Most companies do not decide to pay for unused software. It happens in small steps. A team starts a trial and nobody ends it. A colleague leaves and their seat stays active. Two departments buy different tools for the same job. Each item is small, yet together they become a line in the budget that nobody can explain.
This article is for a head of finance or operations who wants a simple routine to keep that line under control. It does not need special software. It needs one list, one owner per item and a regular hour in the calendar. If part of the cost comes from AI tools in particular, our budget guide for AI subscriptions moving to credits covers that side; the routine below works for all subscriptions.
Step 1: Build one list from evidence
Do not start by asking people what they use. Start with the places where money actually leaves the company.
- Card and bank statements for the last three to six months, looking for recurring charges.
- Invoices and the accounting system, for subscriptions paid by invoice.
- Expense reports, because people often pay for tools themselves and claim the cost back.
- The list of apps connected to your company login, if you have one.
Put everything in one table with these columns: tool, what it is used for, owner, who uses it, monthly or yearly cost, billing cycle, renewal date and last known use. The first pass is tedious. After that it is mostly maintenance.
Step 2: Name an owner for every line
A subscription with no owner will never be cancelled, because nobody feels it is theirs. Write one person next to each line. This is usually the manager of the team that depends on the tool, not the person who happened to enter the card number.
The owner has two duties: to confirm that the tool is still needed, and to tell finance when that changes. If the owner cannot be found, that is already a finding. Ask around once, and if nobody claims the tool, treat it as a candidate for cancellation.
Step 3: Check use, not opinion
For each line, ask what the evidence says about use. Many tools show the last login per user, or the number of active seats, in their admin page. Look at three things.
- Is the tool used at all? No logins in the last 60 to 90 days is a strong signal.
- Are all seats used? Paying for twenty seats when eleven people log in is a common case.
- Does it overlap? Two tools with the same function, for example two note-taking apps or two screen-recording tools, usually mean one can go.
Where the tool does not show usage, ask the owner directly and agree to look again next month. A guess is acceptable if it is written down and checked later.
Step 4: Decide keep, reduce or cancel
Every line gets one of three decisions, and only these three.
| Decision | When it fits | What happens next |
|---|---|---|
| Keep | Used regularly, clear need, no overlap | Note the next renewal date |
| Reduce | Fewer seats needed, or a cheaper plan covers the real use | Owner changes the plan before the next renewal |
| Cancel | Unused, overlapping or the need has gone | Owner cancels, finance confirms the charge has stopped |
Avoid a fourth option such as "decide later" without a date. If you are unsure, choose reduce or keep with a clear review date, and let the next meeting settle it. Before cancelling, check that the tool does not hold data you need. Export it first, and ask the owner what depends on the tool, because some links are not obvious.
Step 5: Watch the renewal dates
The best moment to cancel is before an annual contract renews. Sort the list by renewal date and look at the next 60 days. Many vendors need notice of 30 days or more, and some renew automatically. Put the cancellation deadline, not only the renewal date, in the calendar. If a tool is under review, tell the owner early enough to act.
Step 6: Estimate the saving in a simple way
A saving estimate does not need to be exact. For each cancelled or reduced line, take the monthly cost before and after and multiply the difference by the months left in the year. Count only money that will actually stop. A cancelled tool that is already paid yearly saves nothing until renewal, and it is honest to say so.
Keep a running total in the same table. Seeing the figure after a few months helps people take the meeting seriously, and it shows whether the effort pays for itself. Do not count a saving if the team has quietly bought a replacement.
A short example
A company with about forty staff runs the first review. Finance builds a list of 34 subscriptions from card statements and invoices. Eight have no clear owner. After a short round of questions, three of those are cancelled. Two project tools turn out to do the same job for different teams, so one team moves and the other contract is cancelled at renewal. A design tool has fifteen seats but only six people log in, so the plan is reduced. The whole review takes about two hours the first time and about an hour in the following months, because only new charges and upcoming renewals need discussion.
Running the meeting each month
Keep the meeting short and the same every time.
- Who: finance or operations leads the meeting, and owners join only for their own lines, or send a short note.
- Agenda: new charges since last month, renewals in the next 60 days, tools flagged for low use, decisions from last time that are not yet done.
- Output: the updated list, with each decision and a name and date for each action.
Also set a simple rule for new purchases: anything recurring is added to the list on the day it is bought, with an owner. This stops the list from falling out of date between meetings.
What to avoid
- Cancelling by cost alone. The most expensive tool may be essential, and a cheap one may hold important data.
- Making it a hunt for blame. If people fear being questioned, they hide tools. Present it as tidying the list.
- Letting the list age. A list updated twice a year is mostly wrong. Monthly is short enough to stay easy.
- Ignoring tools bought by individuals. Expense reports are where these show up.
What to do this week
Download the last three months of card statements and pick out every recurring charge. Put them in a table with an owner column and ask each owner two questions: is it still needed, and who uses it? Book one hour next month for the first review. Even this first pass usually finds something that can be stopped before the next renewal.
Sources
- Our related article linked above.
- The routine, the 60 to 90 day signal and the example are a general working approach, not a standard; adapt the thresholds and notice periods to your own contracts.
