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Software licenses

Software licenses

Overview

The Software Licenses screen keeps track of the software your company is licensed for: product, publisher, license type, how many seats were bought, what was paid and when it renews.

On the Seats tab you assign each seat to a device (an asset) or a person (an employee). With that, ActivoHQ shows at any moment whether you are over-deployed - using more seats than you bought - which is exactly the evidence any software compliance audit asks for.

How to get there

Software Licenses (main menu, below Assets)

Direct URL: /licenses

Key concepts

Term Definition
Seat Each installation or user the license allows.
Seats owned How many seats were purchased.
Seats used How many assignments are recorded on the Seats tab.
Over-deployed Seats used exceed seats owned: there is a compliance risk.
Fully allocated Every available seat is used; none are free.
Perpetual A license with no expiry. It needs no renewal date.
Subscription A license that renews periodically.
OEM A license tied to the equipment it was bought with.
Volume A corporate license covering several seats under one agreement.
Open Source Free software recorded for inventory purposes.
Maintenance end The date up to which you are entitled to support and updates.

Statuses

Status When it appears
Perpetual The license has no renewal date.
Valid More than 30 days remain before renewal.
Expiring soon 30 days or fewer remain.
Expired The renewal date has passed.
Inactive The license has Active unticked.

The Seats column shows used / owned in color: red when it is Over-deployed, amber when it is Fully allocated and green when seats are still free.

How to use it

Register a license

  1. Click New.
  2. On the Edit tab, in the License section, fill in:
    • Product (required): the software's name, for example Microsoft 365 E3.
    • Publisher: the software's maker.
    • Version (optional).
    • License type: Perpetual, Subscription, OEM, Volume or Open Source.
    • License key (optional): the product key or activation code.
    • Seats owned (required): how many installations or users the license covers.
  3. Under Dates & cost, fill in Purchase date, Renewal date (leave it empty on perpetual licenses), Maintenance end, Cost, Renewal cost and Support contact.
  4. Add Notes if you need them and confirm the Active checkbox.
  5. Under Document, attach the license certificate or the invoice (PDF or image).
  6. Click Save.

Assign seats

  1. Open the license and go to the Seats tab. At the top, the used / owned summary and how many seats available remain are shown.
  2. Under Assign to, choose Device or User.
    • With Device, select the Asset.
    • With User, select the Employee.
  3. Click Assign. The assignment appears in the table with Assigned to, Type and Notes.
  4. To free a seat, delete the assignment from its row.

If you assign more seats than you own, the indicator changes to Over-deployed. ActivoHQ does not block the assignment: it leaves it visible so you can regularize the purchase or free seats.

Delete licenses

  • One at a time: right-click the row, choose Delete, and confirm.
  • Several at once: tick the checkboxes and use Delete (N).

Fields

Field Type Required Description Validation
Product Text Yes The name of the licensed software. Cannot be empty.
Publisher Text No The software's maker. None.
Version Text No The licensed version. None.
License type Drop-down No Perpetual, Subscription, OEM, Volume or Open Source. None.
License key Text No The product key or activation code. None.
Seats owned Number Yes The installations or users allowed. Must be greater than zero.
Purchase date Date No The acquisition date. None.
Renewal date Date No The subscription's expiry; it triggers the alerts. Leave it empty on perpetual licenses.
Maintenance end Date No The end of the right to support and updates. None.
Cost Number No The acquisition cost. None.
Renewal cost Number No The estimated cost of the next renewal. None.
Support contact Text No The support provider's contact. None.
Notes Rich text No Terms, restrictions and renewal notes. None.
Active Checkbox No Inactive licenses are excluded from the alerts. None.
Document File No The license certificate or the invoice. PDF or image.

Table columns

Column Description
Product The software's name. Click it to open the license.
Publisher The software's maker.
Type The license type; filtered by name.
Seats Seats used against seats owned, with a color indicator. Cannot be filtered.
Renews The renewal date.
Status Perpetual, Valid, Expiring soon, Expired or Inactive.
Cost The recorded cost, in the company's currency.
Active The record's status.

Automatic alerts

Process Frequency What it sends Recipients
Daily expiry sweep Once a day (12:00 UTC by default) An email with the Warranties, policies and licenses renewing within the next 30 days Users with the manager permission who switched Coverage alerts on in My profile

Perpetual licenses (with no renewal date) never enter the alert.

Related Reports

  • Reports > Software Licenses: a license inventory with seats, costs and expiry dates.
  • The Dashboard's coming-due card includes the licenses renewing in the next 60 days.

Permissions

Action Permission
View the screen SoftwareLicenses.View
Create SoftwareLicenses.Create
Edit and assign seats SoftwareLicenses.Edit
Delete SoftwareLicenses.Delete

Troubleshooting

Symptom Likely cause Resolution
The license shows as Over-deployed. There are more seat assignments than seats owned. Free assignments, or raise Seats owned after buying more.
A perpetual license shows as Expiring soon. It has a Renewal date captured by mistake. Clear the renewal date.
A seat cannot be assigned to an employee. The employee is not in the catalog, or belongs to another company. Create them under Master > Employees and check the active company.
Renewal alerts never arrive. Outgoing email is not configured, or the recipients did not switch Coverage alerts on. Check Settings > Email and My profile.

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