Your automated SaaS contract renewal monitor that sends multi-stage Slack alerts 45, 30, 14, and 7 days before each con…
Your automated SaaS contract renewal monitor that sends multi-stage Slack alerts 45, 30, 14, and 7 days before each contract expires. Stop missing renewal deadlines and overpaying on auto-renewals. This workflow monitors your contract calendar in Google Sheets, sends progressive Slack notifications with manual research checklists, and tracks alert history to prevent duplicate notifications. You manage the vendors; it manages the reminders. This is not a generic reminder bot. It is a production-ready procurement intelligence system designed to give finance and operations teams the advance notice needed to research alternatives, negotiate better terms, and avoid costly auto-renewals. How the workflow works The workflow executes in four stages: 1. TRIGGER & SCHEDULE The workflow runs daily at 9:00 AM using a cron trigger (0 9 * * *). The schedule runs in your configured timezone (default: UTC). A single daily check scans your entire contract portfolio and identifies which renewals are entering their alert windows. 2. LOAD & VALIDATE Using Google Sheets' native integration, the workflow reads your contract tracking spreadsheet (columns A-F: Contract Name, Vendor Name, Renewal Date, Annual Cost, Pricing URL, Status). A validation engine checks each row for: Valid contract names (non-empty) Proper ISO dates (YYYY-MM-DD format) Positive costs (allows zero for free-tier contracts) Valid HTTP/HTTPS URLs Active status (skips Cancelled/Renewed contracts) Invalid rows are silently filtered out to prevent workflow crashes from bad data. 3. MULTI-STAGE ALERT LOGIC A Brain node calculates days-until-renewal using native JavaScript Date objects (no external dependencies). For each contract, it checks four alert windows: 45 days out:** 🟡 REMINDER — "Research Phase: Look for alternatives" 30 days out:** 🟠 ATTENTION — "Quote Phase: Get competitor pricing" 14 days out:** 🔴 URGENT — "Decision Phase: Finalize negotiation" 7 days out:** 🚨 FINAL NOTICE — "Action Phase: Confirm or cancel" Each window spans 5 days (daysUntil <= alert.days && daysUntil > alert.days - 5) to catch missed runs from weekends or server outages. The workflow only fires once per stage by checking if the Status column already contains that stage marker (e.g., alerted_45d). Deduplication: A Set-based tracker prevents duplicate alerts if the same contract appears multiple times in your sheet. 4. NOTIFICATION & TRACKING Success Path: When a contract enters an alert window: Slack receives a formatted message with: Urgency indicator (🟡/🟠/🔴/🚨) Contract details (vendor, renewal date, annual cost) ROI calculation (potential savings: 15-25% of contract value) Manual research checklist (vendor pricing URL, competitor search terms) Upgrade CTA with UTM tracking (utm_campaign = contract slug, utm_content = alert stage) Google Sheets Status column updates to append the alert stage: "Active, alerted_45d" Next day, the workflow knows this contract was already alerted and won't send duplicate messages Empty Path: When no contracts are in alert windows, a daily summary message confirms the workflow ran successfully: "✅ Daily check complete. Reviewed 12 contracts. No renewals in alert windows." Error Path: If Google Sheets/Slack APIs fail, an Error Trigger fires and sends a troubleshooting alert to the same Slack channel with specific fix instructions. Benefits Multi-Stage Progression:** Four strategic touchpoints (45d, 30d, 14d, 7d) give you time to research alternatives, get quotes, negotiate terms, and finalize decisions — not just a last-minute panic alert. No Duplicate Spam:** Status column tracking ensures each contract only triggers once per stage, even if the workflow runs daily. Catch-Up Logic:** 5-day alert windows prevent missed notifications if your n8n server is down for a weekend or you skip a few days. ROI-Focused Messaging:** Every alert shows potential savings (15-25% of contract value) to justify the time spent on renewal research. Freemium Conversion Funnel:** Built-in upgrade CTAs with UTM tracking measure which contracts drive the most premium conversions. Production Error Handling:** Error Trigger workflow ensures you know immediately if credentials expire or APIs fail. Target Audience Finance/Ops Teams** at startups managing 5-50 SaaS contracts who want automated renewal reminders but are willing to do manual research. Procurement Managers** who need advance notice to negotiate better terms and avoid auto-renewal price hikes. CFOs/Controllers** looking to reduce SaaS spend by 15-25% through systematic renewal reviews. Bootstrapped Founders** wearing multiple hats who can't afford dedicated procurement software but need basic contract monitoring. Required APIs Google Sheets OAuth2:** Read/write access to your contract tracking spreadsheet. Scope required: https://www.googleapis.com/auth/spreadsheets Slack API:** Post messages to your #contract-renewals channel. Scopes required: chat:write, chat:write.public Bot must be added to the channel before first run Easy Customization Alert Stages:** Modify the alertStages array in the Brain node to change days (e.g., 60d, 45d, 30d, 14d for longer lead times) or urgency labels. Notification Channels:** Replace Slack nodes with Email (Gmail), Microsoft Teams, or Discord to match your team's communication stack. Timezone:** Change Workflow Settings → Timezone from UTC to your local timezone (e.g., Europe/Helsinki, America/New_York) so 9 AM means 9 AM local time. Schedule Frequency:** Modify cron expression in Schedule node to run twice daily (0 9,17 * * *) or weekly (0 9 * * 1) instead of daily. Data Destination:** Swap Google Sheets for Airtable, Notion, or PostgreSQL by replacing the Sheets nodes while keeping the same logic flow. An n8n automation workflow template by Mychel Garzon.
Mychel Garzon
web
free
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