The date that matters in a SaaS contract is not the renewal date. It is the notice deadline, often 30 to 90 days earlier, after which an auto-renewing contract rolls over at whatever price the vendor sets. This tracker calculates that deadline for every contract and pairs it with seat utilisation, so the renewal conversation starts with data and time to act. Pair it with our software category guides to see which tools fit your team. Once you have a shortlist, check the vendor profiles and the finance glossary for unfamiliar terms, then use our head-to-head comparisons before your first demo.
Built for: Controller, FP&A manager, Procurement lead, IT lead
Build the inventory from AP and card data. Pull twelve months of software spend from AP and corporate cards. Card-paid subscriptions are usually the ones missing from any existing list.
Read the contract for the notice period. Take the notice period and auto-renew terms from the signed order form or master agreement, not the vendor's portal. Enter notice as days so the deadline calculates.
Update seat usage quarterly. Pull active users for the last 30 days from each admin console. Utilisation below your threshold goes into the renewal decision.
Review the calendar monthly. Sort by notice deadline and start the decision checklist for anything with a deadline in the next 120 days.
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Enter dates as YYYY-MM-DD and notice in days. Notice deadline = renewal date minus notice days; format the column as a date if it shows a number.
| Vendor / product | Owner | Annual cost | Renewal date | Notice (days) | Notice deadline | Auto-renew (Y/N) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AP automation platform | Controller | 42,000 | 2027-01-31 | 60 | 2026-12-02 | Y |
| Design tool | Marketing ops | 18,600 | 2026-12-15 | 30 | 2026-11-15 | Y |
Calculated in the CSV: Notice deadline = renewal date - notice days.
More free templates finance teams use alongside this one.
Software selections go wrong when the team scores whichever vendor demoed best last. A weighted scorecard agreed before the first demo, scored against written definitions, keeps the decision tied to what the business needs. Price stays out of the weighted score and is compared separately as three-year total cost, so a cheap tool cannot hide a missing must-have.
A procurement policy exists to answer one question before money is committed: has the right person agreed to this spend, at a fair price, on acceptable terms? This template ties quote requirements, purchase orders, and contract review to spend thresholds, so small purchases move quickly and large ones get the scrutiny they need.
An accrual is only as good as the reasoning behind the number. Auditors do not object to estimates, they object to estimates nobody can explain. This schedule records the basis for every accrued expense next to the amount, tracks prepaid amortization with live formulas, and compares last month's accruals to the actual invoices so your estimates get better over time.
Keep one list of every software contract with owner, annual cost, renewal date, notice period, and auto-renew terms, and calculate the notice deadline as the renewal date minus the notice days. Review it monthly, sorted by notice deadline, and start renewal decisions well before that date.
It is the number of days before the renewal date by which you must tell the vendor you do not want to renew, or want to change the terms. If the contract auto-renews and notice is not given in time, it typically renews for another term on the stated terms.
Divide active users, commonly those who logged in during the last 30 days, by the number of paid seats. Most admin consoles report last-login dates. Low utilisation is a prompt to reduce seats at renewal, if the contract allows reductions.
