Dealership software contract checklist
Dealership software contract checklist: Organize operational and commercial questions for qualified procurement and legal review without interpreting a specific agreement. It has 3 sections and 15 scored items to run against every provider. Start with the section on scope and documents, then work down the list in order and write each answer on the sheet.
What this worksheet is for
Organize operational and commercial questions for qualified procurement and legal review without interpreting a specific agreement. It carries 3 sections: scope and documents, money and term, data, risk and exit: totalling 15 scored items, printable or usable on screen, and it is meant to be run identically against every provider you are considering rather than filled in from memory after a demo. Its longest section, scope and documents, carries 5 of them; the worksheet is a structure for recording evidence, not a certification.
| Sections | 3 |
|---|---|
| Scored items | 15 |
| Format | Printable worksheet |
Scope and documents
Money and term
Data, risk and exit
How to use the dealership software contract checklist
A software contract usually outlasts the people who negotiated it, so this checklist turns the terms into questions you can answer in writing. Start with the money: the monthly fee, setup charges, per-user or per-rooftop pricing, usage fees, payment processing charges and what happens to the price at renewal.
Ask for a cap on increases and for the price of every module you expect to add. Put every quote on the same basis so two vendors can be compared.
Next, check the term and the exit. Write down the length of the agreement, the renewal clause, the notice window and the date by which notice must be sent, and put that date in a shared calendar the day you sign.
Ask what happens to your data and your content if you leave: who can export customer records, in what format, how long the vendor keeps them and whether the export is free. Check who owns domains, accounts and creative work.
Then look at responsibility. Ask what the vendor promises on uptime and support response, what remedy you get if it misses, and who is liable for a data incident.
Confirm which parts of the product are included in the price and which depend on a partner. Read the clauses on automatic renewal, assignment and changes to terms.
Score each line while you read, ask your own counsel about anything unclear, and keep the finished copy with the contract. Good terms are the ones you understood before you signed.
Ask for the standard contract early, before pricing is final. Terms that look minor in a quote, such as a minimum term or a fee for early exit, often sit in the contract only.
Mark every clause you do not understand and ask for a plain explanation in writing. Compare two vendors on the same clauses, not on the price alone.
If a term is negotiable, negotiate it now, because the vendor's flexibility fades after signature. Keep the signed copy where the next manager can find it.
Before you sign, ask one person who was not in the negotiation to read the whole agreement and write down every sentence they could not explain to a new hire, because a clause that confuses a careful reader will also confuse the person who has to enforce it in three years. Read every page.
Getting a comparable result
A worksheet only works if every candidate meets the same one.
| Use the same worksheet for every candidate | Run all 3 sections against every provider: scope and documents, money and term and data, risk and exit. Keep the order and the people in the room the same. A shortlist scored on different questions is not a comparison. |
|---|---|
| Score during, not after | 15 items run from "legal parties and covered rooftops" to "surviving terms and hardware return". Mark each one while the provider is still in front of you. Memory after three demos favors the most recent presenter. |
| Record the evidence, not the impression | Scope and documents is the longest section, with 5 items. Against each one, write down what you were shown. Skip how it felt. "Demonstrated on our data" and "described verbally" are different findings. |
| Separate native, configured, partner and roadmap | For every capability, note which of those four it is. Demos blend them together. The difference decides who supports the feature when it breaks. |
| Bring the departments that will use it | Scope and documents and Data, risk and exit touch different people. Ask the ones who will live with each section to score it. A worksheet filled in only by management measures management's priorities. |
| Keep the completed copy | A finished copy of the dealership software contract checklist records what was promised during selection. Reach for it when the result does not match the demo. |
Operational diligence is all this worksheet organizes. No provider gets certified by it, and it replaces no dealer-specific legal, security, accounting, compliance or technical review.