Hour 1: Find every subscription
- Export 12 months of transactions from every company card, bank account and PayPal/Stripe account.
- Filter for recurring charges and vendor names. Annual renewals show up once, so scan the full year.
- Ask each team lead: "What do you pay for on a personal card and expense?"
- Make one row per tool: vendor, plan, billing (monthly/annual), seats, cost per year, renewal date, owner.
Hour 2: Count who actually uses it
- Open each tool's admin or billing page and compare paid seats with active users. Remove people who've left first.
- Check what's billed per seat versus per person who needs it. For example, Zoom only needs licenses for hosts (participants join free), DocuSign seats are for senders, and help desks charge per agent.
- Some vendors already prorate inactive users: Slack says members inactive for 28 days aren't billed.
Hour 3: Find overlap with what you already pay for
The biggest wins usually come from paying twice. If you're on Microsoft 365 Business Basic ($7.00/user/mo, paid yearly), you already have Teams, business email and 1 TB of OneDrive per user. Google Workspace Business Standard ($14/user/mo, annual plan) includes Meet recording, appointment booking pages and eSignature. Ask whether Zoom, Slack, Dropbox, Calendly or DocuSign still earn their place.
Hour 4: Decide for each tool: keep, downgrade, replace or cancel
- Cancel anything with no owner or no logins in 60 days.
- Downgrade users who don't need premium features (for example, M365 Business Standard at $23.50 vs Basic at $7.00).
- Replace only where the saving beats the switching cost. Use when NOT to switch and the calculator.
- Keep the rest, and put every renewal date in a shared calendar 45 days ahead so annual plans don't auto-renew unchecked.
Worked example (verified prices)
| Tool and seats | Per year | Math |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 Business Standard | $2,820 | 10 × $23.50 × 12 |
| Slack Pro | $870 | 10 × $7.25 × 12 |
| Zoom Pro (3 hosts) | $509.76 | 3 × $14.16 × 12 |
| Asana Starter | $1,318.80 | 10 × $10.99 × 12 |
| HubSpot Starter (3 sales seats, list) | $720 | 3 × $20 × 12 |
| Calendly Standard (3 hosts) | $360 | 3 × $10 × 12 |
| DocuSign Standard (2 senders) | $720 | 2 × $30 × 12 |
| 1Password Business | $1,078.80 | 10 × $8.99 × 12 |
| Loom Business (5 users) | $1,080 | 5 × $18 × 12 |
| Dropbox Standard | $1,800 | 10 × $15 × 12 |
| Total | $11,277.36 | |
| Tool and seats | Per year | Math |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 Business Standard (2 power users) | $564 | 2 × $23.50 × 12 |
| Microsoft 365 Business Basic (8 users; includes Teams and 1 TB OneDrive, replacing Slack, Zoom and Dropbox) | $672 | 8 × $7 × 12 |
| Trello Standard | $600 | 10 × $5 × 12 |
| Zoho CRM Standard (3 users) | $504 | 3 × $14 × 12 |
| Cal.com Free (personal links) | $0 | $0 (free plan) |
| Zoho Sign (2 senders, entry paid tier) | $240 | 2 × $10 × 12 |
| Bitwarden Teams | $480 | 10 × $4 × 12 |
| Cap Pro (5 users) | $489.60 | 5 × $8.16 × 12 |
| Total | $3,549.60, saving $7,727.76/yr | |
Seat counts are assumptions for illustration, not data about any real company. Prices verified on vendor pages, Oct 14, 2026. HubSpot is at its normal list price; new-customer promos are lower.
Frequently asked questions
How often should a small business audit SaaS?
Once a year at minimum, plus a quick check 45 days before each annual renewal.
What's the fastest SaaS saving?
Removing seats for departed or inactive users, then dropping tools that duplicate features in your Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace plan.