You do not need negotiation software, a career subscription, or a new app to answer a severance packet well. The Severance Negotiation & Counter-Offer Letter kit was built for a quiet room, your own packet, and a pen you control: free PDF readers to decode the clauses and draft the letter, and either Excel or Google Sheets to compare the offer with your counter in real numbers.
What software opens and edits it
The kit arrives as PDFs and one spreadsheet, in five files. The flat printable PDFs — US Letter and A4, plus an ink-friendly black-and-white version — open in Adobe Acrobat Reader (free), Apple Preview, Apple Files on iPhone and iPad, Files by Google on Android, and most modern web browsers. Use those versions to print a clean working copy of the decoder and checklists you can mark up alongside the packet itself.
The fillable PDF is the working version. Open it in Adobe Acrobat Reader (free) on your phone, tablet, or desktop and tap-type into 137 fields: the deadline tracker, the packet decoder, giving vs getting, the counter-offer letter you will edit in your own words, the negotiation tracker, the final-signing checklist, and the money bridge. Because a completed kit holds sensitive employment and money information, save it in a private, secure location you control, use a clear filename with a date, and keep copies and proof of sending together as the final-signing page directs.
The Offer Comparison Calculator is an .xlsx file. It works in Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, Apple Numbers, and LibreOffice Calc. Google Sheets is the easiest free option if you do not own Excel: upload the file to Google Drive under your own private account, open it as a Sheet, and the offer and counter totals calculate as you enter figures, with a deadline tracker that does the date math and a negotiation log for every ask and answer. Demo data is included — review how it works, then replace it with the figures from your own packet, and keep sharing settings private.
What devices it works on
- iPhone and iPad — fillable PDF in Files or Acrobat Reader; useful for logging an answer right after a call ends
- Android phones and tablets — fillable PDF in Acrobat Reader; calculator in Google Sheets
- Windows and Mac desktop — best for the clause-by-clause decode with the packet open alongside, and for editing and printing the final letter
- Any home or office printer — US Letter or A4, color or the included ink-friendly black-and-white version; print privately, given the subject
A practical setup is desktop for decoding and drafting, phone for tracking: do the careful reading at a table, then log every conversation while it is fresh.
What pairs with it
The kit pairs with the packet itself — the agreement, any deadline letter, and your final pay and benefits information — read line by line against the decoder. A private folder, physical or digital, keeps the offer, your counter, and proof of sending together. [Affiliate slot: locking document organizer] [Affiliate slot: home document scanner] On the DealShore shelf, it pairs well with the Layoff Day-1 Action Checklist for the first day itself, the Unemployment Claim Filing & Appeal Pack for the claim that follows, and the First 72 Hours Survivor Checklist for keeping essential household documents findable during a transition.
Honest comparison: this kit vs. doing it manually
You can read a severance packet alone and answer from your gut. What that usually loses is precision: a clause you skimmed turns out to matter, the offer and your counter are never compared in the same numbers, a phone promise is never confirmed in writing, and a follow-up date slips because nothing tracked it. Generic letter templates found online give you wording without the work around it — no decoder, no giving-vs-getting page, no tracker, no final-signing check. An employment attorney can review your agreement and advise on your rights, usually at professional cost; this kit helps you arrive at that review organized, and it is explicit that it states no statute, deadline, or right as applying to you and frames every ask as a request, never a guarantee. Its job is a calm, written, professional answer — not a promised outcome.
This kit is a general organization and negotiation-preparation tool with example wording for you to edit. It is not legal advice, consult an employment attorney to review any agreement before you sign it.
Get the kit
DIGNITY. Get the Severance Negotiation & Counter-Offer Letter for $14.95, or find DealShore on Etsy.
Get free sample pages + new kit alerts — email contact@dealshore.com