Most businesses have no idea what they actually spend on IT. CX365 Expense Mapping gives you complete visibility and identifies savings immediately.
Ask most business owners what they spend on IT each year, and you will get an estimate. Press them on the details — hardware, software licences, support contracts, internet, phone systems, individual SaaS subscriptions — and the number grows considerably from the initial estimate.
IT spend is consistently underestimated because it is fragmented across dozens of line items, charged through multiple billing relationships, and often invisible because it comes out automatically via credit card or direct debit without anyone reviewing it.
CX365 Expense Mapping is our structured approach to giving Melbourne businesses complete visibility into their IT spend — and identifying where they are overpaying or paying for things they no longer need.
What You Do Not Know About Your IT Spend
Most Melbourne SMBs we work with discover the following during an expense mapping exercise:
Unused software licences. Staff turnover leaves licences assigned to departed employees. Trial licences that converted to paid. Duplicate tools acquired by different departments for the same purpose. In a 30-person business, 15-20% of software licence spend is typically recoverable.
Overlapping subscriptions. Microsoft 365 already includes video conferencing, project management, forms, and file storage — but the business is also paying for Zoom, Trello, Typeform, and Dropbox. Once mapped, these overlaps become obvious.
End-of-life support contracts. Extended support contracts on hardware that has since been replaced. Software maintenance fees for products no longer used. These are easy to forget because they were set up years ago and renew automatically.
Incorrect licence tiers. A business paying for Microsoft 365 Business Premium licences for all staff, when half of them only need Business Basic. Or conversely, staff on Basic when their role requires Premium security features. Either direction represents waste or risk.
Unmanaged SaaS subscriptions. Staff-initiated SaaS subscriptions charged to business credit cards — project management tools, design software, scheduling apps — that nobody in IT or finance has a complete view of. Sometimes called “shadow IT”, this frequently represents 10-20% of total software spend.
How CX365 Expense Mapping Works
Phase 1: Discovery
We gather and categorise all IT-related expenditure:
- Hardware (devices, servers, networking equipment, peripherals)
- Software licences and subscriptions (Microsoft 365, line-of-business applications, SaaS tools)
- Support and managed service contracts
- Internet and telecommunications
- Cloud services (hosting, storage, backup)
- Security tools
Sources include accounting system exports, credit card statements, vendor invoices, and direct queries to your IT provider.
Phase 2: Analysis
With a complete picture of spend, we analyse:
- Utilisation: Which licences are being actively used? Microsoft 365 Admin Centre provides active user data. Most SaaS platforms have usage reporting.
- Overlap: Where are you paying for duplicate capabilities?
- Appropriateness: Are licence tiers matched to actual usage requirements?
- Benchmarking: How does your per-user IT spend compare to similar businesses?
- Contract terms: When do contracts renew? Are you in auto-renew cycles you have not reviewed?
Phase 3: Recommendations and Savings Plan
The output is a prioritised savings plan: specific actions, estimated annual savings, and implementation complexity for each.
Typical categories:
- Immediate savings (0-30 days): Remove unused licences, cancel duplicate subscriptions, right-size licence tiers
- Short-term savings (30-90 days): Consolidate overlapping tools, renegotiate contracts ahead of renewal
- Strategic savings (90+ days): Platform consolidation, infrastructure optimisation, vendor rationalisation
What the Numbers Look Like
For a 30-person Melbourne professional services firm, a typical expense mapping exercise reveals:
| Category | Annual Spend Found | Identified Savings |
|---|---|---|
| Software licences | $45,000 | $8,000-12,000 |
| SaaS subscriptions | $18,000 | $4,000-6,000 |
| Support contracts | $22,000 | $2,000-4,000 |
| Telecoms | $15,000 | $2,000-3,000 |
| Total | $100,000 | $16,000-25,000 |
Savings of 15-25% on total IT spend are common in businesses that have never conducted a formal review.
Getting Started
CX365 Expense Mapping is available to Melbourne businesses as a standalone engagement or as part of our onboarding process for new managed IT clients. Book a Right Fit Call to discuss what a technology spend review would uncover for your business.
