement at once. A reviewer in the legal department, a manager approving commercial terms and an administrator preparing the document for signature can each work from the current version, rather than reconciling separate copies saved to desktops and attachments. Fewer copies also means fewer chances for an outdated draft to be signed by mistake, a risk that rises when teams are rushing to close agreements before the end of the year.
For teams that have spent years managing contracts through shared drives and email attachments, this changes the daily routine. The file being edited is the file in the system, and the history of changes lives with it.
Initiator, reviewer, signatory
PaperTrail structures contract work around three roles: the initiator who starts the agreement, the reviewer who checks it and the signatory who approves it. Contracts can be initiated from ad-hoc or default templates, which helps organisations keep standard terms consistent across departments while still allowing for one-off agreements.
Collaboration is not limited to internal staff. External counter parties can be brought into the process, so negotiation happens within the same controlled workflow rather than across separate inboxes. Combined with Word editing through WOPI, this means a contract can move from first draft to final version without being exported or rebuilt along the way.
Signing built into the workflow
Once terms are agreed, contracts are legally signed with the built-in PaperTrail Sign, using whichever of the four electronic signature types an organisation prefers. PaperTrail Sign supports Advanced Electronic Signatures, biometric signatures, ordinary electronic signatures and digital signatures. Access can be managed through OTP gateways and role management, supporting documents can be attached for signatories, and signatures are saved automatically with a clear audit trail.
Because signing sits inside the same platform as drafting and review, the signed contract does not need to be uploaded again or filed separately. It is already where the team will look for it.
Renewals, access and reporting
As full contract management lifecycle software, PaperTrail covers more than drafting and signing. Its contract module includes workflow, collaboration, approval, signing, renewals, addendums, controlled access, and reporting and analytics, all held in a secure repository. Legal and admin teams are alerted so they do not miss an important renewal or expiry date, which is especially useful at the end of the year when many agreements roll over at once.
Pricing is flexible, with models designed to suit an organisation’s contract volumes and business processes. That allows a small legal department and a large procurement function to use the same platform on terms that match how much they use it.
Part of a wider document platform
PaperTrail Contract Management is one module within a broader electronic content management system that Egis Software has developed and supported since 1998. The same platform offers document storage and retrieval, routing and workflow, eForms, group email handling, bulk capture and optical character recognition, as well as dedicated solutions such as CreditorsHub for accounts payable, PeopleHub for human resources, LeaseHub for property leasing and TravelHub for the travel industry.
Organisations can implement PaperTrail on premise or in the cloud, and the hosted option reduces upfront IT investment. Egis Software provides business analysis, implementation, training and first, second and third level support through service level agreements, with a help desk offering 24/7 support for critical systems. Custom development and third-party system integration are available on request, and PaperTrail Sign also offers an API for integration with back-end systems.
A local option for South African legal teams
For organisations comparing contract management software in South Africa, PaperTrail offers a locally developed platform with a Johannesburg head office and branches in Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth. Organisations whose feedback appears on the PaperTrail website include Old Mutual, the South African Reserve Bank, CBI-Electric, Fair Cape Dairies and IHS Property Management.
With the final quarter of 2026 under way, legal and procurement teams preparing their year-end contract work can arrange a demonstration of PaperTrail Contract Management to see WOPI-based Word editing, the initiator, reviewer and signatory workflow, and built-in signing in practice.
To learn more about PaperTrail and its contract management module, visit https://www.papertrail.co.za/.
About PaperTrail
PaperTrail is an electronic content management system made by Egis Software, the trading name of Mailcomp (Pty) Ltd. Egis Software was founded in 1998 by Alon Feldman and Troy Ferraris and is based at 138 Athol Street, Highlands North, Johannesburg. The company has branches in Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and New Zealand, with strategic partners in Mauritius, Botswana, Ghana and the United Kingdom. Its product range covers document management, PaperTrail Sign, PaperTrail Contract Management, CreditorsHub, PeopleHub, LeaseHub and TravelHub, and it can be deployed on premise or hosted in the cloud.
Media Contact
PaperTrail
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +27 11 880 4411
Website: https://www.papertrail.co.za
