What do your software subscriptions really cost you?
Each invoice looks small. Added together, they add up fast. Here is how to do the math in one hour.
Every piece of software was chosen for a good reason. One tool for invoicing, another for appointments, another for customer follow-up. Taken one by one, none of them looks expensive. The problem is the total.
1. List everything you pay for each month
Open your credit card and bank statements for the last three months. Write down every subscription: its name, its price, the number of users. Many business owners find forgotten tools that are still being billed.
2. Work out the price per user
Most software is billed per person. So every new hire pushes several invoices up at once. Multiply each subscription by the number of users, then by twelve. That is your real yearly cost.
3. Add the time lost
When your tools do not talk to each other, your staff copy the same information from one to the next. Estimate that time each week. It is a real cost, even if it shows up on no invoice.
4. Look at what you actually use
For each tool, ask one simple question: which features do we really use? Often the answer fits in a few lines. You pay for the rest without using it.
5. Keep an eye on price increases
Vendors change their prices when they choose to, and you have no say. Write down the price of each subscription today and compare it in a year.
What next?
With this table, you know exactly what you pay. Sometimes, cancelling two forgotten tools is enough. Sometimes, it becomes more cost-effective to bring everything together in a single application built for you. Either way, you decide with the numbers in hand.
Want to go through this with us? The first conversation is free. And if your current software works for you, we will tell you.