The expensive date is not the renewal. It is the notice deadline, typically 30 to 90 days earlier, after which you are committed for another year whatever you decide. This tracker is built around that date.
Track the notice deadline, not the renewal date. Sort by notice deadline. A contract renewing in March with 90 days' notice needs a decision in December, and missing that date removes every option including simply reducing seats.
Pull utilisation before you negotiate. Active users over the last 90 days against licensed seats is the strongest lever you have. Walking into a renewal without it means accepting the vendor's account of your usage.
Start 90 days out on anything material. Renewals negotiated in the final fortnight get the standard uplift. Starting early gives time to evaluate alternatives credibly, which is what actually moves price.
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Sort by notice deadline. The red flag is any row where that date is inside 60 days and no owner has started work.
| Vendor / product | Annual cost | Renewal date | Notice period | Notice deadline | Auto-renews | Licensed seats | Active users (90d) | Utilisation | Owner | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CRM platform | £48,000 | 2027-03-31 | 90 days | 2026-12-31 | Yes | 140 | 96 | 69% | Head of Sales | Reduce seats; start Nov |
| Service desk | £18,000 | 2027-01-15 | 30 days | 2026-12-16 | Yes | 25 | 24 | 96% | IT Director | Renew; seek multi-year discount |
More free templates IT teams use alongside this one.
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Vendor and product, annual cost, renewal date, notice period and the resulting notice deadline, whether it auto-renews, licensed seats against active users, an owner, and the intended action. Sort by notice deadline rather than renewal date.
Ninety days before the notice deadline for anything material. Negotiating in the final weeks means accepting the standard uplift, because there is no time to evaluate alternatives credibly, and credible alternatives are what move price.
Verified utilisation. Active users over 90 days against licensed seats, pulled from the platform rather than supplied by the vendor, converts the conversation from a percentage increase into a discussion about what you actually need.
