Contract reminder software exists because the renewal date is the wrong date to be reminded of. By the time a contract renews the company has already lost the right to walk away; the date that matters is the notice deadline, the last day on which notice not to renew can be given, and it falls thirty, sixty or ninety days earlier depending on the clause. Contract renewal software and contract renewal management are the same product seen from the other end: the register that knows both dates for every contract and tells the owner about the earlier one in time. This page is about what the reminder has to be tied to, how the small legal team sizes the problem, and what the free contract tracking calculator on this site does today.
The reminder is the notice deadline, not the renewal
A renewal reminder that arrives on the renewal date tells the team what has just happened. A reminder tied to the notice deadline tells them what they can still stop. Every evergreen clause makes the difference real: the contract renews for another term unless notice is given by the deadline, and a register that lists only the end date will show six months of safety when there are three. The free calculator on this site works the window from the notice period you enter; on the worked example a renewal due at the end of a three month window with a 60 day notice period leaves 30 days from today.
Sizing the problem across the register
Contract renewal management starts with a count. 120 contracts on a two year average term produce 5 renewals a month and 15 in a quarter; at $18,000 a year each that is $270,000 of annual value coming up for a decision in the next three months. If 60% of the register is evergreen, 9 of those 15 renew themselves unless someone acts, which is $162,000 of contracts the company will still be paying for next year by default. Those figures come from four inputs any general counsel can supply in a minute, and they are the case for the reminder before the software is ever bought.
What contract renewal management software has to hold, and what free does here
Each contract's term, renewal term, notice period, value and owner; the two dates that follow from them; a reminder to the owner before the notice deadline with enough time to act; and a record of what was decided. The free calculator on this site sizes the register's renewals and deadlines from averages, with no account. Keeping each contract's own dates, sending the reminder and recording the decision is Clauselane Pro at a flat $49 a month for the whole legal team.
Questions people ask about contract reminder software
How far before the notice deadline should the reminder arrive?
Far enough for the owner to read the contract, decide and send notice: two to four weeks before the deadline for most vendor contracts, longer where the decision needs the business's input. The deadline itself is the last safe day, not the day to start.
Does the free calculator remind me?
No. It sizes the renewals and notice deadlines in the window from your count, term and notice period and returns the figures on the page. Reminders per contract are the paid register.
What is an evergreen contract?
One whose clause renews it for another term automatically unless notice not to renew is given by the deadline. The auto-renewing share on the calculator is the share of your register with such a clause, and it is the input that decides how much money renews itself.