Aronson will present a complimentary webinar providing tips, guidance and best practices to help government contractors efficiently close out their cost type contracts.

The webinar will be Wednesday, Dec. 10, at 11 a.m. Eastern time.

Due to the government’s legendary incurred cost audit backlog, many government contractors have never experienced a contract closeout, Aronson says on its website. As a result of DCAA’s recent emphasis on completing incurred cost audits, contractors are starting to receive their final indirect rate letters and preparing for closeout.

Contract experts Tom Marcinko and Donna Dominguez will address:

• Incurred Cost Submission/Final Rates
• Closing Out Subcontracts
• Final Invoices
  • Fee Retainage
  • Indirect Rate Variances
• Closeout Forms and Certifications
• Quick Close Outs

Register for the webinar.

IBM offers a complimentary on-demand webinar on how to optimize proper contract governance across the global organization.

Contracts are the foundation of every business relationship, IBM says on its website. But today, most businesses can’t ensure that the proper protections are contained in each and every agreement, as many legal departments don’t have the staff or resources to examine every single contract under management.

This webinar covers: Why flexibility matters to contracting for your people, your processes and the supporting technology, how to leverage contract management solutions to fit the ever-changing landscape of your enterprise, and what your peers are doing today to keep extending the value of contracting.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

Selectica offers a free white paper on integration of contract management as the key to transforming spend data into process efficiency, performance analysis and savings.

Contracts frequently provide information that is critical to determining who and how much business should be awarded to various suppliers. Bringing all the information together transforms spend data into sourcing intelligence that can be used to inform buy-side procurement decisions. Many centralized procurement organizations are integrating contract data into their processes and technology for strategic purchasing, Selectica says on its website.

This white paper discusses how to:

• Create greater trust and transparency with suppliers and shareholders
• Locate additional savings and cost avoidance opportunities
• Streamline moving from award decision to actual contract
• Create a solid foundation for spend and performance analysis

Download the white paper.

Merrill DataSite has posted a complimentary white paper titled “Budget needs for contract management solutions: How to set budget expectations and understand vendor pricing models.”

Determining what a new contract management system really costs can be elusive, Merrill DataSite says on its website. “If you’ve talked with a few vendors, you may have found them maddeningly vague when it comes to cost, leaving you with more questions than concrete answers.

“There’s a reason vendors are reluctant to throw out a number that may be misleading. Companies’ contract management needs are so diverse that putting a price tag on meeting them is no quick, simple thing. Yet that ballpark number is precisely what you need, in order to advocate and build a case for a new system.”

The new white paper can help readers understand the cost drivers and the potential scale of budget required to meet a company’s needs.

Download the white paper.

Practical Law presents an on-demand discussion with Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP about IP and information technology considerations in the context of negotiating and drafting complex corporate transactions for in-house lawyers and their counsel.

Presenters of this webinar address conducting IP due diligence, special considerations for carve-outs and spin-offs, potential effects of various transaction structures on IP assets and agreements, and more.

Speakers from Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP are Daniel Glazer, Henry Lebowitz and Jason Greenberg. The moderator is Patricia Harley, Head Editor, Practical Law Intellectual Property & Technology.

Free registration is required.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

Stefan Thomas and Evan Schwartz have posted a complimentary white paper detailing smart oracles, which can provide a simple, flexible way to implement “smart contracts.”

Smart oracles can be used to encode business logic, laws, and other agreed-upon rules, according to the white paper.

“Smart oracles build on the idea of oracles, or entities that provide smart contracts with information about the state of the outside world, and combine information gathering with contract code execution,” the authors write. “In such a system, rules can be written in any programming language and contracts can interact with any service that accepts cryptographically signed commands. This includes, but is not limited to, cryptocurrency networks. We introduce an implementation of smart oracles, called Codius (based on the Latin “ius” meaning “law”), which uses Google’s Native Client for code sandboxing.”

Read the white paper.

EY offers a complimentary on-demand webcast discussing proposed International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) modifications to IFRS 4 Insurance Contracts after the Exposure Draft received extensive comments from preparers and industry practitioners.

On its website, EY says that in recent deliberations following the receipt of comments, the IASB has reached tentative decisions about recognizing the contractual service margin in profit or loss. Further tentative decisions have been reached concerning fixed-fee service contracts, significant insurance risk, portfolio transfers and business combinations.

This webcast discusses the background to the ED and the current project status. Our panel will review the insurance industry’s responses to IFRS 4, and outline the IASB’s path towards finalising the project, focussing on key issues, challenges and operational impacts, and on what the IASB expects from the insurance industry.

Register for the webcast.

International law firm offers a free on-demand webinar that serves as a guide to managing risk before, during and after disputes arise in international contracts.

On its website, Eversheds says the webinar focuses on various issues which commonly arise in international contracts and will provide practical tips on how to deal with them by reference to recent cases.

Richard Little and Alison Brearey are the presenters for the session.

Eversheds is one of the world’s largest corporate law firms. It maintains more than 40 offices based in the world’s major economic centers, with a proven track record of delivering consistently high quality legal services across jurisdictions.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

When it comes to the so-called “boilerplate,” how much does the selection of one state over another matter?

Inside Counsel has posted a discussion of the boilerplate terms used in contracts in California, Delaware, Illinois and New York, explaining the manner in which provisions may be handled differently by courts.

The article addresses the fundamental issue of how the parties’ contract will be interpreted and to what extent courts can go beyond the words of the parties’ written agreement to give effect to their intentions.

Steven D. Atlee, a partner in Winston & Strawn’s Complex Commercial Litigation practice, wrote the article.

Read the article.

Baker Tilly hosts a complimentary on-demand webinar on how to analyze a contract for project risk and learn how to develop a risk mitigation plan.

The webinar includes a case study review of guarantee maximum price, stipulated sum, and unit priced contracts.

Topics also include: What a contract risk analysis is, decomposing a contract, contract assessment red flags, and refining contract content.

On its website, Baker Tilly says learning objectives include gaining the ability to assess a contract for risk, recognize unfavorable contract provisions, uncover contract omissions, and identify project controls or actions to help mitigate construction project risk.

Watch the webinar and download the slides.

Revitas and IACCM present a complimentary on-demand webinar on channel sales management and the tools and systems that will provide effective administrative oversight and information.

Maintaining balance between the opportunities offered by your sales channels (both direct and indirect) and the associated risks they generate is a critical element of market strategy, Revitas says on its website. Gaining visibility into processes, ensuring seamless integration between systems, and properly managing the overall process can be a monumental task.

Topics in this webinar include:

• Best practices for implementing an effective channel management system
• Strategies for identifying essential features and functionality
• Tactics for adapting internal processes and procedures
• Methods for conducting and applying meaningful analysis

Watch the on-demand webinar.

Onvia has posted a complimentary report providing tips for safeguarding your small-business program eligibility in federal contract teaming arrangements.

Maria Panichelli, an associate at Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman PC, wrote the article.

Epstein Becker Green will present a complimentary webinar reviewing 2014 developments in non-compete contracts and what employers should expect and prepare for in 2015.

The webinar will be Tuesday, Dec. 16, at 1 p.m. Eastern time.

On its website, the firm says the webinar will cover recent decisions regarding what constitutes adequate consideration for a non-compete.

Other topics will include the trend toward criminal prosecution of trade secret theft, especially in the international context; interesting decisions determining choice-of-law issues; and new and pending state and federal legislation.

Register for the webinar.

Harvard Law School’s Program on Negotiation is offering a free copy of “Win-Win or Hardball: Learn Top Strategies from Sports Contract Negotiations.”

The document offers such contract negotiation advice as:

• Share information – Instead of assuming your interests are directly opposed to your counterparts’ interests, provide information that could lead to wise tradeoffs

• Reject the “fixed pie” – It’s easy to assume that the pie of resources to allocate is fixed; when in fact there are opportunities to expand the pie by creating value

• Avoid anchoring on the first offer – Don’t become overly affected by the first number entered into the negotiation

• Set concrete goals – By setting concrete goals in advance, you won’t be swayed by other’s influence tactics, vivid stories, and hard-bargaining techniques

• Take my time – When you’re pressed into making snap decisions, your thinking will be more intuitive and less rational

• Avoid dwelling on the past – Past investments should rarely affect our decisions about the future

Download the document.

Selectica will present a free webinar on the value of Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) systems.

The webinar will be Wednesday, Nov. 19, at 11 a.m. Pacific time.

On its website, Selectica says that, when properly managed, contracts enable leaders to effectively grow, protect and monetize their operations. But too many departments operate in silos with separate Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) systems.

Andrew Bartels of Forrester Research, Inc. and Selectica’s Patrick Stakenas will be speakers at the event.

Topics will include:

• The strategic business value you can gain from adopting an ECLM approach
• Key CLM functionality for point and enterprise applications
• Benefits and paybacks of linking contracts to multiple business processes and transactional systems

Register for the webinar.

Baker Tilly has posted an article and video on several changes the U.S. General Services Administration has announced for the Contractor Assistance Visits (CAVs) performed by its Industrial Operations Analysts (IOAs).

On its website, Baker Tilly says that what amounts to perhaps the biggest change yet, IOAs will review task orders issued under GSA professional services contracts to ensure that the resources performing work on GSA orders meet minimum labor category qualifications, was announced in the fall 2014 issue of “GSA Steps.”

“While this announcement serves as specific notice to GSA Schedule contractors to pay credence to the way the price, sell, and staff their projects, it also speaks to a broader trend that all professional services contractors should be aware of:  the Government is paying close attention to the services that it buys, and the Government’s enforcement community is focusing in on the qualifications of the resources providing those services as well as the pricing of those services,” the firm says on its website.

Read the article and watch the video.

Robert Braun and Stanley Gibson, partners at Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP, have posted a white paper that they developed for Factors and Specialty Lenders to guide them in gaining a competitive edge by using electronic delivery methods, electronic records and electronic signatures.

The white paper is posted on RPost.

In its description of the publication, RPost says a variety of businesses have adopted electronic methods to deliver, accept and store documents and legal notices. The driving force behind the decision is generally the efficiency and lower cost of utilizing electronic, instead of physical, documentation.

“Among the industries that have been reluctant to enter into electronic transactions on a broad basis are factors, asset-based lenders and other specialized financial intermediaries,” RPost says. “Because concerns that arise when moving from paper, fax, and mail to electronic delivery and electronic signatures are real, this paper explores the issues and discusses how a reliable document delivery system with proper implementation of electronic record-keeping and electronic transactions is an effective solution.”

Read the white paper.

LexisNexis has posted an on-demand webinar on working with contracts, covering such topics as financial ramifications of falsely reporting employment and the pitfalls and best practices for procurement planning.

Other topics included in this 95-minute webinar include solicitation development best practices, contract performance monitoring, lessons learned when working with government agencies, and minimizing legal risks in use of contractors.

Speakers for the event are Kevin Mullen of Jenner & Block; Michael Elkon, Counsel, Fisher Phillips; and Mark E. Davis, Assistant General Counsel, General Dynamics.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

Merrill DataSite has posted a complimentary white paper titled “Contract management and business needs: Finding the driving business need in your company.”

The white paper addresses what it will take to finally convince senior management that it’s time to take action. One step is to identify the driving business need in your organization – the next is to demonstrate how improved contract management can support that business need.

What’s tricky is that executives don’t always articulate that driving business need directly. But you can identify it by picking up cues – in executive decisions, priorities and company culture, Merrill DataSite says.

Download the white paper.