The Software Stack Cost Calculator. See what your tools really cost.
A 10-person contractor can run a $576-a-month software stack and never see the total in one place. This free Excel workbook lists every tool you pay for, adds the office hours spent re-typing data between them, and hands back your true annual and 5-year cost.
"Marketing is a multiplier. It makes whatever your business already is louder."
A quick take from Joe on why profit clarity comes before the next marketing dollar — and how the workbook shows you what your stack is really costing while you decide.
One page. Every tool. The number you've never seen.
Most owners have never totaled their software bill in one place, let alone added the hidden cost of re-typing data between systems. This workbook does both, then projects it out five years.
- Excel Workbook — common tools pre-loaded with published prices
- Adds the hidden re-entry hours and what that time costs
- True annual total + a 5-year picture. Free. No upsell.
Software Stack Cost Calculator
List every tool, its monthly cost, and what it connects to. The workbook totals the visible bill, adds the cost of office time spent re-keying data between systems, and projects the whole thing across five years.
- Common tools pre-loaded with published prices
- Hidden double-entry time, costed by the hour
- True annual total and 5-year projection
- The honest column: does it get costs into my books, by job?
A megaphone on a margin you've never measured
$576 a month is $6,912 a year. If none of it gets your costs into your books by job, that's $6,912 multiplying a margin you can't see. The workbook makes the number concrete so the next renewal is a decision, not a default.
- See the annual total before you renew
- Spot the tools that only move revenue, not costs
- Decide profit-first, then buy the megaphone
Your stack has two costs and one blind spot.
Add up all three and the renewal decision makes itself.
What you already pay.
Platform plus add-ons: marketing suite, AI receptionist, sales pipeline. On one real stack that's $349 + $79 + $99 + $49 = $576 a month. None of it a scam — but only half a business.
Re-typing between systems.
When tools don't talk, the office re-keys the same data twice. Those hours never show on an invoice, but they're real payroll. The workbook prices them in.
Expenses never sync.
Jobber and Housecall Pro send invoices, payments, and customers to QuickBooks — not your expenses. A receipt photographed in the app never lands as a job cost.
Annual + 5-year total.
Visible bill plus hidden time, projected forward. Once you see it next to a margin you've never measured, the order is obvious: profit clarity first, marketing second.
List the tools. Add the hours. Read the total.
Every tool you pay for
Drop in each piece of software, its monthly cost, and what it connects to. The common ones are pre-loaded with their published prices, so most of the work is already done.
The hidden re-entry time
Add the hours your office spends re-typing data between systems each month, and what that time costs per hour. This is the bill nobody sends you.
Your true annual cost
The workbook returns the total — visible bill plus hidden time — with a 5-year picture. Two minutes with your real numbers and you'll know what the stack costs you.
The episode this toolkit was built for.
Joe takes apart a real $576-a-month contractor software stack: what actually syncs to your books, what never does, and why none of it can tell you whether the last job made money. The workbook on this page is the audit from the episode.
Watch on YouTube →
Prefer to do it in the browser?
The online Software Stack Cost Calculator runs the same math without a download — add each tool, add the re-entry hours, and see your true annual cost instantly. Same workbook, same answer, designed to be used together.
Open the Software Stack Cost CalculatorPair it with these.
Job Cost Calculator
Score one job against the healthy gross-margin range for your trade.
Open the tool →Mini CFO Dashboard
Set your margin target and see which segments clear it and which drag.
Open the tool →QuickBooks Setup Audit
8 questions, scored, with the annual dollar cost of each setup gap.
Score your setup →Know which work earns before you spend the next marketing dollar.
Best Decision Bookkeeping gets answers out of your books: job costing, segment profitability, and pricing from real job history. 30-minute call. No pitch. We'll walk your numbers together.