Find unused software licences in one afternoon

Almost every business that grows or changes ends up with unused licences. You pay for them every month, even when nobody uses them. New colleagues quickly get access to the software they need. When someone leaves or changes roles, the licence is rarely cancelled. Nobody does anything wrong. It is simply nobody's job.

The good news: you do not need a big project to clear this up. With these five steps you get a long way in one afternoon.

1. Make a list of all software costs

Ask your bookkeeping for all payments to software suppliers over the past twelve months, including credit card payments. They often include subscriptions nobody remembers.

2. Note the number of paid licences per subscription

You find it on the invoice or in the supplier's admin portal, usually under subscription or billing.

3. Compare with the number of real users

Many tools show in the admin portal when a user last signed in. Not signed in for the past 60 days? Then that licence is a candidate to cancel. Also put the list next to your staff list: are there people on it who no longer work for you?

4. Look for duplicate tools

Two teams that each use their own tool for the same thing, for example for video calls, file sharing or project planning. Pick one, and cancel the other at the next renewal.

5. Check the notice period before you cancel anything

Some suppliers let you reduce licences straight away, others only on the renewal date. So also check when your contract renews and how long the notice period is.

What it can save

An example: a business pays for 50 Google Workspace Business Standard licences, at €13.60 per user per month on an annual plan. 41 of them are in use. The nine unused licences cost €122.40 a month together, or €1,468.80 a year. For one tool.

Work it out for your own licences. Go to the licence calculator

And after that?

The hard part is not the first clear-out, but keeping it up. In six months there will be new colleagues, colleagues who have left and new tools again. So give every contract a fixed owner and check briefly every month whether the number of licences is still right.

In Contracker you see per contract how many seats you pay for and how many are in use, and the owner gets a short seat check every month. Team costs less per month than four of those unused licences. Try it free for 14 days.