Track expiry dates and renew a document

A licence, an insurance policy or a contract that quietly expires can stop your business. Give each document its expiry or review date, and Documents reminds the right people in time; when the new copy arrives, you upload it as a new version with the new date.

Before you start

• You need the right Upload documents, add versions and links to change dates and renew.
• The default lead time and the escalation are set in Settings → Documents (see Switch on and set up Documents).

Steps

Set the dates

1. Open the document and go to Details.
2. Fill in Expires on and Remind days before, and, for a document someone must re-read regularly, Review by and Remind days before the review.
3. Select Save. Badges next to the title show Expires with the date, amber once the lead time has started and red with Expired after the day.

Follow the reminders

1. When the lead time starts, an item appears on Today for the document's owner and the documents admins, for example Expiring soon: Trade licence with the line "Expires 13 Nov 2026, lead time 30 days".
2. After the day, the item becomes Expired: Trade licence (or Review overdue for a review date) and stays until the document is renewed or archived.
3. The Expiring and To review views in Documents list the same documents, so you can work through them in one place.

Renew the document

1. Open the document. Under Versions, find New version (a renewal).
2. Choose the new file, and type a Note such as "Renewed for 2027".
3. Fill in New expiry date and, if needed, New review date.
4. Select Upload the new version. The page says The new version is stored; the old ones stay readable.

Good to know

• Who sees the reminders: the document's owner and the people with the right Documents settings, holds, retention and deletion. Renewing with a new date starts again for that date; archiving a document takes it off Today.
• No e-mail is sent for these reminders: follow them on Today and in the Expiring view.
• Every version stays. The Versions table shows who uploaded each one, when, its note and size; earlier versions show Replaced and can still be downloaded.
• A renewal of a reviewed type (a procedure or policy, for example) waits as a draft until it is approved; the version published before stays in use meanwhile. See Write a procedure and get it approved.
• The History at the bottom of the page lists every change: uploads, new versions, links, shares and approvals.