Free tool
What does manual renewal tracking really cost?
Spreadsheets look free. Add up the hours spent chasing dates and the cost of the renewals that slip through, and the picture changes. Enter your numbers below.
RenewalTracker · Missed renewal cost estimate · · www.renewaltracker.com/renewal-cost-calculator
Sent. Check your inbox
We sent your results to . If they aren't there in a few minutes, check your spam folder.
Where the defaults come from
Each number matches a field above. Change any default to your own figure. The defaults of 10 Groups and 5 people match our most popular plan, Basic Plus.
- Hours per item, 1.5: our own assumption for finding dates, following up with owners, and updating records. Use your team's real figure. For context, the McKinsey Global Institute estimated that managers and professionals spend nearly 20% of the workweek looking for internal information or tracking down colleagues who can help (McKinsey Global Institute, The social economy, July 2012).
- Hourly cost, $47: U.S. private industry employers paid an average of $46.89 per hour worked in wages and benefits in June 2026 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation). Costs vary by region and industry (BLS costs by industry). If you choose another currency, this default and the $500 cost of a miss are converted at the European Central Bank reference rate of November 11, 2026 (ECB euro reference rates); use your local figures where you have them.
- Missed or late, 2%, and $500 per miss: our own conservative assumptions. No public study measures these for all industries. For context, in a 2021 UK survey of 100 in-house lawyers, commissioned by a contract software vendor, almost half said their companies miss automatic contract renewals, averaging just under 2.5 missed renewals in the previous 12 months. At the low end, a West Virginia business filing its annual report late in 2021 paid a $50 late fee on top of the $25 filing fee (West Virginia Press Association).
- Time saved, 60%: in line with the 50% or more that RenewalTracker customers report, and below Ed Bell Construction, which does the same work in about a quarter of the time.
- Coordination, 4 hours per Group and 2 per full user each year: our own assumptions for the extra work that comes with more areas and more people: collecting each area's dates and documents, keeping its list current, handing work over and merging spreadsheets. No public study measures this. Use your team's real figures. With RenewalTracker, we assume coordination takes half as long: Groups and people still need setting up and looking after, but reminders and one shared list take away most of the chasing and merging.
How the estimate works
Staff time on items = items × hours per item per year × hourly cost.
Coordination = (Groups × hours per Group + full users × hours per full user) × hourly cost.
Missed renewals = items × share missed per year × average cost of a miss.
With RenewalTracker = staff time on items reduced by the time-saved percentage, plus half of the coordination cost, plus the price of the smallest plan with enough Groups and full users (each person who adds, edits and manages renewal items is a full user). Beyond our standard plans, the plan is priced by quote. Automated reminders are assumed to eliminate missed renewals.
Currency: plans are priced and billed in US dollars. In another currency, the plan price is converted at the European Central Bank reference rate of November 11, 2026; everything else is in the amounts you enter.
Pays for itself = plan price ÷ (yearly savings before the plan ÷ 12).
Back for every $1 = yearly savings before the plan ÷ plan price. Over 3 years = yearly savings × 3, at today’s numbers. Hours freed = hours a year spent manually − hours a year with RenewalTracker; a work week is 40 hours.
“With RenewalTracker, we're doing the same task more efficiently with better results in about a quarter of the time it took before.”
3,100+ items500+ vehicles
Read the case study →Trusted by teams across a wide range of industries. See the industries we serve.
About the calculator
How is the cost of manual renewal tracking calculated?
The calculator adds three costs: staff time on items (items tracked × hours per item per year × loaded hourly cost), coordination (hours a year for each Group, such as a location or department, and for each full user, × hourly cost), and missed-renewal losses (items × the share missed each year × the average cost of a miss, such as a late fee, penalty, lapse in coverage or unwanted auto-renewal). It then compares that total with the cost with RenewalTracker: staff time on items reduced by the time-saved percentage, half of the coordination cost, and the smallest plan that fits your Groups and full users.
What does a missed renewal typically cost?
It varies widely: late fees for a business license may be modest, while a lapsed professional license, expired insurance coverage, an expired permit that stops work on a job site, or an unwanted software auto-renewal can cost thousands. Use your own numbers — the defaults are deliberately conservative.
How much time does RenewalTracker save?
Customers tell us they cut renewal-related work by 50% or more. Ed Bell Construction gets better results in about a quarter of the time it took before.
Put a stop to missed renewals
Plans from $49/month. Free 14-day trial.