Land management software or LMS is a very handy tool for an organization that is involved in large-scale land acquisitions, development and usage for various purposes. The system almost completely automates all the financial, operational, legal and regulatory compliance requirements. Every such LMS has a set of features useful for brokerages, the oil and gas industry, and for government agencies or records divisions with huge spatial management requirements.

In general, most of the functions or modules can be classified under either acquisitions or administration. Both categories have many components that are crucial to automating entire divisions of areas of operations. The lease module is a good example to illustrate how this works, since it has functions that help facilitate both the transaction and the subsequent management.

The initial phase of the transaction before the lease execution involves heavy paperwork, including offer letters, amendments and contracts. The LMS must have the capability to provide the necessary forms and documents for standard leases as well as other types such as receiverships, remainder and third-party leases, etc. Once the transaction is concluded, the system must be programmed to produce LPRs, banker's drafts and payment checks in a timely fashion.

Scanned documents in different formats have to be saved within the system as data. The LMS must be capable of mass updates to all leases, if such changes are required across the board. Lease status tracking and custom workflow configuration capability are desired features.

Integration of disparate modules makes the LMS a lot more efficient. It will mean that data entered at any point is instantly promulgated to all relevant databases that need to be updated. It removes the need to print out everything, store it in files and push it around manually until to all the divisions. Automating this process makes the data more accurate, reduces the costs of redundant entry of the same data in different places, and earns green credentials for the organization due to reduced use of paper.

Apart from leases, specific modules that are essential include GIS mapping and tract management. The system also needs to have two separate system administration areas. One is for user security customization to create user groups that have clearly defined access levels and permissions. The other one is for report generation, which needs to have both standard and customizable reporting capabilities.

Every LMS has standard reporting capabilities that provide comprehensive details about leaseholds, rental payments, expiration, etc. These reports must be scheduled for delivery and the system should be able to generate and deliver the right reports to each user as required, and without any human intervention. Users with the necessary authorizations should also be able to generate custom reports to include tract and ownership data, along with exploration information.

Innovations and the latest cutting-edge technology have made land management software more productive and useful. An LMS package can now be made available to company users as a password-secured web-based application accessible on any device such as a tablet, laptop or smart phone. Given such unlimited availability round the clock at any location, LMS users will be much more productive and are able to make instant and informed decisions out in the field.