Seven questions to ask before you renew your SaaS contract

The renewal email arrives with a deadline, a new price and a button marked accept. It is designed to make signing feel routine. Treat it as a buying decision instead.

Before you renew, get written answers to these seven questions. If the supplier cannot answer plainly, that is useful information too.

1. What is the full price for the next term?

Ask for the total, not just the per-seat rate. Include implementation fees, support tiers, storage, integrations, premium modules and any minimum user count. Check whether VAT is included and whether the price assumes annual payment in advance.

Then model a realistic headcount. At 20 seats and £80 per seat each month, the annual bill is £19,200 before extras. If a proposed 10 per cent rise repeats each year for three years, the bills would be £21,120, £23,232 and £25,555. That is about £69,907 across the term, not £57,600 at today's rate. This is an illustration, not a claim about any particular supplier.

2. How can the price change during the term?

Find the clause that permits increases. Is the price fixed until renewal, linked to inflation, or changeable whenever the supplier revises its list price? Does the increase apply to every user and module, including ones added later?

Ask the supplier to confirm the next renewal price or the formula used to calculate it. A long contract is poor protection if the supplier can reprice the parts you rely on.

3. What happens if we do nothing?

Check the renewal date, notice period and method for giving notice. Some contracts renew automatically unless you cancel well in advance. Put the notice deadline in the diary, not just the renewal date.

Also ask whether reducing seats or moving to a cheaper plan is allowed mid-term. If not, a growing or shrinking team can leave you paying for capacity you do not use.

4. Can we get our data out in a usable form?

“You can export your data” is not a complete answer. Ask which records, files, notes, audit history and attachments are included, what formats they come in, and whether relationships between records survive. Request a sample export now, before you need one.

Ask about the fee, lead time and access window after termination. A download that arrives months later, with missing links, is not a workable exit plan.

5. What does leaving actually require?

List the systems connected to the product: accounting, email, identity, document storage and reporting. Who owns each connection? What stops working when the subscription ends? Can the supplier help with migration, and what does that service cost?

Give a colleague the task of describing the exit in steps. If the answer depends on one person remembering undocumented settings, record those settings before renewal.

6. Who owns custom work and configuration?

Separate your business data from the supplier's software, templates and standard features. Then check who owns bespoke code, integrations and configuration paid for by your business. The contract may grant you a right to use custom work without giving you the source code or the right to move it.

Get the position in writing. A sales call is not a substitute for contract wording.

7. What is the credible alternative?

Compare renewing with the actual cost of switching, including staff time, migration, training and temporary overlap. Also compare doing nothing beyond the current term if that is possible. A rebuild is not automatically cheaper or better. If the product works, the price is fair and the exit terms are acceptable, renewing may be the sensible choice.

But do the comparison with the whole term, not one month's invoice. Include the cost of increases and the value of retaining control over your data and workflows. You do not need to threaten to leave. You do need to know what staying costs.

Make the decision before the deadline

Keep the quote, contract, export sample and written answers together. Set a review date several weeks before the notice deadline, so the supplier's timetable does not become your decision process.

If the numbers show that you are paying indefinitely for a system central to how the business works, compare that bill with owning a replacement. Use your actual subscription, not a market-wide guess.