---
name: saas-spend-review
description: Track every SaaS contract's renewal date and seat usage, and flag waste before the invoice hits. Use this skill when: Weekly sweep, plus pre-renewal — Checks the contract tracker every week and before renewals.
---

# Catch the renewal before it auto-renews

Goal: track SaaS contracts and flag renewals and underused seats before they cost money.

Connected tools this skill uses: googlesheets, gmail, slack, stripe.

## When to use

- Weekly sweep, plus pre-renewal — Checks the contract tracker every week and before renewals.
- Or when the user asks directly to track SaaS contracts and flag renewals and underused seats before they cost money.

## Method

Review the SaaS contract book for renewals and underused seats.

1. Pull the SaaS contract book from {{contract_sheet}}: vendor, annual cost,
   seat count, renewal date, owner.
2. For tools with usage data available, compare seats paid for against seats
   actively used in the last {{usage_window_days}} days.
3. Flag any contract renewing within {{notice_window_days}} days, and any
   tool under {{utilization_threshold_pct}}% seat utilization.
4. Before you alert on a flagged renewal, cross-check its renewal date
   against the original contract document in {{drive_folder}}. A stale
   sheet date must never trigger a false alarm.
5. Update the saas-spend-review view with cost, seats, utilization, and
   renewal date for every contract.
6. Post renewal and underutilization flags to {{delivery_channel}} with the
   dollar amount at stake for each.

Do not cancel or downgrade a subscription directly — flag it with the
savings estimate and let the tool owner decide.

## Contract tracker schema

Define the fields every SaaS contract line needs so the tracker stays
consistent across vendors and runs.

## Method
1. List required fields: vendor, annual cost, seat count, renewal
   date, owner, contract document link.
2. Specify the format for each field (currency, date, integer seat
   count).
3. Validate every row in `{{contract_sheet}}` against the schema
   before using it downstream.
4. Flag any row missing a required field rather than treating it as
   zero-cost or non-renewing.
5. Keep the schema versioned so adding a field doesn't silently break
   existing rows.

## Rules
- Never treat a missing renewal date or cost as "no action needed" —
  flag it as incomplete instead.
- Every contract row must link to its source document in
  `{{drive_folder}}` for later cross-check.
- Required field list and formats (set on first run, then stored in
  memory).
- Normalize currency figures to one currency before any cost
  comparison.

## Output
A validated row set: `{vendor, annual_cost, seats, renewal_date,
owner, doc_link, complete}`.

## Utilization threshold policy

Decide what seat-usage rate counts as underused, by tool category,
and flag contracts under it.

## Method
1. For each tool with usage data, pull seats paid for and seats
   actively used over `{{usage_window_days}}` days.
2. Compute utilization percent independently — active seats divided
   by paid seats, not a cached figure from the sheet.
3. Compare the computed rate against that tool category's
   utilization threshold.
4. Flag any tool under threshold, with the dollar value of unused
   seats attached.
5. For tools with no usage data available, mark utilization as
   unknown, not zero.

## Rules
- Never flag a tool as underused without usage data to support it —
  mark unknown instead of guessing.
- Never cancel or downgrade a subscription directly — flag it with
  the savings estimate and let the tool owner decide.
- Utilization threshold per tool category (set on first run, then
  stored in memory).
- Recompute the utilization rate each run; never carry forward a
  stale prior calculation.

## Output
A flag list: `{vendor, seats_paid, seats_used, utilization_pct,
dollars_at_stake}`.

## Renewal notice windows

Surface a renewal far enough ahead that the team can still cancel or
renegotiate.

## Method
1. Compute days until renewal for every contract from
   `{{contract_sheet}}`'s renewal date.
2. Compare that figure against `{{notice_window_days}}` for the
   contract's category.
3. For any contract inside the window, cross-check the renewal date
   against the original contract document in `{{drive_folder}}`
   before alerting.
4. If the sheet date and the document date disagree, hold the alert
   and flag the discrepancy instead of firing on the stale value.
5. Compose the alert with the dollar value of the contract and the
   days remaining.

## Rules
- Never alert on a renewal date pulled only from the sheet — always
  cross-check the source document first.
- Hold the alert, don't guess, when the sheet and the contract
  document disagree on the date.
- Notice window length per contract category (set on first run, then
  stored in memory).
- Never cancel or downgrade a subscription directly — flag it with
  the savings estimate and let the tool owner decide.

## Output
A renewal alert list: `{vendor, renewal_date, days_remaining,
dollar_value}`, posted to `{{delivery_channel}}`.

## Recurring jobs

This skill pairs with scheduled jobs. Offer to set each one up; only create the ones the user approves:

- Weekly SaaS contract sweep (Weekly) — https://eluu.ai/cookbook/saas-spend-review/jobs-setup/weekly-saas-contract-sweep.md
- Pre-renewal check (Daily on weekdays, watching for contracts inside the notice window) — https://eluu.ai/cookbook/saas-spend-review/jobs-setup/pre-renewal-check.md