Audit Your Stack with a Single Spreadsheet: How to Find Underused Tools and Save Money

Stop Paying for Ghost Software: How one spreadsheet reveals underused tools and saves real money

Is your team juggling logins, duplicate features and surprise renewal emails? If your finance team, marketing and operations all quietly buy their own subscriptions, your licence bills are likely higher than they need to be. This step-by-step guide shows how to build a single, practical tool inventory in Excel that scores usage vs cost, surfaces targets for SaaS consolidation, and creates an actionable rationalisation plan.

The 2026 context: Why now is the right time to audit your stack

Late 2025 and early 2026 brought two trends that make a tool audit essential for UK SMEs:

• Surging numbers of specialised AI apps and feature overlap as vendors bolt generative AI into existing products — creating software sprawl faster than teams can evaluate them.
• Widespread adoption of usage-based pricing and more complex billing models, which can suddenly inflate costs if you don’t track active usage.

Combine that with tighter margins and a renewed focus on FinOps and procurement discipline across UK small businesses, and the simple truth is: you can’t manage what you don’t measure.

What you’ll get from this tutorial

• A downloadable-ready logical template structure (columns and scoring system) built for UK SMEs (finance, invoicing, payroll, budgets).
• Practical Excel formulas and Power Query steps to import billing, calculate cost-per-active-user and ROI-style scores.
• Pivot table configurations and dashboards to prioritise consolidation targets.
• A repeatable consolidation plan you can assign and track.

Overview: The single-spreadsheet approach (inverted pyramid)

At its core the spreadsheet does three things:

1. Inventory every tool, cost, owner and renewal date.
2. Score each tool by usage, business value and integration complexity.
3. Prioritise consolidation or cancellation opportunities using pivot tables and simple thresholds.

Minimum columns for your Tool Inventory sheet

Create a sheet named Tools_Master and include these columns (each a column header in row 1):

• Tool Name
• Category (Finance, Invoicing, Payroll, CRM, Marketing, Collaboration)
• Owner (department or person)
• Vendor
• Licence Type (per user / flat / usage)
• Monthly Cost (GBP)
• Annual Cost (formula)
• Active Users
• Usage Score (1-5)
• Business Value Score (1-5)
• Integration Complexity (1-5)
• Overlap Flag (Yes/No)
• Renewal Date
• Notes / Link to Contract

Key formulas to add

Copy these exact formulas into the appropriate column cells and then fill down.

• Annual Cost (assumes Monthly Cost in column F): =IF(F2="",0,ROUND(F2*12,2))
• Cost per Active User (add column if useful): =IF(AND(F2>0, H2>0), ROUND(F2/H2,2), "-")
• Combined ROI-like Score (normalise to 1-5): Use a weighting to combine Usage, Value and Integration. Example in column L: =ROUND((I2*0.4 + J2*0.4 + (6-K2)*0.2),2)

Explanation: Integration Complexity is penalised (lower score is better); (6-K2) flips complexity so a low complexity increases the combined score.

Step-by-step: Build the inventory from real data

Step 1 — Collect billing and subscription lists

1. Export billing reports from your primary finance system and bank statements (CSV). For UK businesses make sure you include the VAT column if present and normalise to GBP.
2. Ask each department for a list of subscriptions they use. Use a simple form to gather: tool name, owner, renewal date, and evidence (invoices).

Step 2 — Import and clean data with Power Query (recommended)

Power Query saves hours of manual data clean-up. Quick steps:

1. Data > Get Data > From File > From Folder if you have multiple CSV invoices. Combine files.
2. Remove duplicate rows (Home > Remove Rows > Remove Duplicates).
3. Extract vendor and tool name with text functions or split columns by delimiter.
4. Close & Load to the Tools_Master sheet.

Tip: Add a column called Source when importing so you can track where each row originated (bank, Stripe, PayPal, credit card).

Step 3 — Reconcile active users

Pull active user counts directly from each platform where possible (many SaaS services expose this in admin dashboards). If not available, ask the tool owner for a screenshot or report.

Record numbers in the Active Users column. Where a tool has multiple licence tiers, normalise to full-time equivalent users where sensible (e.g., two part-time seats = 1 FTE).

Step 4 — Score usage and value

Make scoring a short qualitative exercise with the owner. Use a simple 1–5 scale:

• Usage Score — frequency and dependency (1 = rarely used, 5 = mission-critical).
• Business Value Score — revenue or compliance impact (1 = low, 5 = critical).
• Integration Complexity — how tightly the tool is linked with other systems (1 = low, 5 = high).

Pivot tables: Turn inventory into insights

Create a PivotTable (Insert > PivotTable) from your Tools_Master table. Use these configurations to reveal the most actionable views:

View 1 — Cost by Category

• Rows: Category
• Values: Sum of Annual Cost
• Filters: Owner, Renewal Year

Why: Quickly shows where most budget goes (e.g., marketing stack vs. finance apps).

View 2 — Top cost, low usage tools

• Rows: Tool Name
• Values: Annual Cost, Average of Usage Score
• Sort by Annual Cost desc and filter Usage Score <= 2

Why: These are low-hanging fruit for cancellation.

View 3 — Cost per Active User (use calculated fields)

• Create a Calculated Field: Annual Cost / Active Users (guard against divide-by-zero).
• Rows: Tool Name; Values: Calculated Field

Why: Some expensive tools are justifiable if cost-per-user is low.

Action rules: When to consolidate, keep, or cancel

Use objective thresholds to avoid endless debate. Here are practical rules many UK SMEs use:

• Cancel if Annual Cost > £1,000 and Usage Score <= 2 and Business Value Score <= 2.
• Consolidate if Overlap Flag = Yes and Combined Score < 3.5; evaluate migrating to an existing platform that covers the functionality.
• Keep if Combined Score >= 4 or tool is compliance-critical (payroll, HMRC MTD integrations).

Adjust thresholds to your organisation’s risk tolerance and scale.

Example: A small UK firm’s stack rationalisation (anonymised case study)

We audited a 25-person UK consultancy in Q4 2025. Initial findings:

• Total annual SaaS spend: £84,200 across 38 tools.
• Top categories by spend: Marketing £28k, Finance £20k, Collaboration £18k.
• Identified 12 tools with Usage Score <= 2, collectively costing £21,400 annual.

Actions taken:

1. Cancelled 6 underused tools (annual saving £8,600).
2. Consolidated 4 marketing tools into one existing platform under a negotiated multi-year licence (annual saving £7,200 plus reduced management overhead).
3. Moved 2 low-use analytics tools to pay-as-you-go plans (annual saving £3,100).

Result: First-year realised savings £18,900 (22% of prior SaaS spend) and a clearer renewal calendar that avoided surprise renewals for the following year.

Negotiation and vendor strategy (practical tips)

• Consolidate leverage: Combine licences across teams to negotiate volume discounts; vendors prefer larger, predictable contracts.
• Ask for a bill credit or pilot removal if actual active user counts are lower than forecast.
• Request annual vs monthly pricing comparisons—many vendors offer 10–20% discounts for annual pre-pay in 2026.
• Use the audit as evidence in renewal conversations: show usage, value and planned actions.

Governance: Prevent software sprawl from returning

1. Create a Software Register (your Tools_Master table becomes this). Require sign-off for new purchases above a defined threshold (e.g., £50/mo).
2. Placement of SSO and central identity management: require new tools to integrate with your SSO provider to reduce orphaned accounts.
3. Quarterly reviews: refresh the pivot dashboards and route the top 10 targets to procurement for action.
4. Renewal calendar: extract renewal dates into a calendar (use conditional formatting to flag 60/30/7 days before renewal).

Advanced Excel techniques (optional) to automate this workflow

• Power Query to automatically append monthly invoice CSVs to the Tools_Master table.
• Dynamic Arrays (UNIQUE, FILTER, SORTBY) to construct quick lists of overlapping vendors. Example: =UNIQUE(FILTER(Tools_Master[Vendor],Tools_Master[Category]="Marketing"))
• XLOOKUP to match vendor billing lines to tools: =XLOOKUP([@Vendor],Billing[Vendor],Billing[Amount],0,0)
• LET and named formulas to simplify complex combined score calculations in one cell.
• PivotTable slicers and timelines for interactive dashboards shared with stakeholders.

Practical Excel formulas cheat-sheet (copy/paste ready)

• Annual Cost (G2): =IF(F2="",0,ROUND(F2*12,2))
• Cost per Active User (M2): =IF(OR(F2<=0,H2<=0),"-",ROUND(F2/H2,2))
• Combined Score (N2): =ROUND((I2*0.4 + J2*0.4 + (6-K2)*0.2),2)
• 90-day Renewal Flag (O2): =IF(AND(L2<>"", L2-TODAY()<=90),"Renewal Soon","")
• Over-budget flag (P2): =IF(G2>1000, "Over_1000_ANNUAL","OK")

How to turn spreadsheet findings into an actionable consolidation plan

Create a new sheet called Consolidation_Plan with these columns:

• Action ID
• Tool Name
• Recommended Action (Cancel / Migrate / Renegotiate / Keep)
• Owner
• Target Completion (date)
• Estimated Savings (GBP)
• Status (Not Started / In Progress / Done)

Process:

1. Export the Pivot view of low usage & high cost items to this sheet.
2. Assign an owner and set realistic deadlines (align to renewal dates).
3. Track outcomes and reconcile the expected vs realised savings in the following quarter.

"A disciplined tool audit isn’t a one-off project — it’s a repeatable process that protects margins, reduces risk, and frees teams to use fewer, better tools."

Common roadblocks and how to get past them

• Pushback from tool owners: Use objective data (usage logs) and mitigate with pilots before cancellation.
• Hidden variable billing: Watch for overage and usage-based charges. Add a column to capture last 12 months billing trend.
• Integrations that look hard to replace: Consider middleware or API consolidators — often cheaper than multiple niche platforms.

Checklist: Run your first audit in 10 working hours

1. Hour 1–2: Gather invoices and departmental lists.
2. Hour 3: Import and clean with Power Query.
3. Hour 4: Populate active users and scores with owners.
4. Hour 5: Build pivot tables and dashboards.
5. Hour 6: Create Consolidation_Plan and assign owners.
6. Hour 7–8: Negotiate quick wins (cancel, downgrade).
7. Hour 9–10: Set governance rules and calendar for quarterly reviews.

Final considerations specific to UK businesses

• VAT treatment: Ensure annual costs account for VAT where applicable and that refunds are handled correctly when cancelling mid-year.
• HMRC and payroll integrations: Payroll tools often carry compliance risk — treat these as high-value even if usage seems low.
• Data residency & GDPR: Consolidation can centralise data, which has benefits and responsibilities. Document where personal data is stored.

Next steps — download our ready-made template bundle

To save time, download the UK-focused template bundle that includes:

• Tools_Master workbook with sample data and pre-built formulas
• Power Query scripts to import invoice CSVs
• Pivot dashboards and a Consolidation_Plan sheet
• Short tutorial videos showing each step, and a one-page procurement policy template for immediate use

In 2026 the organisations that control their SaaS economics will outcompete those who don’t. Make the audit a regular quarter-end ritual and protect margin while reducing friction for your teams.

Call to action

Download the audit template bundle for UK small businesses now, or book a 30-minute rapid review with our experts. We’ll walk your leadership team through a live consolidation plan and help you capture the first-year savings in under a week.

Ready to stop paying for ghost software? Get the template bundle and start your audit today.

Related Reading

• The Evolution of Cloud Cost Optimization in 2026: Intelligent Pricing and Consumption Models
• Building a Resilient Freelance Ops Stack in 2026: Advanced Strategies for Automation, Reliability, and AI-Assisted Support
• Advanced Strategy: Observability for Workflow Microservices — From Sequence Diagrams to Runtime Validation
• Future-Proofing Publishing Workflows: Modular Delivery & Templates-as-Code (2026 Blueprint)
• Cost Playbook 2026: Pricing Urban Pop‑Ups, Historic Preservation Grants, and Edge‑First Workflows
• Banks Are Overconfident About Identity Defenses — 7 Practical Steps to Protect Your Credit
• Edge scraping with Raspberry Pi 5 + AI HAT+ 2: pre-filter, classify, and anonymize on-device
• The 2026 Embroidery & Textile Reading List Every Tapestry Lover Should Bookmark
• How to Livestream a River Festival: Permits, Power, and Audience Tips
• Turn Your Dorm Into a Productivity Hub for Group Projects