How to keep track of contract renewals

For each agreement, you'll want to know:

When the current term ends.
Whether it renews on its own, and for how long.
How much notice it needs, and how notice has to be sent.
The last day to act.

1. List everything that renews

Start with what you pay for. Go through the last 12 months of bank and card statements and write down every company that charges you regularly, whether monthly, every few months or once a year. A full year matters: a yearly charge is easy to miss if you only look at one month.

Then add what renews without a regular bill: insurance policies, business licenses and permits, and your lease.

2. Find the paperwork for each one

Work from the agreement itself, not from memory or the sales pitch. If your documents are scattered, our guide on how to organize your business documents shows where they usually hide.

Can't find a copy? Ask the company:

Template

Hi, could you email me a copy of our current agreement, including any amendments, and tell me when it ends? Thank you, [your name], [business name]

For software, the terms are often a page on the company's website or in your account. Save a copy as it reads today, since online terms can change.

3. Find four things in each agreement

When the current term ends. Look for words like "term", "initial term" and "effective date". If it gives a start date and a length, count it out: a 12-month term that starts January 1 ends December 31. Some terms start when the company accepts your account or installs the service, not when you sign. If you can't tell, ask them to confirm the dates in writing.
Whether it renews on its own. Look for "automatically renews", "renewal term" or "successive terms", and note how long each renewal runs. It may be the same as the first term, or a year at a time.
How much notice, and how. Look for "written notice" and a number of days, like "at least 60 days before the end of the then-current term". Write down where notice goes and how it has to be sent: certified mail, an email to a set address, or a form in your account.
What happens if you miss it. Another full term, or month to month? Is there a fee for leaving early?

4. Work out the last day to act

The math is simple: the day the term ends, minus the notice. A term that ends December 31, with 60 days' notice, means the last day to give notice is November 1. The free spreadsheet below does this for you.

Before you trust the date, check for these:

Business days. If the agreement says business days, weekends and holidays don't count, and the last day moves earlier. Count it out on a calendar.
Received, not sent. If notice counts when they receive it, mail takes days. Send it well before the last day.
A window. Some agreements accept notice only within a window. WM's published commercial terms, for example, ask for notice at least 90 days but no more than 180 days before the end of a renewal term of 12 months or more; notice outside that window doesn't count. Write down when the window opens as well as when it closes.
A short window after renewal. Some annual software plans work the other way round. Microsoft says a Microsoft 365 business subscription can be cancelled for a prorated credit or refund only within seven days after it starts or renews. That deadline comes just after the renewal, and it's short.

Not sure which date is right? Use the earlier one.

5. Put it all in one list

Use one list for everything, so there's one place to look. Our free contract renewal tracker is a spreadsheet with a row for each agreement. Fill in the end date and the notice, and it works out the last day to act and the days left, and turns anything within 60 days orange. Sort by the last day to act to see what's coming next. It opens in Excel, Google Sheets and Numbers.

Download the free contract renewal trackerExcel file, no sign-up.

6. Put the dates where someone will see them

A list nobody opens won't warn anyone. For each last day to act, put an entry on a shared calendar, with reminders 60, 30 and 7 days ahead. Sixty days gives you time to get other quotes and decide; seven days is when the notice has to go out.

Name one person for each agreement, and a backup for when they're away. Put where the agreement lives in the calendar entry, so nobody has to hunt for it.

7. Decide before the date, then act on it

At the first reminder, decide: keep it, change it, or cancel.

Want a better price? Ask now. Before the last day to act, you can still leave; after it, you usually can't.
Cancelling or not renewing? Send notice the way the agreement says: in writing, to the address it gives, by the method it names. Keep a copy and proof that it was delivered. Our guide on how to cancel merchant services has a sample notice letter you can adapt.
Keeping it? Write down the new end date and the next last day to act.

8. Keep the list up to date

Add a row the day a new agreement is signed.
When a renewal letter, price change or amendment arrives, check whether it changes the dates.
After each renewal, move the dates forward to the new term.
Once a month, look at what's coming up in the next 90 days.

Why this happens

Renewals are set up to happen on their own. The last day to act falls weeks or months before anything changes, often with no reminder from the company, in an agreement someone signed years ago.

Last reviewed November 2026. General information, not legal or tax advice.