WORKFLOWS / VENDORS AND PURCHASING
Review a vendor renewal before committing.
Check what a renewal will cost, whether the service is still needed, and what would happen if you changed it. AI brings the evidence together and prepares options before the notice deadline passes.
WHAT THIS WORKFLOW PRODUCES
A renewal ready for a decision.
Keep one review with the proposed terms, current use, outstanding questions, and the next action. Link to the documents behind it so the decision can be checked. The figures below are a fictional teaching example.
RENEWAL REVIEW · ANALYTICS PLATFORM
NOTICE CUTOFF TO CONFIRM
THE OPERATING METHOD
Understand the workflow without AI.
This is the method itself, runnable with the signed agreement and a conversation with the service owner. AI is introduced only after the method makes sense on its own.
Check the agreement
Find the signed terms, amendments, renewal date, and notice requirements.
YOUCheck actual use
Ask the service owner what is used, what is missing, and what depends on it.
YOUCompare the options
Keep, reduce, renegotiate, or replace, including the cost and disruption of changing.
YOUMake the decision
The authorized person chooses the action and accepts any tradeoffs.
YOURecord the outcome
Save the final agreement and confirmation, then set the next review date.
YOULower usage can reveal a question worth investigating. It does not establish that a service is unnecessary.
WHERE THE FACTS LIVE
Use the systems where the work already lives.
Use the documents and tools your team already maintains. The examples below are alternatives rather than a required set. A file export is sufficient when a direct connection would add more work than it saves. Named tools link to their pages in the library.
AGREEMENTS AND CORRESPONDENCE
COST AND USE
REVIEW AND APPROVAL
THREE WAYS TO RUN IT
Choose how much machine.
The levels describe how much work AI takes on. Level 1 works from the documents you hand it. Level 2 adds the records behind the decision. Level 3 makes sure every review opens ahead of the notice cutoff, with the evidence already requested. Every level ends with the authorized person deciding. The tools named are examples. Use what your organization already runs, provided the connection is supported and approved.
LEVEL 1
Understand the renewal terms.
Give an approved AI assistant the current agreement and proposed renewal. Ask it to identify the terms that affect the decision, with references to the relevant pages or sections.
Use this version when you need to understand one renewal and have the documents available.
WHAT THIS VERSION REDUCES
Searching long documents for dates, fees, quantities, and changes.
WHAT A PERSON STILL DOES
Confirms document versions, checks the extracted terms, and seeks qualified advice where interpretation matters.
MAIN LIMITATION
AI can misread scans, tables, amendments, or date calculations. Its extraction is not a legal determination.
DOCUMENT ACCESS
Approved file upload or a document connection can supply the material. Check extraction quality where the agreement is scanned or relies on images.
Build this version, step by step 4 steps, one action each. Prompts carry a Copy button.
Collect the documents that govern the renewal.
WHAT TO INCLUDE
The signed agreement, any amendments, and the new quote. Know which of these are signed and which are only proposals before you give them to the AI.
Ask for the key terms in one place.
Extract the service, fees, quantities, billing period, contract term, renewal date, notice requirements, and proposed changes. Cite the document and page or section for each. Keep missing or conflicting terms visible. Do not assume the newest proposal overrides the signed agreement.
Check the terms that could cost money.
THE CHECK
- The price basis is right.
- The minimum commitment is right.
- The notice wording is quoted from the signed document.
- Any condition on reducing scope is noted.
Check every date against the source before you set a reminder from it.
Write down the open questions next to the review.
EXAMPLE QUESTIONS
Does the quote include support? Can unused licenses be removed? Is the discount only for the first year?
CAPABILITIES CHECKED AGAINST OFFICIAL DOCUMENTATION
Claude's Google Workspace connection documents how Drive files are read and where reading is limited. Source, checked September 5, 2026.
LEVEL 2
Compare the renewal with actual use.
Connect or supply the supporting records. AI identifies changes and prepares a small set of options, including what remains uncertain and what switching would involve.
Use this version when the decision depends on more than the quoted price.
WHAT THIS VERSION REDUCES
Cross-checking scattered records and writing the first comparison.
WHAT A PERSON STILL DOES
Explains operational dependencies, verifies the numbers, and decides which tradeoffs are acceptable.
MAIN LIMITATION
Low login counts do not capture every form of value. Missing usage information must remain unknown, never become zero.
CONNECTION EXAMPLE
Claude can retrieve approved Google Drive documents or Microsoft 365 material. Accounting and usage exports can be placed in the same approved review folder; a live connection to every vendor is unnecessary.
Build this version, step by step 5 steps, one action each. Prompts carry a Copy button.
Gather the evidence into one folder.
EXAMPLE
The agreement, the latest invoice, the proposed quote, a dated usage export, and the service owner's comments, in an approved Drive folder. The AI can help find these files. You do not need a renewal tracker for this.
Put the costs on the same footing.
THE BASIS
Same currency, same period, same quantity, same scope, worked out in a spreadsheet. Keep taxes, one-off costs, minimums, and conditional discounts on separate lines. The AI explains the result; the spreadsheet does the arithmetic.
Ask for a short comparison.
Compare renewal as quoted, reduced scope, and one credible alternative if enough information is available. For each, show cost assumptions, evidence of use, operational dependencies, switching work, and unanswered questions. Distinguish a quoted price from a modeled scenario. Recommend the next question or action, with reasons.
Ask the service owner to pick holes in it.
THE QUESTIONS
- Could a rarely used license be supporting something essential?
- Would cancelling break an integration?
- Does the cheaper package drop something the team needs?
Draft the next message.
THE DRAFT
A request to the vendor for revised pricing, or a short internal note asking for approval. The person with authority checks it and sends it.
LEVEL 3
Start every renewal on time.
Most renewals go wrong because the review starts after the notice cutoff has passed. Keep one dated list of contracts in the tool the team already uses, and let a rule open the review task a set number of days ahead, carrying the Level 2 checklist. An agent can add a check of the evidence folder, but the rule is what does the work.
Use this version when several recurring contracts need attention and reviews are being left too late.
WHAT THIS VERSION REDUCES
Late starts, forgotten notice periods, and the scramble to rebuild a comparison the week a contract renews.
WHAT A PERSON STILL DOES
Verifies deadlines, answers business questions, authorizes communications, and approves the contract outcome.
MAIN LIMITATION
The list cannot rescue an incorrect notice date or a supplier conversation that was never recorded. Confirm every cutoff against the signed agreement when you enter it.
THE OPTIONAL AGENT
If the team wants the evidence folder checked for them, Make or n8n can run an agent on the review date that looks for an updated quote, a dated usage report, and a service-owner response, records each gap once, and drafts one specific request for the owner to send. Make's agent product is in open beta and its file reading varies by format, so test it on a real agreement first. Most teams do not need this step.
Build this version, step by step 6 steps, one action each. Prompts carry a Copy button.
Build the renewal list, with the AI's help.
ONE ROW PER CONTRACT
Each row holds the vendor, the owner, a link to the signed agreement, the notice cutoff, the renewal date, and the annual cost. The AI can pull a first draft out of the agreements folder; a person checks every cutoff against the signed document before it goes on the list. Use a project, board, or sheet the team already has.
Add the rule that opens the review on time.
THE RULE
In Asana, make the notice cutoff the task's due date, then add a rule: when the due date is 45 days away, assign the owner and add the Level 2 checklist as subtasks. Monday and Notion have the same kind of date rule; a spreadsheet needs a calendar reminder instead. Pick the lead time per contract: 45 days suits a simple software renewal, and replacing a supplier needs longer.
When the task opens, check what is in the folder.
THE CHECK
- The signed agreement and any amendments are there.
- The latest invoice is there.
- The proposed quote is there, or a note says it has not arrived.
- A dated usage export is there.
- The service owner has given their view.
Write each gap down once and ask for it with one specific request.
Run the Level 2 comparison.
SAME METHOD, ON TIME
Costs on the same footing, a short comparison, the owner's challenge, and the next message, exactly as in Level 2. When a revised quote arrives, update this review rather than starting another one.
Close the review only when the supplier has confirmed.
TWO SEPARATE STATES
"Approved internally" and "confirmed with the supplier" are different things. Record the final outcome, put the new cutoff on the list, and set the next review date.
Test the list before you trust it.
WHAT TO BREAK
- Enter one cutoff wrong.
- Leave one contract without an owner.
- Let one review task sit unassigned.
Each one should be visible on the list, never discovered the week the contract renews.
CAPABILITIES CHECKED AGAINST OFFICIAL DOCUMENTATION
Asana documents rules on the Starter plan and above, including the "Due date is approaching" trigger. Source, checked September 6, 2026.
Make AI Agents accept tools and file input; the agent product is documented as open beta and file support varies by model and format. Source, checked September 6, 2026.
Make's Google Drive modules watch for and retrieve files. Source, checked September 6, 2026.
WORKS EVEN BETTER WITH
Record the renewal decision. If you change or leave the service, check what else will be affected before confirming the plan.
Decision Log → | Work out what a change will affect → | Build a daily executive brief →