A software payment can continue long after the team using it has changed. A contractor finishes, a colleague moves roles or a temporary project ends, while the subscription still includes the original number of seats. A licence review starts by comparing what your business pays for with the work people currently need to do.
Build a list of the subscriptions your business controls
For each system, record the account owner, current charge, billing frequency and renewal date. Note whether the price depends on named users, active users, a minimum commitment or another measure. Use invoices and current terms rather than an old estimate.
Include subscriptions bought by individual departments where they form part of business work. The purpose is to establish a reliable total and a responsible owner, rather than immediately cancelling anything that looks unfamiliar.
An inactive account is a question to investigate
Compare the user list with current staff and contractors. Ask the team owner whether each person still needs access and which tasks they perform. Someone who logs in only occasionally may still handle an important month-end report or approval.
Last-login information can be useful where the supplier provides it, but it should not be the sole test. Automated connections or shared operational processes may depend on an account in ways that are not obvious from its name.
Distinguish changing a licence from managing access. An unused paid seat and a former employee’s permissions are related concerns, but they require separate decisions. Confirm the appropriate account and data handover before making changes.
Find out whether fewer seats would actually lower the bill
Removing a user does not necessarily reduce the next invoice. Your agreement may have a fixed term, a minimum number of licences or a particular process for changes. Check when any reduction would take effect and whether it affects your plan.
Consider dependencies before downgrading. A lower tier might change reporting, storage or a connection another team uses. Compare the features your business requires with the supplier’s current options rather than selecting solely on the displayed monthly price.
Keep records of agreed changes and check the following invoice. The review is incomplete if a licence is removed from an internal list but the billing arrangement remains unchanged.
Use the calculator to compare a realistic scenario
Our software subscription calculator can bring monthly and annual payments onto the same basis. Enter the whole business’s payment for each system, including the relevant user licences. Keep your treatment of VAT consistent across entries.
For an illustrative example, six genuinely removable licences at £15 each per month would represent £90 monthly or £1,080 annually. That result applies only if the supplier’s terms allow the corresponding reduction. It is not a statement about any named product or client.
Compare the current total with a documented revised scenario. Keep cancellation fees, migration work and changes to functionality outside a simple recurring-payment comparison so they are not overlooked.
Review the workflow as well as the seats
You may discover that several necessary systems serve different teams, or that two subscriptions overlap while staff still copy information between them. A licence audit provides facts for that discussion; it does not prove that bespoke software would cost less.
Digital Solutions can explore what your systems do, where administration repeats and whether improving or connecting the workflow would help. Bring the subscription list and one example of duplicated work. We can then consider the practical requirements alongside the running costs.