Add and manage software licenses

Add a software license to record its seats, cost, and renewal dates, then keep that record current as the subscription changes. Each license points at a product in your software catalog and tracks how many of its seats are in use.

You work from Software in the admin console. The Licenses tab lists every subscription, seat count, and renewal date; the catalog and utilization views sit beside it on the same sub-nav.

:::note Before you begin

• You need an admin role (admin, it-admin, or super-admin).
• The product must exist in the catalog first. If it isn't there, add it from the Add license form (the Software dropdown links to Add it to the catalog) or on the Catalog tab.
• Have the subscription details ready — seat count, billing cycle, and renewal date are the fields most worth filling in. :::

Add a license

1. In the admin console, open Software, then select Add license.
2. Choose the Software product from the catalog. This field is required. Not listed? Select Add it to the catalog, create the product, then come back.
3. Set Total seats — the only other required field. It defaults to 1.
4. Fill in the rest as you have it: edition, version, license key, vendor, business owner, cost, billing cycle, dates, and status. Every other field is optional — see the field reference.
5. Select Create license. To leave without saving, select Cancel; no license is created.

On save, the platform redirects you to the new license's detail page with the confirmation License added to inventory.

tip

You assign seats to people from the license's detail page, not from this form. Save the license first, then use the Assign a seat card. See assign and revoke seats.

Field reference

The form has two required fields — Software and Total seats — and groups the rest into License details, Seats & cost, Dates, and Status.

License details

Field	Required	Default	Notes
Software	Yes	—	The catalog product this license covers. Pick from the list, or add a new product to the catalog.
License name	No	—	A label you recognize, e.g. M365 Business Standard - Annual. Max 255 characters.
Edition	No	—	Free text, e.g. Enterprise. Max 128 characters.
Version	No	—	Free text, e.g. 2024. Max 64 characters.
License key	No	—	Masked on the detail page — only the first 4 characters show, the rest become *. Max 255 characters.
Vendor	No	—	The reseller or supplier. Pick from your vendors list.
Business owner	No	—	The person accountable for the subscription. Pick from active users.

Seats and cost

Field	Required	Default	Notes
Total seats	Yes	1	The number of seats you bought. Whole number, 1 or greater. Drives the seat-usage bar.
Seat type	Yes	User	One of User, Device, Concurrent, or Unlimited.
Cost per seat	No	—	Number, 0 or greater.
Total cost	No	—	Number, 0 or greater.
Currency	No	EUR	One of EUR, USD, GBP, PLN.
Billing cycle	Yes	Annual	One of Monthly, Quarterly, Annual, Biennial, One time, or Custom.

Dates

Field	Required	Default	Notes
Purchase date	No	—	Date (YYYY-MM-DD).
Start date	No	—	Date (YYYY-MM-DD).
Expires at	No	—	Date (YYYY-MM-DD). Leave blank for a perpetual license — the list shows Perpetual.
Renewal date	No	—	Date (YYYY-MM-DD).
Auto-renew	No	Off	Records whether the subscription renews automatically.
Renewal notice days	No	30	How many days before Expires at the license counts as expiring soon. 0–365. See Renewal warnings.

Status

Field	Required	Default	Notes
Status	Yes	Active	One of Active, Expired, Cancelled, Pending renewal, or Trial. Sets the status badge and feeds the status filter.
Purchase order	No	—	Free text, e.g. PO-2024-0042. Max 128 characters.
Invoice	No	—	Free text, e.g. INV-2024-1234. Max 128 characters.
Notes	No	—	Free text — anything worth recording about this license.

Edit a license

To change any detail — a corrected seat count, a new renewal date, an updated status — edit the license.

1. Open Software, then select the license to open its detail page.
2. Select Edit.
3. Change the fields you need, then select Save changes.

The platform returns you to the detail page with License updated. The form is the same one used to add a license, so the field reference applies.

note

Editing Total seats doesn't change how many seats are in use. If you lower the total below the number already assigned, the seat bar reads over-full (for example 12/10). Revoke seats to bring usage back within the new total — see assign and revoke seats.

Archive a license

When a subscription ends and you no longer track it, archive the license.

1. Open the license's detail page.
2. Select Archive, then confirm.

The platform removes the license from the list and returns you to Software with License archived. Archiving is a soft delete — the record and its assignment history are retained for your audit trail, not erased. To stop tracking a subscription that's merely lapsed rather than gone, set its Status to Expired or Cancelled instead, so it stays visible under those filters.

Find a license

The Licenses list opens with every license, newest first. Narrow it with the controls along the top.

Filter chips

The chip row above the search bar filters by lifecycle state at a click:

Chip	Shows
All	Every license.
Renewing soon	Licenses with an expiry date in the next 60 days.
Expired	Licenses whose expiry date has passed.
Fully seated	Licenses with no seats left (used equals or exceeds total).
Underutilized	Licenses with more than one seat where under half are in use.

Search and status

Control	What it does
Search	Matches the license name, the catalog product name, or its publisher.
Status	Filters by Active, Expired, Cancelled, Pending renewal, or Trial.
Apply / Clear	Apply runs the search; Clear resets search and status.

Select Clear to drop the search and status filters. Sort any column by selecting its header, and use the column picker (top right) to show or hide the optional columns — version, dates, billing cycle, costs, owner, and vendor.

Renewal warnings

Two things drive how the list flags a renewal, and they're independent:

• The Renewing soon chip uses a fixed window — any license expiring within the next 60 days.
• The Expires column highlight uses each license's own Renewal notice days (30 by default). Inside that window, the column shows {n}d left in amber; once the date passes, it shows Expired in red.

A license with no Expires at date shows Perpetual and never flags as renewing or expired. Keep Expires at and Renewal notice days accurate so the right licenses surface before they lapse. For a dedicated view of upcoming renewals across hardware and software, see Expiries.

What the detail page shows

Opening a license gives you everything in one place:

Section	Contents
Header	Product, edition, billing cycle, and the catalog product's security grade. A summary strip shows seats used, per-seat cost, renewal date, and auto-renew.
Assigned seats	Who currently holds a seat, with the Assign a seat card alongside. See assign and revoke seats.
Users audit history	Periodic reviews of who actually uses the software. See audits and utilization.
Documents	Contracts, renewals, and receipts. Uploads run through AI extraction to pull contract terms, seat counts, and expiry.
License metadata	License name, seat type, vendor, owner, masked license key, purchase order, and invoice.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	What to do
The Software dropdown has no matching product	The product isn't in the catalog. Select Add it to the catalog, create it, then return to the form.
Form reloads with a field highlighted	A required field is missing (Software or Total seats) or a value is too long. Fix the flagged field and select Create license again.
Seat bar reads over-full, e.g. 12/10	More seats are assigned than the current total. Raise Total seats, or revoke seats to fit.
A license you expected isn't in the list	Check the active filter chip and status filter, or select Clear. An archived license won't appear at all.
Renewing soon is empty but a renewal is near	The license has no Expires at date (it reads Perpetual), or the date is more than 60 days out. Add or correct the expiry date.

Related

Software overviewHow licenses, the catalog, and seats fit together.Read →Assign and revoke seatsGive a license seat to a person and take it back.Read →Audits and utilizationReview who actually uses each license and reclaim idle seats.Read →Software catalogManage the products your licenses point at.Read →