Your software bill is more than the subscriptions you remember signing up for. Add up every tool, every per-member or per-provider fee and every payment processing cost, and check how the total grows as your panel grows. Then make sure your books show it on its own lines so you can watch it.
Where the money goes
Most DPC practices pay for some mix of these:
- A membership and billing platform.
- An EHR, sometimes bundled with the platform.
- Card and bank payment processing.
- Phones, texting and fax.
- Scheduling, forms and e-signatures.
- Email, file storage and a password manager.
- Bookkeeping, payroll and accounting software.
Check what each one charges by
Software prices are set in different ways. Some charge a flat monthly fee. Some charge per provider or per staff seat. Some charge per member, and some take a percentage of what they collect. That last group grows every time your panel grows, which is good to know before you sign.
In a made-up example, a platform costs $1.50 per member per month. At 200 members that's $300 a month. At 600 members it's $900, for the same software. Ask every vendor how their bill changes in year two, not only what it costs today.
Payment processing is a software cost too
Processing fees often come out of your deposits before the money lands in the bank, so they're easy to miss. Your books should record the full membership revenue and the fee as a separate expense. If deposits are recorded net, your revenue looks smaller and the fee disappears. This post explains why deposits and platform reports don't match.
How it should show up in your books
I'd give software its own expense account, and payment processing its own account next to it. Then you can read both on the P&L each month and compare them with revenue. If software is buried in office expenses or split across a credit card and three bank accounts, nobody sees the total.
Annual plans paid up front are worth a note to your bookkeeper. A big charge in one month can make that month look worse than it was.
What I'd do this week
- Pull 3 months of bank and card statements and list every recurring software charge.
- Next to each one, write how it's priced: flat, per seat, per member or a percentage.
- Cancel anything nobody has logged into in 60 days.
- Ask your bookkeeper whether software and processing fees each have their own account.
Common questions
How much should a DPC practice spend on software?
There's no single right number. What matters is that you know the total, how it grows with your panel, and that it's on its own line where you can watch it.
Should I pay annually to save money?
If the discount is real and you're sure you'll keep the tool, it can make sense. Check that paying up front still leaves your cash above your floor.
Are processing fees a software cost?
I'd track them next to software, on their own line. They're a cost of collecting revenue, and they grow as your panel grows.
Want to see your real software costs every month?
We record software and processing fees on their own lines during every monthly close, so you can see what your tools cost as the practice grows. If that's what you need, apply to work with us.