A spreadsheet can list renewals. It cannot run a renewal process.

Dates without ownership

A renewal date is only useful if someone is responsible for reviewing it. Spreadsheets rarely encode a named owner, an assignment, a department, or a location in a way that stays current. When the person who built the sheet leaves, the next review becomes a hunt through comments and outdated names.

Evidence lives somewhere else

The contract PDF, the vendor notice, and the last invoice usually sit in email or a shared drive. The spreadsheet holds a date and maybe a link that later breaks. Reviewers then spend the decision window reconstructing context instead of deciding whether to renew, renegotiate, or cancel.

History and access are missing

A workbook does not keep a reliable decision history, reminder trail, or access boundary. Confidential commitments get mixed with everything else, versioned copies multiply, and nobody can say with certainty what was decided last cycle. Renewal Vista keeps the record, owner, dates, cost, vendor, documents, and access rules together so the next review starts with the same facts.