The quiet cost of renting all your software
Nothing on the list is expensive. The list is the problem.
Software is sold monthly because monthly feels like nothing. Fifteen pounds here, nine there, twenty nine for the thing you only use at quarter end. Individually each one is cheaper than lunch. Together they are a standing cost that grows without a decision ever being made.
The two things worth counting
Not to be dramatic about it. Just so the number exists.
- Open your bank statement for last month and mark every recurring software payment. Include the ones that renew annually, divided by twelve.
- Multiply the total by twelve, then by three. Three years is roughly how long these decisions last in practice.
Most people doing this for the first time are surprised twice: by the total, and by at least one subscription they had forgotten they were paying for.
The part that matters more than the money
What happens if you stop paying. For a lot of booking and invoicing tools, the answer is that your customer list, your job history and your invoices become inaccessible. You can usually export them if you remember to before the account closes, and most people do not.
Ask the question before you sign up, not when you leave: if I stop paying, what happens to my data?
The answer you want is that you can export everything, in a format anything can open, at any time, without asking. A spreadsheet export is the plain version of that. If a tool makes that difficult, it is telling you something about the relationship.
A sensible way to decide
- Does it replace something, or just add to it? A tool that removes three habits is worth paying for. A tool that sits alongside everything you already do is another thing to keep up to date.
- Would you miss it in a week? Turn it off and find out. Most of the answers are uncomfortable.
- Is the price per person? Fine at one person. Expensive the day you take someone on, which is exactly when money is tight.
- Can you get your data out in one click? If not, you are not a customer, you are a tenant.
- Does the price rise while the product stays the same? Check what it cost two years ago. It is usually findable.
None of this means avoiding software
A business that runs out of a notebook has a different and worse set of problems. The point is to pick deliberately, know the yearly total rather than the monthly one, and make sure that the record of your own customers and your own invoices is yours to take with you.
Twenty minutes with a bank statement is enough to find out where you stand. Most people find at least one thing to cancel, and sleep slightly better for knowing the number.