Price the workflow, not just the seats.
A local cost worksheet for time-tracking subscriptions, add-ons, administrative effort and setup. Use your actual quote; no invented plan prices.
Compare the same required outcome over the same period. Include subscriptions, add-ons, setup and recurring review work; keep speculative time savings outside the base case.
Collect comparable inputs
Get a current written quote for the plan, seat count and billing period you would actually use. Confirm minimum seats, annual commitments, taxes and any required add-ons. Do not compare an annual effective monthly price for one product with monthly billing for another without labeling the difference. An advertised entry price is not your completed workflow cost.
Use your own numbers
This worksheet uses neutral example values, not merchant prices. All amounts must use the same currency. Administration is an opportunity-cost estimate based on the hours and rate you enter; it is not necessarily additional cash spending. The result excludes tax, currency conversion, financing and unlisted charges. It makes no prediction that the software saves time.
Annual operating-cost worksheet
Illustrative defaults. Replace them with your own quote and assumptions.
All amounts in your chosen common currency, excluding tax. Administration is an estimate, not a promised saving or necessarily a cash expense.
Avoid counting a hoped-for saving twice
Keep the baseline separate: what do your present subscription and review process cost? If a new tool appears to reduce reconciliation work, observe that difference in a comparable routine before putting it into a forecast. A demonstration with unusually clean data may understate the work involved in corrections and missing entries. Record the number of reviewed records alongside time spent.
Use a cost ceiling and a blocker rule
Write a maximum acceptable recurring cost, then list mandatory outcomes from the export check. A low price cannot compensate for a missing required identifier or an unacceptable collection setting. If your existing spreadsheet passes the check with manageable effort, buying a tracker may add cost without resolving a real problem. Keep that option in the comparison.
Put this check into the wider workflow
Continue with the specific decision your record still needs.
Sources and boundaries
Primary documentation supports the dated product facts. Proposed checks and fictional examples are our editorial method, not observed product results.
- DeskTime — export · checked September 23, 2026
- Time Doctor — export · checked September 23, 2026