A card statement full of small charges
The owner looks at the company card and sees dozens of software charges. Some are the agency's own tools. Many are per-client: a call tracking number for a client that left last year, an extra landing page builder site, a rank tracking project for a client whose SEO retainer ended, a reporting connector still pulling data from an account nobody reports on.
Some of these were meant to be recharged to the client and were for a while, until an invoice template changed. Others were set up by a specialist who has since left, with the login in their name. Each charge is small. Together they are a steady leak.
Why subscriptions pile up
- Specialists sign up to tools for a client on the agency card to get work started quickly.
- Nobody records which client a subscription belongs to.
- Recharging depends on someone adding the line to the client invoice each month.
- Client offboarding covers deliverables and access, not the tools set up for them.
- Charges come from overseas vendors with vague descriptions, so they are hard to recognise.
Every subscription has a reason for starting. Almost none have a trigger for stopping.
What the leak costs
Money goes on tools for clients who no longer pay the agency. Recharges that clients agreed to are never billed. Logins held by former staff mean the agency cannot even cancel some subscriptions without a recovery process. At year end, the software line in the accounts is large and nobody can explain it.
The subscription register we build
- Recurring charges are read from your card feed and accounts package, and grouped by vendor.
- Each subscription is linked to a client or marked as agency-wide, with an owner at the agency and the login holder.
- Subscriptions can be marked rechargeable, with the recharge rule, and added automatically to the client's billing each month.
- New recurring charges that appear are flagged for someone to link to a client, so the register stays current.
- When a client is marked as ending in your CRM, a list of their subscriptions is generated with the renewal dates and a cancel-or-transfer decision for each.
- A monthly summary shows per-client tool costs, recharged amounts and anything unlinked.
| Subscription type | Typical link | What the register tracks |
|---|---|---|
| SEO tool projects | One per client site | Client, owner, renewal |
| Call tracking numbers | Per client campaign | Recharge, cancel on exit |
| Landing page builder sites | Per client | Recharge, transfer or cancel |
| Scheduling tool seats | Per client brand | Seat count and owner |
| Reporting connectors | Per data source | Still in use or not |
Some subscriptions, such as call tracking numbers, may need to be transferred to the client rather than cancelled. The exit list asks that question for each one.
After the register is in place
A client gives notice. The account manager opens the exit list and sees their five subscriptions: two cancelled at the end of the notice period, one call tracking number transferred to the client, one landing page site exported and closed, one rank tracking project archived. The next month, none of those charges appear. Recharges for active clients appear on invoices without anyone remembering them.
Is your software bill hiding client costs?
- There are recurring charges on the card that nobody can explain.
- Tools set up for past clients are still being paid for.
- Recharged subscriptions sometimes fall off client invoices.
- Some tool logins belong to people who have left.
- Client offboarding does not include the tools set up for them.