Start a vendor register in a spreadsheet
List every vendor under your budget with its owner, contract and notice deadline. Download the CSV, open it in Excel or Google Sheets, and replace the two example rows with your own.
Fill in each column
| Column | What to enter | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | The company you pay. | Northwind Analytics |
| What they provide | One line a colleague would understand. | Dashboards for the weekly commercial review |
| Category | Software, services, infrastructure, facilities and so on. | Software |
| Owner | The one person who decides whether to keep it. | Head of Sales |
| Used by | The teams that depend on it. | Sales; Customer success |
| Contract on file | Signed contract, order form, confirmation email, or none yet. | Order form |
| End date | When the current term ends. Leave blank for evergreen contracts. | 2027-03-31 |
| Notice period (days) | How far ahead you must give notice. | 60 |
| Notice deadline | Calculated: end date minus notice period. Put this date in your calendar. | 2027-01-30 |
| Annual cost | What you pay a year, before tax. | 24000 |
| Currency | Keep each contract in its own currency. | EUR |
| Pricing model | Fixed, per seat, usage based, or unknown. Leave unknown visible. | Fixed |
| Notes | Anything you will want at renewal time. | Ask for a multi-year price |
Use it in four steps
- 1
List the vendors you know
Start from memory, then card statements and accounts payable. A vendor with no contract yet is still worth a row.
- 2
Name one owner for each
Pick the person who would decide whether to renew. Without an owner, renewals happen by default.
- 3
Add contracts as they surface
Fill in end dates and notice periods from order forms and confirmation emails. Leave unknown cells empty rather than guessing.
- 4
Review before each deadline
Sort by notice deadline and look a few weeks ahead every month.
Frequently asked questions
Does the template work in Google Sheets?
Yes. In Google Sheets choose File, Import and upload the CSV. Excel and Numbers open it directly.
Why does the notice deadline show as a number?
Some spreadsheets show a calculated date as a serial number. Format the column as a date and it reads normally.
When does a spreadsheet stop being enough?
Usually past a few dozen contracts, or once several people own budgets and the sheet drifts out of date.