Autodesk License Compliance Audit Defense: Responding to SAM Verification Letters Without Buying Excess Seats

01What a license verification letter usually asks for

Software publishers, Autodesk among them, run license compliance programs to confirm that installed software matches what a customer has purchased. Engineer Aid is independent of Autodesk and of any auditor. This page is a practical buyer's guide to responding to such a request professionally and accurately.

Buyers report that these requests commonly take one of two forms. A self-assessment request asks you to complete a declaration or run a provided tool and report what is installed. A formal audit notice refers to the audit clause in your license agreement and may name a third-party firm that will collect data. The letter typically sets a deadline, asks for a point of contact, and lists the information wanted: installations by product and version, the machines they run on, and the entitlements you hold.

Treat the letter as a legitimate contractual request. Your license agreement very likely includes terms allowing the publisher to verify use, and responding constructively is in your interest. Ignoring it tends to escalate the process and remove your chance to shape its scope. The right posture is cooperative and careful: answer on time, share accurate data, and make sure every number you share has been checked against your own records first.

Do not start uninstalling software across the company the day the letter arrives. Stopping any unlicensed use is the right goal, but ask counsel how to do it so that records of what was installed, and when, are preserved.

02The first ten days: a response timeline

Most of the outcome is decided by how well organized the first two weeks are. A typical sequence:

Ask for any confidentiality or non-disclosure terms to be agreed before data changes hands, and ask whether the data collection tool can be reviewed by your IT team before it runs.

03Build your own inventory before you respond

The single most useful thing you can do is assemble four lists and reconcile them. Each answers a different question.

• Entitlements: every subscription, collection, and any older perpetual or network license, with contract numbers and dates. Your Autodesk Account portal and reseller invoices are the sources.
• Installations: every machine with Autodesk software installed, product and version. Use your endpoint management or software inventory tool, not a manual survey.
• Users: who is assigned each named-user subscription, and whether they are current employees.
• Usage: sign-in or usage reports showing who actually opened which product, and how often.

Reconciling these usually sorts installations into a few groups: properly licensed; a second device used by a user who already holds a subscription (check what your agreement allows for that); old installs on machines no longer in service; trial or education versions; and real gaps where someone used a product without a matching entitlement. Only the last group is a true shortfall, and it should be fixed.

Document each conclusion with evidence: a disposal record for a retired machine, a subscription assignment for a second device, a log showing a trial expired. Your counsel decides what is shared and how.

04Questions to ask before you share data

These are the points where buyers most often find that the scope or the arithmetic needs adjusting. Put them to the requesting party in writing, through your point of contact and with counsel's input. None of them is a reason to delay; each is a way to make sure both sides work from the same, accurate facts.

• Which agreement and clause does the request rely on? Knowing the clause tells counsel what notice period, frequency and confidentiality terms apply.
• Which legal entities, sites and dates are in scope? A firm with subsidiaries or a recent acquisition should confirm which entities each contract covers.
• How will data be collected? If a script or tool is provided, ask what it reads, whether it can run on a sample first, and how the output is stored.
• How are versions treated? Older perpetual licenses, network licenses and upgrade rights can change how an install is counted. Ask how each will be classified.
• How are second devices and virtual machines treated? Ask for the rule in writing so the reconciliation applies it consistently.
• How will a finding be priced? Ask whether gaps are valued at the product used or at a default product, and over what period.
• What does closure look like? Ask what document ends the review and what it will cover.

05Worked example: reconciling 8 flagged users

A 45-person engineering firm holds 40 named-user subscriptions. An initial review flags 8 installations without a matching subscription and, as a starting estimate, prices them at the Product Design and Manufacturing Collection benchmark: 8 x $3,675 = $29,400 a year.

The firm's own reconciliation, reviewed by counsel, sorts the 8 installs:

Genuine shortfall: 2 x $1,975 + 1 x $3,675 = $3,950 + $3,675 = $7,625 a year, against the $29,400 starting estimate, a difference of $21,775. The firm pays for what it actually used.

For the two AutoCAD users, check usage frequency too. If each opens AutoCAD about 30 days a year, Flex tokens cost 30 x 7 x $3.00 = $630 per user against $1,975 for a subscription. Whether Flex can be used to resolve a past shortfall is a question for the negotiation, but it is a sound choice going forward. The named-user vs Flex comparison shows the breakeven.

06Negotiating scope and settlement, practically

• Agree the scope first. Which products, which legal entities and sites, and which time period. A defined window keeps the review to the period your records cover.
• Share one reviewed data set. Conflicting spreadsheets from different departments create disputes that take months to unwind.
• Match the product to the use. A user who only ran AutoCAD should be resolved with an AutoCAD entitlement, not a Collection. Ask that each gap be priced at the product actually used.
• Ask how the settlement is priced. Is it current subscription pricing, a list price, or back-dated fees? Ask whether purchases can be applied to future subscriptions rather than treated as a one-off charge.
• Get the closure in writing. The final agreement should state the period and products covered and that the matter is resolved on those terms.
• Avoid buying beyond the gap. A settlement is not the moment to buy seats for planned hires. Buy those separately, at a normal renewal, with normal benchmarking.

07Checklist to stay compliant afterwards

1. Name one owner for software licensing, with authority over installs.
2. Restrict admin rights so installs go through IT.
3. Run a quarterly reconciliation of entitlements, installs, users and usage.
4. Remove a leaver's subscription assignment and installs on their last day, with a record.
5. Move occasional users to Flex where usage logs support it.
6. Keep invoices, contracts and reconciliation reports in one folder for at least the length of your audit clause.
7. Before each renewal, run the estate through the license audit calculator.

08Run the numbers: cAD, PLM and simulation software license audit calculator

The same benchmarks as this sheet, with your inputs. Share link and printable brief open the full calculator page.