Software licences, seats and renewals
Keep every software licence your firm pays for, such as remote-support, diagnostic or office software. Record its seats, the people and computers using them and the date it ends. The person looking after a licence is told 30 days before it ends, and a seat cannot be given twice.
PLANSScale only
The problem it solves
- The remote-support tool renews on a card nobody watches, or lapses in the middle of a customer's outage.
- You pay for 15 seats and cannot say who uses them, while a technician who left still holds one.
- A new technician needs a seat and the licence is already full, which you find out from the vendor.
- The licence key sits in someone's email, and only they can find it.
How it works
- Open Invoicing > Fixed Assets > Software Licences > New. Type the software, the edition, the vendor, the kind of licence and whether it is a subscription or bought outright.
- Fill in the seats, the period, the cost and the licence key, and who looks after it. Press Start.
- Under Seats Given, give a seat to a person or to a computer from the register. A licence never gives more seats than it has.
- When a technician leaves or changes role, press Free on their seat; the freed date is kept.
- Thirty days before the end, the person looking after the licence is told. Press Renew: a draft for the next period opens with the seats still in use.
Everything it does
The licence
- Software, edition (such as Pro 2026) and vendor
- Kinds: Per User, Per Device, Site / Unlimited, Concurrent Users
- Subscription (the default) or Bought Outright; a licence bought outright can be linked to its fixed asset and amortised
- Seats (1 to start with), From and Until (empty for a licence that never ends), cost for the period or once
- Licence Key: seen only by Asset Managers
- States: Draft, Active, Expired, Cancelled; a daily job marks ended ones Expired
Seats
- Each seat goes to a person (a user) or a computer (an asset), with Given On and Freed On
- Seats Used and Seats Free are counted for you; a Site / Unlimited licence has no seat limit
- Giving more seats than the licence has is refused, with a message to free a seat or buy more
- A computer in the register shows Software on It
Renewal
- Renew makes a draft copy for the next period, of the same length, starting the day after the end
- The seats still in use are carried to the new licence
- Renew is offered on an active or expired licence that has an end date
Who uses it
IT or office administrator (Asset Manager)Adds licences, gives and frees seats, keeps the keys and renews.
Service manager (Asset Incharge)Sees which licences there are and who uses the seats, without the keys.
Person looking after the licenceIs told 30 days before it ends and renews it.
Where you use it
- Web: Invoicing > Fixed Assets > Software Licences, and Software on It on a computer
- Not in the SmartMy Desk app
- Not built: seats freed by themselves when someone leaves; free them by hand
What you control
Settings
- Per licence: kind, seats, period, cost and Looked After By (whoever made it, to start with)
- Reminder: 30 days before the end, once per licence (fixed)
Notifications
- Software Licence Ending: to the person looking after the licence, 30 days before, with the seats in use, in the app and by email
- It is a work message and goes out at once; a person can switch off the email for themselves, never the message
Questions
Is this for licences we sell to our customers?
No. It keeps the licences your own firm uses. Software you resell to customers is billed through quotes and invoices.Who can see the licence key?
Only users with the Asset Manager role. Others see the licence and its seats without the key.What happens to a seat when someone leaves?
Free it on the licence. SmartMy Desk does not free seats by itself when a user is archived.Can we track a licence bought outright as an asset?
Yes. Choose Bought Outright and link the licence to its fixed asset, which is amortised over its life.Which plan has it?
Scale, with the fixed asset register.Related features
ASSETSFixed assets: register and depreciationYour vans, test instruments, tools, laptops and loaner units sit in one register with their cost, depreciation and book value. Depreciation posts to your books each month, and selling or scrapping an asset waits for your approval chain first.ASSETSAsset care, and assets issued and returnedGive an instrument to a technician, a ladder to a site or a tablet to a customer. A technician confirms in the app before the asset moves to them. Record its condition when it comes back. Keep the warranty, AMC and insurance of your vans and tools, with a reminder 30 days before each ends.ASSETSPhysical verification of assetsCount your own assets on the ground: the instruments in each van, the tools in the store, the laptops in the office. Scan each QR asset tag and see what was found, what is missing and what turned up somewhere else, with who counted it and when.ACROSS SMARTMY DESKNotificationsCustomers hear when a ticket is received, a visit is planned, the technician is on the way and the job is solved. Your team hears what needs them. Email and the in-app inbox work with no set-up; WhatsApp and SMS use your message credits.
See one of your own jobs run through it.
Tell us how a complaint reaches you today and what you bill for. We will show you the same job in SmartMy Desk.