The Cost of Missed Renewals
One missed renewal can erase months of pipeline effort. The good news: renewals are predictable if you track the right data. This guide shows you how to run a quarterly renewal audit so revenue, legal, and delivery teams stay in lockstep.
Teams using Accordo to monitor renewals see a 38% reduction in churn and a 22% increase in expansion revenue. When everyone knows what is expiring in the next 30, 60, and 90 days, upsell planning becomes proactive—not reactive.
The 5-Step Renewal Audit
1. Centralize Every Contract
Start by ensuring every customer agreement exists in a searchable workspace. Capture:
- Contract ID and customer name
- Start date, end date, renewal notice window
- Current ARR/MRR and billing frequency
- Assigned account owner
Don’t have this yet? Upload each PDF into Accordo and export the structured data instantly.
2. Tag Risk & Expansion Signals
For each contract, tag the following:
- Health score: On-track, at-risk, or expansion-ready
- Usage story: Are they under-consuming or hitting caps?
- Relationship: Champion identified? Any red flags?
This dataset becomes your renewal forecast. Share it with sales, CS, finance, and leadership.
3. Build the Renewal Calendar
Group contracts by renewal window (0–30, 31–60, 61–90+ days) and assign next steps:
- Book QBR / renewal prep call
- Send data-backed ROI recap
- Prep pricing or package options
- Flag legal/compliance requirements
Pro tip: if the contract auto-renews, schedule reminders at the notice window plus a 15-day buffer. No more “Wait, we missed the cancellation deadline” moments.
4. Review Terms for Expansion
Use AI to scan for:
- Caps or tier thresholds they are close to exceeding
- Optional modules or services they haven’t purchased
- Clauses that require re-negotiation (pricing reviews, exclusivity, data usage, etc.)
Tie this back to actual product usage data and you have a compelling expansion story.
5. Document the Playbook
Create a single renewal playbook that spells out:
- Who runs point (CS vs. AE) at each ARR tier
- Mandatory renewal assets (ROI report, product roadmap slides, etc.)
- Escalation path when legal or procurement enters the chat
- How to log forecast updates (CRM, spreadsheets, or RevOps tools)
Quarterly Renewal Audit Template
Use this template each quarter:
- Export all contracts renewing in the next 120 days
- Run each PDF through Accordo to refresh notes & risk flags
- Update health score and expansion potential
- Book renewal planning calls by cohort
- Share the renewal dashboard with revenue leadership
Tools That Make Renewals Painless
- Accordo AI: Summaries, risk detection, and auto-created renewal reminders
- CRM automation: Push renewal dates into Salesforce or HubSpot with ownership
- Usage dashboards: Layer in product metrics to justify expansion
Conclusion
Renewals shouldn’t sneak up on you. With a quarterly audit, every contract gets attention well before the notice window, giving you time to fix issues, prove value, and pitch upgrades. Automate the tracking so your team can focus on strategy—not spreadsheets.
Start by centralizing your contracts and letting AI do the heavy lifting. The insights you need for the next upsell conversation might already be hiding in the PDF you signed a year ago.