How the calculation works
Each row is one contract: a category, the cost you pay today (per month or per year), the last day of the current term, the notice period, the annual escalator and whether it auto-renews. The calculator compares every date with today’s date in UTC.
- Renewal dates: a contract renews the day after its term ends. After that, every contract is assumed to renew in 12-month terms, so a contract renewing March 1, 2027 renews again on March 1, 2028 and 2029. Month ends follow the same rule as the contract renewal calculator: when a month has no matching day, the date moves to its last day.
- Notice deadlines: the renewal date minus the notice period, in calendar days, or in months with the same month-end rule. Only auto-renewing contracts get one. If a deadline has already passed, the contract is flagged and its next deadline is listed.
- Escalators: the price rises by the escalator on every anniversary of the first renewal date, compounding: price × (1 + escalator)n after n anniversaries. Anniversaries inside the current term count too, which matches a contract with a yearly increase built in. If your price is fixed until the term ends, the forecast before the renewal date is slightly high.
- Contracts that don’t auto-renew are assumed to be re-bought at the same price, with the same escalator, so the budget keeps the line. Their term end appears in the timeline and in the calendar file.
- Spend forecast: calendar months, starting the first day of next month. Annual costs are spread evenly, at one-twelfth a month, so the totals show what the contracts cost over the period, not when invoices arrive. A month that contains an escalator anniversary is counted at the new price for the whole month, which errs on the high side.
- Value at renewal: 12 times the monthly price on the renewal date, including escalators. “Largest next renewals” ranks each contract’s next renewal by this value.
- Renewals by quarter: renewals between today and the end of the 36-month forecast, grouped by calendar quarter. The largest quarter is ranked at today’s prices, and the earliest wins a tie.
The calendar file holds one all-day event per upcoming notice deadline, and one per term end for contracts that don’t auto-renew, each with an alert 30 days before. It is built in your browser.
Worked example
Four contracts, checked on October 13, 2026:
| Contract | Category | Cost | Term ends | Notice | Escalator | Auto-renews |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Connectivity | $3,000 a month | March 31, 2027 | 60 days | 3% | Yes |
| 2 | SaaS | $48,000 a year | June 30, 2027 | 90 days | 7% | Yes |
| 3 | Colocation | $9,500 a month | January 31, 2028 | 3 months | 4% | Yes |
| 4 | Security | $36,000 a year | December 31, 2026 | 30 days | 5% | No |
- Run rate today: $3,000 + $4,000 + $9,500 + $3,000 = $19,500 a month.
- Next 12 months (November 2026 to October 2027): the Security line rises 5% in January (to $3,150 a month), colocation 4% in February on its in-term anniversary (to $9,880), internet 3% in April (to $3,090) and SaaS 7% in July (to $4,280). The total is $240,670, $6,670 more than 12 months at today’s prices.
- 24 and 36 months: $492,449 and $755,893. Escalators add $53,893 over 36 months.
- Notice deadlines: internet by January 31, 2027 (April 1 renewal minus 60 days), SaaS by April 2, 2027 (July 1 minus 90 days) and colocation by November 1, 2027 (February 1, 2028 minus 3 months). The Security contract has no deadline: its term ends December 31, 2026.
- Largest next renewal: colocation on February 1, 2028, at $9,500 × 1.04² × 12 = $123,302 a year.
- Largest quarter: Q1 2028, with the Security renewal and the colocation renewal: $150,000 a year at today’s prices, $162,992 with escalators.
Using the calendar
- Start the review well before each notice deadline. The contract renewal calculator gives 120, 90 and 60-day review dates for a single contract.
- A heavy quarter is a reason to start early or to co-term contracts so renewals line up when you can handle them.
- Check what each escalator really costs over a term with the price escalator calculator.
The dates are a planning aid, not legal advice. Notice clauses differ in how notice must be given and when it counts, and many renewal terms are longer or shorter than 12 months; check each contract. Our contract renewal page covers what to do with the time before a renewal.
