Renewal
A renewal is the process in Salesforce CPQ (and the newer Revenue Cloud) of extending an existing contract or subscription past its end date, instead of selling the same products again from a blank quote.
Definition
A renewal is the process in Salesforce CPQ (and the newer Revenue Cloud) of extending an existing contract or subscription past its end date, instead of selling the same products again from a blank quote. Salesforce CPQ creates a renewal opportunity and a renewal quote that carry the existing subscription products and subscribed assets forward, so a rep edits the deal rather than rebuilding it.
The renewal opportunity gives the sales team a forecastable pipeline record tied to the account, with a close date set to the contract end date. The renewal quote then prices those lines using the account's renewal pricing method. Renewals are how subscription businesses protect recurring revenue, because most expected income each period comes from customers continuing rather than from net-new deals.
How a renewal flows from contract to signed quote
Where renewal sits in the CPQ contract lifecycle
A renewal does not start on its own. It is the last stage of the CPQ contract cycle that begins when an opportunity is marked Closed/Won. An admin (usually through a flow) sets the opportunity's Contracted field, and CPQ generates a Contract with subscription records for every subscription product, plus order and asset records depending on your setup. That Contract holds the start date, end date, and subscription term that the renewal later reads. When the end date approaches, the renewal motion picks up from the Contract. CPQ does not assume you want one renewal model for everything. You can renew a single contract from its record, renew several contracts from an account into one combined renewal, or renew assets directly using a percent-of-total method. Each path produces a renewal opportunity and, eventually, a renewal quote. Because the lineage is stored, the renewal opportunity keeps a Renewal Contracts related list that points back to the contracts that triggered it. That backward link matters during audits and renewal forecasting, since it tells you exactly which signed agreements feed a given pipeline number.
Renewal Forecast versus Renewal Quoted
Two checkboxes on the Contract drive the whole thing, and the order they fire in matters. Renewal Forecast comes first. Checking it tells CPQ to create the renewal opportunity so the expected renewal revenue shows up in your pipeline early, often months before the contract expires. This is the field renewal managers care about, because forecasting a renewal is not the same as quoting one. You want the number visible long before anyone sends paperwork. Renewal Quoted comes second. Checking it tells CPQ to generate the renewal quote and attach it to that renewal opportunity. You can skip Forecast and check Renewal Quoted directly, but Salesforce recommends running Forecast first so the pipeline stays honest. The renewal opportunity contains opportunity products that mirror all subscriptions from the original quote, with a close date equal to the contract end date. The renewal quote then carries every subscription product and subscribed asset from the quote you renewed. Covered assets often show a zero net total price, which signals the customer already paid for that coverage in the prior term.
Dates, terms, and what carries forward
The timing on a renewal is derived, not typed by hand, which is what keeps renewals consistent across a large book of business. The renewal quote start date is one day after the renewal opportunity's close date. Since the close date equals the contract end date, the renewal picks up exactly where the prior term stops, with no gap and no overlap in coverage. The renewal quote end date is calculated from the contract's renewal term, so a twelve month renewal term produces a quote that runs a year from the new start. What carries forward is the substance of the agreement. The renewal quote inherits the subscription products and subscribed assets, so a rep is editing an existing book rather than rebuilding it line by line. From there the rep handles the real conversation: add seats, drop a product the customer stopped using, or adjust price. That edit-not-rebuild model is the point of CPQ renewals. It removes the data entry that causes mistakes, like a forgotten line or a wrong quantity, and lets the rep spend time on the customer instead of on the quote grid.
Renewal Pricing Method: Same, List, or Uplift
Price is where renewals get interesting, and CPQ controls it with the account's Renewal Pricing Method field. It decides how the list unit price of each renewed subscription line is calculated, and it has three values. Same makes the renewal lines inherit pricing from the related subscription records on the contract you are renewing, so the customer keeps the price they had. List ignores the prior price and uses the product's list price from your price book, which resets every line to current catalog pricing. Uplift is the one most subscription businesses reach for. It takes the subscription's existing price and raises it by a defined percentage. That percentage lives in the Renewal Uplift (%) field, stored as SBQQ__RenewalUpliftRate__c, and it can be set on either the Subscription or the Contract. If both carry a value, the uplift on the Subscription wins and overrides the one on the Contract. A common pattern is a standard annual uplift, say three percent, applied automatically so renewal quotes reflect a modest increase without a rep editing each line. Setting this field correctly is the difference between renewals that quietly protect margin and renewals that leak it.
Manual checkbox renewals versus scheduled Apex
For a handful of contracts, an admin or rep can drive renewals by hand, checking Renewal Forecast and Renewal Quoted on each Contract when the time comes. That is fine at low volume and gives a person eyes on every renewal. It does not scale. A company with thousands of active contracts cannot rely on someone remembering to tick a box before each expiration, and missed renewals turn directly into churn. Salesforce CPQ supports automation for exactly this reason. You can renew contracts through scheduled Apex batch jobs that look ahead and generate renewal opportunities and quotes on a defined cadence, so renewals appear in the pipeline automatically at the right lead time. For very large data volumes, Salesforce also offers a Large-Scale Amendment and Renewal Service to process renewals in bulk without timing out. The right answer depends on volume and how much human review each renewal needs. The trade is control versus reach: manual gives oversight on every deal, scheduled gives reliable coverage so nothing slips past its end date unnoticed.
Renewals in Revenue Cloud and asset lifecycle management
Salesforce CPQ is the long-standing engine for this, but renewals also live in the newer Revenue Cloud through Revenue Lifecycle Management. There the unit of work is the customer asset, and renewal is one of three asset actions alongside amend and cancel. Amending updates an existing asset to reflect a change like adding users or upgrading a service. Renewing extends an asset or subscription beyond its current end date so service and revenue continue. Each request, whether an amendment, a renewal, or a cancellation, generates its own quote. Revenue Cloud adds flexibility that pure CPQ historically lacked. You can renew expired assets and subscriptions by choosing new start and end dates, which covers late renewals and trial extensions rather than only on-time renewals. Agentforce Revenue Management can schedule future transactions such as upsells and renewals against an asset, and global subscriptions can be handled with time zone precision so asset state periods stay accurate across regions. If you are starting fresh today, the renewal concept is the same, but the object you act on and the surrounding tooling have moved toward the asset-centric Revenue Cloud model.
How to renew a single contract in Salesforce CPQ
Here is the standard way to renew a single contract from its record in Salesforce CPQ, using a contract-based renewal model. The account must be set up for contract-based renewals first.
- Open the Contract record
Find the active Contract created from the original Closed/Won, Contracted opportunity. Confirm its end date and renewal term are correct, because the renewal quote derives its dates from those fields.
- Check Renewal Forecast
Select the Renewal Forecast field on the Contract and save. CPQ creates a renewal opportunity on the account with a close date equal to the contract end date, so the renewal shows in your pipeline early.
- Check Renewal Quoted
Select the Renewal Quoted field and save. CPQ generates a renewal quote tied to that opportunity, carrying forward all subscription products and subscribed assets from the quote you renewed.
- Confirm pricing, then edit and finalize
Verify the account's Renewal Pricing Method (Same, List, or Uplift) priced the lines as expected, then adjust quantities, add or remove products, and take the renewal quote through approval and signature.
Contract checkbox that creates the renewal opportunity for pipeline forecasting; check it well before expiration.
Contract checkbox that generates the renewal quote and links it to the renewal opportunity.
Account field set to Same, List, or Uplift to control how renewed subscription line prices are calculated.
Percentage on the Subscription or Contract (SBQQ__RenewalUpliftRate__c) used when the method is Uplift; the Subscription value overrides the Contract value.
- The renewal quote start date is one day after the opportunity close date, which equals the contract end date, so wrong contract dates produce wrong renewal dates.
- Checking Renewal Quoted without Renewal Forecast still works, but you lose the early pipeline view that renewal managers rely on.
- If both the Subscription and the Contract have a Renewal Uplift value, the Subscription wins, so a stray subscription-level uplift can silently override your contract default.
- Manual checkbox renewals do not scale; for large contract volumes use scheduled Apex or the Large-Scale Amendment and Renewal Service so renewals are not missed.
Prefer this walkthrough as its own page? How to Renewal in Salesforce, step by step
Trust & references
Cross-checked against the following references.
- Renew Your Contracts and Assets in Salesforce CPQSalesforce
- Renew from the Contract RecordSalesforce
- Renewal Pricing Method Data FlowsSalesforce
Straight from the source - Salesforce's reference material on Renewal.
Hands-on resources to go deeper on Renewal.
About the Author
Dipojjal Chakrabarti is a B2C Solution Architect with 29 Salesforce certifications and over 13 years in the Salesforce ecosystem. He runs salesforcedictionary.com to help admins, developers, architects, and cert/interview candidates sharpen their fundamentals. More about Dipojjal.
Test your knowledge
Q1. What does a Renewal generate in Salesforce CPQ and Subscription Management?
Q2. Why does the Renewal process populate from the existing contract instead of starting blank?
Q3. Why is the Renewal motion foundational to subscription businesses?
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