---
id: KB-CF-002
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/use-cases-by-capability/keeping-track-of-expiry-dates
idioma: en
categoria: casos-por-funcionalidad
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-TL-001, KB-DI-005]
citadoPor: [KB-CF-010, KB-CS-010, KB-CS-023, KB-CF-018, KB-CF-007, KB-CS-006]
---

# Tracking expiry dates without remembering them

_Have the system warn you before things expire, instead of finding out during an inspection._

**Responde a:** track certificate expiry · alert before an insurance policy expires · automatically renew supplier documentation · expired document alerts

Documents that prove something almost all expire: insurance, tax clearance certificates, training, vehicle inspections, approvals. And on the day they expire nothing visible happens — the problem surfaces months later, when someone asks for the paper and it is out of date.

**En corto**

- The expiry date is read from the document itself when it carries one.
- The warning arrives with enough margin to renew, not the day after.
- Renewal can be requested from the third party without writing anything by hand.

## How to set it up

1. **Mark which documents expire** — On each document type, say it has an expiry. The ones that do not, none.
2. **Let it read the date** — Most certificates carry it in writing and it is extracted automatically. Those that do not are set by hand once.
3. **Choose the margin** — Thirty days is usually reasonable: time to ask and for the other side to send it.
4. **Let renewal request itself** — When the warning fires, the request goes to the third party using the usual process.

## Margins that work

| Document | Warn at | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Public liability insurance | 45 days | Renewal depends on an insurer, not on them |
| Tax clearance certificate | 15 days | Issued on the spot, no more needed |
| Mandatory training | 60 days | A course has to be arranged |
| Approvals and audits | 90 days | Depends on a third party with a diary |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> A warning is useless if it reaches someone who cannot act. Put it in the name of whoever has the supplier's phone number, not a general inbox.

> [!WARNING]
> An expired document does not disappear: it stays, marked as expired. That is correct — it still proves what it proved at the time.

**What if the supplier sends a new one early?**

It replaces the previous one and the countdown restarts automatically.

**Can I see everything expiring this quarter?**

Yes, by filtering on expiry date.

**Does an expiry block anything?**

If you marked it mandatory, the case goes back to incomplete.

## Ejemplos

**A company with 80 subcontractors discovers during an inspection that 14 have lapsed insurance.**

- Marks insurance as an expiring document
- Sets a 45-day warning to the purchasing lead
- Lets renewal request itself

→ The following quarter there are zero lapsed policies and nobody had to keep count.

**One person tracks a hundred and twenty documents' expiries in a spreadsheet and reviews them by hand every Monday.**

- Records validity when each document is received
- Lets the warning go out on its own with the set lead time
- Keeps Monday for acting on what was flagged, not for hunting it

→ Monday goes from two hours of review to ten minutes of action.

**Somebody leaves the company and expiry control leaves with them.**

- Configures warnings against a role, not a person

→ The departure does not orphan the calendar.

**Everything triggers a warning and the team stops reading them.**

- Warns only about what requires action

→ The warning works again.

**Two people review the same thing just in case.**

- Makes clear who answers for each type

→ The work stops being duplicated.

**The document is renewed and nobody clears the warning.**

- Records the new document with its date

→ The status reflects reality without intervention.