Abstract: In one embodiment, and in accord with a method for monitoring software usage, a periodic determination is made as to how many of a particular hardware resource are active within a defined computing environment. Then, in accord with a number of the particular hardware resources that are determined to be active in the defined computing environment during a given time period, i) a count of permanent licenses, if any, that are available in a usage account of a software application configured to use the defined computing environment, is debited, and ii) upon exhausting the count of permanent licenses, a count of time increments, if any, for which a number of temporary licenses in the usage account of the software application are valid, is debited. Other embodiments are also disclosed.