Problem study · for IT and finance
Still paying for software seats of people who left?
The laptop came back, the access card was cut, and the No-Dues was signed. The Adobe seat, the Microsoft 365 licence and the Zoho mailbox were not on anyone’s list, so they keep billing. Then the annual plan renews itself the week after the cancellation deadline.
Updated 4 November 2026 · Built from the public sources listed at the end
$21M
Average yearly spend wasted on unused SaaS licences per organisation in Zylo’s 2025 index (mostly large companies), up 14.2%.
Source₹72,000
Worked example, not a survey: 15 leavers’ seats at ₹800 a month left active for six months.
Worked example
Why seats leak
Hardware has a box you can count. Software seats live in a dozen admin pages: Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Zoho, Adobe, Tally, Canva, the antivirus console. Each has its own owner, and often its own company card. When someone leaves, the exit checklist says “remove software access” in one line, and someone ticks it after disabling the email.
Indian companies feel this in rupees and in GST: every unused seat is billed monthly or prepaid for a year, and the invoices go to accounts, who cannot tell which seats belong to people who have left.
- No single list of what software you pay for, with seat counts
- No record of who holds each seat
- Leavers’ seats not part of the exit case
- Renewal dates and notice periods known only to the vendor
The renewal trap
Many yearly plans renew automatically, and some vendors need notice 30 days or more before the end date to cancel or reduce seats. Miss that date and you are committed for another year at the old seat count, including the seats of everyone who left.
How to stop paying for leavers
You do not need a SaaS discovery tool to fix the biggest leak. You need three lists and a habit.
- Keep one list of every licence: software, seats bought, price, end date and the vendor’s notice days.
- Record who holds each seat, and give new seats from free ones before buying more.
- Put every seat the leaver holds on their exit checklist, with an outcome: taken back, given to their replacement, or kept until a date (for a mailbox).
- Note the last day to cancel for each licence, and decide on renewals a month before it.
- Still remove the account in the software itself; a list does not cancel a seat.
The usual way, and with AssetVow
- What you pay forUsually: Invoices across cards and emailWith AssetVow: One list of licences with seats, price and yearly cost
- Who holds a seatUsually: Each vendor’s admin pageWith AssetVow: Seats given to people or devices, shown on their page and on My assets
- LeaversUsually: One line on the exit checklistWith AssetVow: Every seat on the exit case: take back, give to someone else, or keep until a date
- RenewalsUsually: The vendor’s renewal emailWith AssetVow: Emails at 90, 60, 30 and 7 days, and before the last day to cancel
- JoinersUsually: A new licence bought each timeWith AssetVow: Seat offered from a licence with free seats when the kit is handed over
What AssetVow does not do here
- AssetVow does not read seats from Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace yet; you add licences and seats by hand or by import.
- Taking a seat back in AssetVow does not remove the account in the software; IT still does that in the vendor’s admin page.
- AssetVow does not discover software from network scans or card spend.
Software licences and seats in AssetVow
Every licence with its seats, price and renewal date; seats given with the joiner’s kit and taken back on the exit case; reminders before the last day to cancel.
See how it worksRelated
Sources
Read on 4 November 2026. Laws and rules change; check the current text or ask your lawyer before acting.
FAQ
Common questions
How much do companies waste on unused software licences?+
Zylo’s 2025 SaaS Management Index puts the average at $21M a year per organisation, mostly large companies. A small Indian company wastes far less in absolute terms, but the share of idle seats is often similar.
What should happen to a leaver’s Microsoft 365 licence?+
Decide on the exit checklist: take the seat back, give it to the replacement, or keep the mailbox until a date and then remove it. Then remove or reassign it in the Microsoft 365 admin centre.
How do we avoid an unwanted auto-renewal?+
Record the vendor’s notice days with each licence, work out the last day to cancel, and review seat counts a month before it.
See which seats you are paying for and nobody uses
Import your licences with who holds them and get reminders before every renewal. Free for 30 days.