As a small business, cashflow is vital to keep going. What kills cash flow faster than anything else? Small, ongoing costs.
With SaaS businesses all opting for a subscription model these days, you can’t avoid them entirely, but you can reduce your monthly costs. In Australia, it can be especially powerful to reduce your subscriptions to international software companies (and swap out for Australian), especially if you’re registered for GST!
This time of year it’s crazy with EOFY sales, but before you get sucked into another irresistible offer on a new productivity app… review what you already have and cut the fat.
I do this every year. And in 2025, my tech audit took less than an hour and has resulted in saving over $1500 in annual software costs!
An annual tech audit can not only save you Money, but it gives you the opportunity to review how you use these apps and check for new features that you’re paying for but not using. It can reduce digital and mental clutter, simplify and optimise your processes. All of which result in a happier business operator!
Here’s what I did.
First, I made a list of my software costs, which included;
- Various WordPress plugins (agency licenses)
- Accounting software
- Dropbox
- Zoom
- LastPass
- iCloud
- O365
- Canva Pro
- Website/domain management software
- Brevo
Then, I logged into each platform and asked myself a few questions.
1: Do I actually need the features provided by this app? It is a NEED or a WANT?
You could easily justify having subscriptions for everything, after all you didn’t sign up for an account to make a monthly/annual donation to the company that made it.
BUT, asking yourself the critical questions about whether you’ve actually used it enough for the purpose you bought it, and considering how you’d get along without it.
We ditched Slack and Trello from our project management systems, option for old-school email and phone communication with a custom Ninox database for tracking = $500+ per year saved
2: Is there an alternative I can use with a lower cost, or do any of my other apps offer similar features?
Software and apps are constantly changing. So just like shopping around for your annual insurance renewals, looking for a better deal on your apps can save you hundreds, if not thousands!
And by better deal, I’m not just talking about something cheaper. With your apps under constant reinvention, there is every chance that where last year you needed two apps to achieve the same result, this year, one of them can do both things in the next.
I tried out a few different password managers, and switched LastPass Pro for the free Apple Passwords app = $100 per year saved. I am exclusively on Apple hardware, so this works great, but if you’re on Windows you’ll need to keep a 3rd party app.
We’ve been a member of Envato Elements since its inception. But, with Canva getting really, really good, we’ll be dropping our subscription for stock images later this year. = $360 per year saved.
I have been using Zoom for years to conduct my virtual meetings. But with recent connection problems and increasing subscription costs, we are currently experimenting with Microsoft Teams. This ties in with Dropbox – our previous home for cloud storage. With Teams, comes OneDrive – so rather than essentially pay for two cloud storage platforms we’ve tentatively swapped to OneDrive for now. This may change again, as I do not like Microsoft products they’re glitchy and painful, but for now, I’m happy with the cost savings by combining Dropbox and Zoom into MS O365 = Saving me another $300+ per year
3: If I need this plan, are there any available discounts, or can I drop to a lower priced plan? Do all my team members really need their own login?
If you don’t use all the features available to you on your current plan, review the lower tier and see if you can drop back. And if you have created accounts for your whole team on a productivity suite (eg, Trello and Slack) but they still just ring you when they need help… time to can their subscriptions, and just kick it old school.
Finally, I cancelled what could be cancelled and scheduled in renewal reminders for the ones I'm keeping.
If you have Mac or use an iPhone, definitely recommend setting up a few reminder lists, including one for your business direct debits/subscriptions. Set it to repeat on a certain day, and it’ll show up in iCal so you can ‘tick’ it off the list and keep an eye on those renewals and review each subscription as it renews. No more sneaky credit card deductions or forgotten payments!
All up from asking these 3 questions over 20+ plugins and apps, I have saved $1500 in annual software this year.
It goes so much deeper than just saving some money though. By stripping out extra software, I reduce the number of platforms I need to remember how to use, I reduce the chances of missing messages and spreading myself too thin across all these different spaces.
It feels incredibly liberating, I’m lighter and less frazzled for having spent this hour auditing my subscriptions.
I highly recommend reviewing yours, too – both personal and business!
If you’re completely overwhelmed and would like someone to help you with this, get in touch! I actually really love reviewing systems and simplifying processes.
Our online world is already crazy overwhelming enough, so do yourself a massive favour and make things a little easier.
Despite the marketing, MORE does NOT always mean better.
