1. Add the agreement and its owner
Start with the operational facts: agreement name, vendor, category, owner, expiration date, notice period, cost cadence, auto-renew status, and supporting notes. The register is designed for software, cloud, support, warranties, certificates, domains, telecom, managed services, and infrastructure agreements.
2. Separate expiration from the decision deadline
An agreement that expires on December 31 with a 90-day notice period does not give you until December to decide. The practical deadline is October 2. My Renewal Desk calculates that date and uses it throughout the queue and calendar.
3. Set the attention window
The attention window controls how early upcoming decisions appear on Overview. Use a window that matches the time your organization needs for usage review, stakeholder input, negotiation, replacement planning, and procurement.
4. Review exposure and record the outcome
Overview annualizes recurring costs, isolates agreements that renew automatically, and shows the next twelve months of renewal exposure. When a renewal completes, record the new expiration date, cost, and decision note to preserve history.
5. Keep a durable JSON backup
Records live only in IndexedDB for the current browser profile and web origin. Export JSON from Portability after meaningful changes and store the file somewhere durable. Restore that file to move the complete workspace to another browser, profile, device, or web origin.
What the workspace does not do
My Renewal Desk does not send reminders, upload documents, synchronize between devices, create accounts, or store records on a server. CSV is useful for spreadsheet exchange, but JSON is the complete backup because it includes history, lists, settings, and integrity metadata.