Renewal timing
Running a renewal review
A renewal review works backwards from the notice deadline, not forwards from the end date. Establish the last date you can act, confirm what the agreement actually commits you to, check what changes if it renews, and then decide. Running the steps in that order means the decision happens while options still exist.
The Vendor Squeezer team. Last reviewed 2026-08-08. General guidance on contract structures, not legal advice, and not a statement about any particular vendor's terms.
Step one: establish the deadline
Before anything else, work out the last date you can act. That is the end of the current term minus the notice period, and it is the only date that constrains the rest of the review. If it has already passed, the review changes into a different exercise, which is planning for the cycle after this one.
Step two: confirm what is committed
Read the commitment document rather than the invoice. The invoice tells you what was billed; the agreement tells you what was promised, which is what binds you next year. Establish the committed amount for each remaining period, the quantity, and whether any minimum applies.
Where several documents are in play, confirm which one carries the money. A framework agreement sets terms and commits nothing, so reading it alone will not tell you what you owe.
Step three: check what changes on renewal
Renewal is rarely a continuation of identical terms. Check for a price change and any cap on it, a discount that applied only to the initial term, and a quantity that has grown during the term and would carry forward.
- Does the price change on renewal, and is any increase bounded?
- Was any discount limited to the initial term?
- What quantity would the renewal commit to?
- Does the renewal period differ from the original term?
Step four: gather the usage picture, then decide
The commercial question is whether what you are committing to matches what you use. That means asking the team that uses the service, not inferring it from the licence count. Seats provisioned and seats used are different numbers, and only one of them is a reason to renew at the current quantity.
Then decide, and record the decision with its reason. The reason is what makes next year's review faster, and it is the only defence against relitigating the same question annually with no memory of the last answer.
Questions to ask about your own agreement
- 1.What is the last date I can give notice, and how much time is left?
- 2.What does the agreement commit to for each remaining period, in what currency?
- 3.What changes if this renews: price, quantity, term length?
- 4.How much of what we are paying for is actually used?
- 5.What did we decide last cycle and why?
Common questions
How far ahead should a renewal review start?
Far enough ahead that the notice deadline is still in front of you when the decision is made, which depends on the notice period and on how long your own decision takes. Working backwards from the deadline gives you the answer for that specific agreement rather than a generic rule.
What if usage data is not available?
Record that it is not, and ask the team directly. An estimate labelled as an estimate is usable. An estimate presented as a measurement is how a renewal gets justified on a number nobody checked.
Put this against your own vendors
Record the term, the notice deadline, and the exit cost against the vendor once, and the next renewal review starts from an answer instead of a search. Free while in early access.