Renewal Tracking Checklist (Free Download)

1. Build one complete list

• Gather renewals from every department, location and legal entity, not just the ones you remember.
• Include every type: licenses, permits, certifications, contracts, subscriptions, insurance policies, certificates of insurance, registrations, inspections, warranties, domains and SSL certificates.
• Record for each: what it is, who or what it belongs to, the issuer, the number, the expiration date, any earlier notice or action deadline, and the cost.
• Organize by location, department or client, so each team sees its own items.
• Attach or file the current license, certificate, policy or signed contract with each item.

How to find everything, step by step: build a license and permit inventory.

2. Give every item an owner

• Name one owner who gets the renewal done, and a backup who covers absences.
• Name one central coordinator who sees every item, across all teams and locations.
• For employee credentials, make the employee responsible and copy their manager.

More: who should own renewals.

3. Set reminders that leave enough time

• For each item type, list every renewal step: inspections, classes, continuing education, quotes, approvals, signatures, payment.
• Set the first reminder before the earliest step can start, plus follow-ups as the date gets closer.
• For contracts that renew automatically, remind before the notice deadline, not the end date.
• Send reminders to the person who must act, and copy someone who will notice if nothing happens.

More: how far ahead to set renewal reminders.

4. When you renew

• Confirm current requirements with the issuer: rules and fees change.
• Save the new document and the confirmation number with the item.
• Update the dates and cost, and make sure the next reminders are set.
• Send updated certificates to customers, landlords or agencies that require them.

5. Review on a schedule

• Monthly: look at everything due in the next 90 days and check in with each owner.
• When people join, leave or change roles: reassign their items the same day.
• When you open or close a location, sign a contract or buy a vehicle: add or retire its items.
• Yearly: clean up the list, check every owner and backup, and review reminder timing.

6. If something has already lapsed

• Contact the issuer right away: ask how to reinstate, whether you may keep operating, and what penalties apply.
• Stop any work the lapse affects until it is resolved, if the rules require it.
• Fix the cause: add the missing item, owner or reminder so it doesn't happen again.

More: what to do when a license has lapsed.

Turning the checklist into a system

A checklist tells you what good looks like; something still has to send the reminders and keep the records. The free renewal tracking spreadsheet template is a simple start, and the complete guide to renewal management explains when it's time to move to software. RenewalTracker does every step on this checklist for you: one list with owners, automated email reminders, documents on file and history of every renewal. See the features.