How do I keep track of my subscriptions?

Goal

Collect subscriptions and one-time purchases in one place, see the costs, and get a reminder before a renewal.

Before you start

• No extra pack. The subscriptions window is part of the sales Nova.
• For questions at the avatar, AI access.

Steps

1. In the menu bar, click the Nova icon, Subscriptions, Open dashboard. Under Keyboard shortcuts, the entry for a shortcut of your own is Open subscriptions.
2. Top right, Add subscription. Enter Name, Cost, Currency, Billing cycle, and Next renewal, then Add Subscription. Software you bought once goes in through One-time purchase. It has no renewal. For a one-time purchase, enter Warranty until and Return by. The quick picks 1 year from purchase, 2 years from purchase, 14 days or 30 days work only once the purchase date is set.
3. The field Remind (days before) sets how early Nova warns you. The default is 7 days. The reminder arrives as a macOS notification. A click on it opens the subscriptions window. For one-time purchases, Nova reminds you 30 and 7 days before the warranty ends and 3 days before the return period ends, and once more on the day itself.
4. If a subscription starts free, enter Trial until. The first charge is then that day, and Nova reminds you before. Under Cancellation page you keep the link for cancelling, Cancel … opens it. Add reminder sets your own reminders on any date, with a note. Payment method holds only a name like Visa business, never a card number. If the amount varies, tick Amount varies and Nova shows it with ≈. For an instalment plan, enter the Number of instalments; after the last one nothing is charged.
5. Dashboard shows Monthly cost, Yearly cost, Active plans, and Due soon, with Cost by category, Upcoming dates, and Charges over the next 12 months below. Nova converts other currencies with the ECB rate. Fetch rates reloads the rates, and Display picks the currency of the totals. All subscriptions lists every subscription with the filters Active, Ended, and All. Calendar shows the charges per month.
6. Edit opens a subscription with the sections Overview, Keys, Receipts, and History. Under Receipts, drag in PDF, PNG, JPG, or HEIC up to 25 MB. Nova keeps a copy, and the original stays where it is. The receipt gives a Suggestion from the receipt. Only Use writes the values into the subscription.
7. In the Keys section you store a License key, Serial number, Activation code, Account or Other. Show or Copy asks for Touch ID, otherwise for your Mac password. After that the keys stay open for 5 minutes. Nova clears a copied key from the clipboard after 60 s if it is still there. Passwords belong in your password manager.
8. Cancel sets the subscription to Ended. Reactivate brings it back. The calendar icon Add to calendar puts an all-day event Renewal: name into your calendar for new events right away. No card comes for it, the click is the confirmation.
9. Tools … opens three helpers. Bank statement: pick a CSV from your online banking, Nova shows payments that come back regularly and adds the ticked ones as subscriptions. Licenses: export every key as CSV after Touch ID, in plain text only with its own switch, or bring in keys from a CSV. Apps: Nova compares the Applications folder with your subscriptions and shows where a key is missing.
10. Ask at the avatar: Nova reads the saved subscriptions and names amount, cycle, and next renewal. It cannot add or change anything that way.

Example

“What do my subscriptions cost per month?” — “When does Spotify renew?”

Common problems

• Cancel does not cancel with the provider. It only changes the entry in Nova. Cancel with the provider yourself.
• Without an exchange rate, an amount stays in its currency and is left out of the total. Nova lists it below the total with Not in the total, no rate.
• Nova reads the suggestion from a receipt with fixed rules and, if needed, with the local model, never through a cloud provider. Without a local model only the rules apply.
• Export… creates a ZIP with the originals and two tables, for example for the tax year. If the receipts together exceed 500 MB, the export stops. Pick a category and export in parts.
• Subscriptions that are due also appear in the morning briefing. See How do I set up the morning briefing?