Missed renewals are expensive in both directions — a silent auto-renewal locks you into terms you'd have renegotiated, and a lapsed agreement leaves you exposed. StretchContracts gives you the data to prevent both. This is the hands-on playbook for using it.
The data that powers renewal intelligence
Renewal intelligence reads three things from each agreement:
- Dates — the renewal date (or, if absent, the end date) sets the deadline.
- Auto-renew — a metadata flag saying the agreement renews automatically unless you act.
- Notice period — the number of days before renewal you must give notice to change or cancel (defaults to 30 if not set).
Keep these accurate on every agreement and the intelligence takes care of the rest. Leave them blank and the agreement shows as unknown risk — a blind spot.
Risk levels, precisely
Each dated, non-terminal agreement is scored by how close its deadline is:
| Level | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Critical | Deadline already passed |
| High | Within 15 days |
| Medium | Within 45 days |
| Low | More than 45 days out |
| Unknown | No date recorded |
In the rolled-up summary, critical items are grouped with high so your "needs attention now" bucket captures both the imminent and the already-overdue.
The two watchlists that catch surprises
- Notice window closed — agreements whose deadline has already passed. If any of these auto-renew, you may already be committed; if they don't, you may be operating without a live agreement. Either way, act immediately.
- Auto-renew will trigger — agreements marked auto-renew whose deadline is within 45 days. These will renew on their own unless you intervene. This is your list for renegotiating price, changing scope, or cancelling before it's automatic.
Step-by-step: the monthly portfolio review
- Open the risk summary and read the counts by level. Note how many high/critical items you're carrying.
- Work the auto-renew will trigger list first — these have money on the line and a hard deadline.
- Work the notice window closed list next — decide whether each is renew, renegotiate, or terminate, and get it out of the closed state.
- Walk the high and medium items and assign an owner and action to each.
- Sweep the unknown items and add the missing dates so they'll be scored next cycle.
- Share the summary counts with leadership as your renewal-exposure snapshot.
Set an agreement up so intelligence works
When you create or edit an agreement:
- Set the renewal date (and end date).
- In metadata, set auto_renew true or false as appropriate.
- Set the notice period (days) to the real contractual notice window.
- Keep the status current — only non-terminal agreements are scored.
A realistic example
Omar owns 40 vendor and SaaS agreements. At month-end he opens the risk summary: 3 high, 5 medium, 2 unknown. The auto-renew watchlist shows a $60,000/year platform contract renewing in 25 days with a 30-day notice period — meaning his real deadline to renegotiate is in the next few days, not in 25. He opens talks immediately and secures a better rate before it auto-renews. The notice window closed list flags a lapsed support contract; he confirms it doesn't auto-renew and either re-signs or formally lets it go. He fixes the 2 unknowns by adding renewal dates. His exposure is now fully mapped, and nothing renewed silently.
Tips
- Your real deadline is renewal date minus notice period. An agreement renewing in 25 days with 30 days' notice is already past its notice window — the auto-renew watchlist surfaces exactly these.
- *Zero out unknown every cycle.* Undated agreements are the ones that bite.
- Treat auto-renew as the priority queue. These cost money without anyone lifting a finger.
- Keep terminal statuses honest. Marking dead agreements cancelled or expired removes noise from your watchlists.
FAQ
Why is a critical item grouped as high in the summary? The summary buckets critical (already overdue) with high so your urgent list captures everything that needs attention now.
What if I never set a notice period? It defaults to 30 days for intelligence purposes — but set the real value so the auto-renew warnings match your actual deadline.
Do archived agreements show up? No. Only non-terminal agreements (draft through renewed) with a date are scored.
Was this helpful?
Help us improve this article
Use these controls to share whether this answer solved the issue. Feedback helps prioritize updates to StretchSuite Support.