{"id":89922,"date":"2026-09-17T12:23:25","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T05:23:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itsystems.vn\/monthly-software-license-report-what-to-include\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T12:23:29","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T05:23:29","slug":"monthly-software-license-report-what-to-include","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsystems.vn\/en\/monthly-software-license-report-what-to-include\/","title":{"rendered":"What should a monthly software license report include?"},"content":{"rendered":"<style id=\"its-five-new-post-clean-layout-en\">\nbody.postid-89922 #brxe-eshixv { display: none !important; }\nbody.postid-89922 #brxe-c544ff { display: block !important; max-width: 1120px !important; margin-left: auto !important; margin-right: auto !important; padding-left: 24px !important; padding-right: 24px !important; }\nbody.postid-89922 #brxe-oxprhc { width: 100% !important; max-width: 920px !important; margin-left: auto !important; margin-right: auto !important; }\nbody.postid-89922 #brxe-bbjupk { width: 100% !important; max-width: 860px !important; height: auto !important; margin-left: auto !important; margin-right: auto !important; display: block !important; }\n@media (max-width: 767px) { body.postid-89922 #brxe-c544ff { padding-left: 16px !important; padding-right: 16px !important; } }\n<\/style>\n<p><strong>Quick answer:<\/strong> A monthly software license report should be more than a list of purchased software. It should show licenses owned, assigned, unused, missing, expiring, installed beyond entitlement, unknown software, cracked\/trial risk and the next action. For Microsoft 365, Adobe, Autodesk, antivirus, Windows, Office and specialist tools, this report helps reduce overspending and compliance risk.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_88 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-light-blue ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">The content of the article<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/itsystems.vn\/en\/monthly-software-license-report-what-to-include\/#Why_license_reporting_should_be_recurring\" >Why license reporting should be recurring<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/itsystems.vn\/en\/monthly-software-license-report-what-to-include\/#Fields_a_license_report_should_include\" >Fields a license report should include<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/itsystems.vn\/en\/monthly-software-license-report-what-to-include\/#Where_Excel_reporting_breaks_down\" >Where Excel reporting breaks down<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/itsystems.vn\/en\/monthly-software-license-report-what-to-include\/#Which_processes_should_connect_with_license_reporting\" >Which processes should connect with license reporting?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/itsystems.vn\/en\/monthly-software-license-report-what-to-include\/#What_should_management_see_first\" >What should management see first?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/itsystems.vn\/en\/monthly-software-license-report-what-to-include\/#When_is_IT_asset_management_software_needed\" >When is IT asset management software needed?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/itsystems.vn\/en\/monthly-software-license-report-what-to-include\/#Frequently_Asked_Questions\" >Frequently Asked Questions<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/itsystems.vn\/en\/monthly-software-license-report-what-to-include\/#Does_a_license_report_replace_software_inventory\" >Does a license report replace software inventory?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/itsystems.vn\/en\/monthly-software-license-report-what-to-include\/#How_often_should_licenses_be_reviewed\" >How often should licenses be reviewed?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/itsystems.vn\/en\/monthly-software-license-report-what-to-include\/#Should_unused_licenses_always_be_cancelled\" >Should unused licenses always be cancelled?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/itsystems.vn\/en\/monthly-software-license-report-what-to-include\/#Need_better_software_and_asset_reporting\" >Need better software and asset reporting?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_license_reporting_should_be_recurring\"><\/span>Why license reporting should be recurring<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Many companies check licenses only before renewal or audit. That makes it easy to miss licenses still assigned to departed employees, software installed on new devices without approval, or departmental purchases outside IT. Monthly reporting turns licenses into managed data instead of scattered invoices.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Fields_a_license_report_should_include\"><\/span>Fields a license report should include<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Information group<\/th>\n<th>What to include<\/th>\n<th>Management value<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>License inventory<\/td>\n<td>Product, plan, quantity, renewal or expiry date<\/td>\n<td>Shows what the company is entitled to use<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Assignment<\/td>\n<td>User, device and department using each license<\/td>\n<td>Avoids idle or wrongly assigned licenses<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Actual installation<\/td>\n<td>Which devices have which software versions<\/td>\n<td>Reveals over-installation and unknown software<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Risk<\/td>\n<td>Cracked, trial, expired or wrong-plan use<\/td>\n<td>Prioritizes remediation before audit<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Cost<\/td>\n<td>Monthly\/annual cost, unused seats and shortage<\/td>\n<td>Improves budget planning<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Action<\/td>\n<td>Reclaim, buy, uninstall or renew<\/td>\n<td>Turns reporting into a plan<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Where_Excel_reporting_breaks_down\"><\/span>Where Excel reporting breaks down<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Excel is useful at the beginning, but it becomes fragile without endpoint data and handover processes. Someone may forget to update it when employees leave, devices change owner, software is reinstalled or licenses move between teams. Excel also does not show what is actually installed on each device unless there is an inventory source.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Which_processes_should_connect_with_license_reporting\"><\/span>Which processes should connect with license reporting?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>License reporting should connect with onboarding, offboarding, procurement, device inventory, IT Care, DLP evidence and cloud-account administration. When an employee leaves, Microsoft 365, Adobe, Autodesk, antivirus or specialist licenses should be reclaimed or reassigned. When a new device is issued, installed software should match valid entitlement.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_should_management_see_first\"><\/span>What should management see first?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The first page of the report should summarize decisions, not every technical row. Useful management signals include licenses to renew this month, seats that can be reclaimed, products installed without proof of entitlement, software that should be standardized and purchases needed before a project starts.<\/p>\n<p>This helps finance and department heads act before renewal dates arrive. It also prevents the common pattern where software is bought reactively because nobody saw the shortage until a user could not work.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"When_is_IT_asset_management_software_needed\"><\/span>When is IT asset management software needed?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>If the business has more than a few dozen devices, many software groups or frequent employee changes, consider <a href=\"\/en\/it-asset-management-software\/\">IT asset management software<\/a>. Agent inventory can read installed software from endpoints and connect it with device, employee and handover records. The license report then has technical evidence, not only manual declarations.<\/p>\n<section class=\"its-post-faq\">\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Frequently_Asked_Questions\"><\/span>Frequently Asked Questions<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Does_a_license_report_replace_software_inventory\"><\/span>Does a license report replace software inventory?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>No. Inventory is the input; the report is the management output.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_often_should_licenses_be_reviewed\"><\/span>How often should licenses be reviewed?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Monthly for companies with employee changes or multiple software vendors; at least quarterly for smaller environments.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Should_unused_licenses_always_be_cancelled\"><\/span>Should unused licenses always be cancelled?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Not always. It depends on hiring plans and license terms, but unused seats should be visible and owned.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"its-post-cta\">\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Need_better_software_and_asset_reporting\"><\/span>Need better software and asset reporting?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>ITS Manager connects devices, software, licenses, IT Care and handover history so management can see risk and cost more clearly.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/en\/it-asset-management-software\/\">View IT asset management software<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A monthly software license report helps identify unused, missing, expiring, over-installed and non-compliant software before audit or renewal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":89483,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_focus_keyword":"monthly software license report","rank_math_title":"What should a monthly software license report include? | IT Systems","rank_math_description":"A monthly software license report helps identify unused, missing, expiring, over-installed and non-compliant software before audit or renewal.","rank_math_robots":"","rank_math_canonical_url":"https:\/\/itsystems.vn\/en\/monthly-software-license-report-what-to-include\/","rank_math_schema":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tin-tuc-it-hang-ngay"],"wpml_current_locale":"en_US","wpml_translations":{"vi_VN":{"locale":"vi_VN","id":89820,"slug":"bao-cao-license-phan-mem-hang-thang-gom-nhung-gi","post_title":"B\u00e1o c\u00e1o license ph\u1ea7n m\u1ec1m h\u00e0ng th\u00e1ng g\u1ed3m nh\u1eefng g\u00ec?","href":"https:\/\/itsystems.vn\/bao-cao-license-phan-mem-hang-thang-gom-nhung-gi\/"}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsystems.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsystems.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsystems.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsystems.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsystems.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89922"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/itsystems.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89922\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89923,"href":"https:\/\/itsystems.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89922\/revisions\/89923"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsystems.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsystems.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsystems.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsystems.vn\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}