Use Gemini in Google Sheets to Build a License Renewal Calendar

What This Does

Takes a flat list of a client's software subscriptions and turns it into a renewal calendar sorted by urgency, with soon-to-expire dates highlighted, instead of a spreadsheet that only gets checked after something has already lapsed.

Before You Start

• A Google Sheet with the client's subscription list: product name, license count, renewal date, and cost tier (skip actual account numbers or billing contacts)
• Gemini in Sheets enabled on your account. It ships with the Business Standard plan and higher ($14/user/month), or with a personal Google AI Pro or Ultra subscription. Look for an Ask Gemini button in the top right of the sheet. If it's missing, your plan may not include it yet
• A rough sense of your own or the client's renewal lead time, how many days out you want a warning to fire

Steps

1. Get the raw list into a sheet

Paste or type the subscription list into columns: Product, License Count, Renewal Date, Cost Tier. Use one row per subscription and one client per sheet or tab.

2. Open the Gemini side panel

Click Ask Gemini in the top right corner, or use the keyboard shortcut, Ctrl+Alt+G on Windows or Cmd+Ctrl+G on Mac. The side panel opens on the right.

3. Ask it to sort by urgency

Type a plain instruction such as "sort by renewal date, soonest first." Gemini shows a preview of the change before applying it. Click Apply, or Undo if the sort isn't what you meant.

4. Ask for a highlight rule

In the same panel, ask for conditional formatting: "highlight any row where the renewal date is within 30 days." Gemini proposes a formatting rule and previews it on the sheet before you confirm.

5. Add a formula if you want a running flag

For a column that always shows "renews soon" without re-running the prompt every week, ask Gemini for a formula, something like "a formula that flags renewal dates within 30 days of today." Click the target cell, then Insert, to drop the formula in.

Real Example

Scenario: A client's subscription list has 14 rows spanning Microsoft 365 licenses, a backup platform, a firewall subscription, and three line-of-business apps, with renewal dates scattered across the year.

What you type: "Sort by renewal date, soonest first, then highlight any row where the renewal date is within 30 days."

What you get: The same 14 rows, reordered with the nearest renewal at the top and the ones due soon shaded, ready for a five-minute Monday morning check instead of a manual scan.

Tips

• Keep billing contacts and account numbers out of the sheet entirely. License counts and product names are enough for a renewal calendar to do its job.
• Treat the sheet as a starting point, not the final word. Confirm the actual renewal date against the vendor's billing portal before telling a client anything is due. Subscription lists drift out of date faster than people expect.
• Duplicate the tab per client if you manage several, so a sort or highlight rule for one client's data never touches another's.

Tool interfaces change. If a button has moved, look for similar AI/magic/smart options in the same menu area.