14 fields, a status formula keyed to TODAY(), and conditional formatting that turns rows amber 30 days before expiry and red on the day they lapse. Built for small property managers, GCs, and facility teams. Opens in Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets.
One row per certificate, not one per vendor. The single most common reason homemade trackers stop working is that they collapse three coverages onto one row, then sort by the wrong expiry date.
Vendor name
Legal name on the certificate (often differs from the DBA you use).
Insurer
Travelers, The Hartford, etc. Useful for spotting carriers you’ve had bad luck with.
Policy number
Exactly as printed. The reference your broker will ask for first.
Coverage type
GL, WC, Auto, Umbrella, Professional. One row per type.
Coverage limits
Per-occurrence and aggregate split into separate columns. Sortable.
Effective date
When the policy began.
Expiry date
The column you’ll stare at the most.
Additional insured
Whether your entity is named, and under what wording.
Waiver of subrogation
Yes or no. If no, the carrier can come after you post-claim.
Contact email
Their COI person, not the sales rep.
Last verified
The date you actually looked, not the date they told you it was fine.
Document link
A link to the PDF in your shared drive (not your laptop).
Status
Auto: Current / Expiring Soon / Expired / Missing.
Notes
Optional column for the bits that don’t fit anywhere else.
When the spreadsheet stops working
For under 10 vendors with one person editing, a spreadsheet is the right tool. The wheels come off in four predictable spots: around 10–15 vendors (you start missing the 30-day warning), the moment a second person edits the file (race conditions), the first audit (no history), and when whoever maintained it leaves (tribal knowledge gone).
When you hit two of those, COI Tracker takes over the renewal-reminder workflow automatically — three emails per certificate at 30/14/7 days, secure PDF storage, one-click vendor update requests. Free for your first 3 vendors. Paid plans start at $19/mo.