Your IT Invoice Is Lying To You

That £500 monthly IT bill? It's probably costing you £1,500 when you count the hidden costs. Here's how to see the real number.

Let's do some maths.

Your IT support invoice says £500 per month. That's £6,000 per year. Manageable, right?

Except that's not your real IT cost. Not even close.

The Invoice Is Just the Beginning

Your monthly invoice covers whatever's in your contract. Helpdesk calls, maybe some monitoring, perhaps antivirus. The basics.

But it doesn't include:

The Downtime Tax

How many hours per month do your staff waste on IT issues? Slow computers, crashed software, printer jams, 'have you tried restarting it?'

Let's be conservative. Say each of your 10 staff members loses 30 minutes per month to IT frustrations. At an average loaded cost of £25/hour, that's:

10 staff × 0.5 hours × £25 = £125/month of lost productivity

Now think about actual downtime. When the server goes down, or email stops working, or the internet drops out. How many hours per month is your business actually stopped?

If you have 10 staff and experience 4 hours of downtime per month:

10 staff × 4 hours × £25 = £1,000/month

The 'Not Included' Charges

How many of these do you pay on top of your monthly invoice?

• Callout fees for on-site visits
• 'Project work' for migrations or changes
• New user setup charges
• Out-of-hours support fees
• Hardware markup
• 'Emergency' response premiums

For most businesses, these ad-hoc charges add 20-40% on top of the base invoice. That £500 invoice quietly becomes £650-700.

The Invisible Staff Time

Who in your office is the 'unofficial IT person'? The one who helps colleagues reset passwords, troubleshoots printer issues, and calls the IT company when things break?

That person isn't doing their actual job during those hours. If they spend 5 hours a month on IT firefighting at £25/hour, that's:

£125/month of misallocated salary

Adding It All Up

Let's revisit that £500 monthly invoice:

Your '£500' IT support is actually costing you £1,850 per month. That's £22,200 per year.

The invoice was lying.

Why This Matters

Most businesses compare IT providers by looking at invoice prices. 'Company A charges £500, Company B charges £600, so A is cheaper.'

But if Company B's proactive approach means:

• 90% less downtime
• No callout fees (everything included)
• Your unofficial IT person gets their job back

...then Company B at £600 might actually cost you less than Company A at £500.

The true cost comparison:

• Company A: £500 invoice + £1,350 hidden costs = £1,850
• Company B: £600 all-inclusive + £400 reduced hidden costs = £1,000

Company B saves you £850/month despite the higher invoice.

What 'All-Inclusive' Really Means

At Fresh Tech, we hate surprise charges as much as you do. Here's what's included in our support plans:

• ✅ Unlimited helpdesk calls
• ✅ Remote support included
• ✅ On-site visits included (within territory)
• ✅ New user setup included
• ✅ Leaver offboarding included
• ✅ Software deployment included
• ✅ Proactive monitoring that reduces downtime

The only things we quote separately are major projects (like office moves or server replacements) where scope genuinely varies.

The Hidden Cost Calculator

We built a calculator that does this maths for you. Enter your current invoice, staff numbers, typical downtime, and other factors. It shows you the true picture.

Calculate Your True IT Cost

Most people are surprised. Some are shocked.

Questions for Your Current Provider

Next time you review your IT costs, ask:

• What's included in my monthly invoice vs. charged separately?
• What was my average downtime last quarter?
• How many callout fees did you charge me last year?
• When did you last do something that reduced my future costs?

If they can't answer clearly, that's a data point too.

The Path to Honest Pricing

Good IT support isn't cheap. But neither is bad IT support - you just don't see it on the invoice.

The best value is a provider who:

• Charges a fair monthly rate
• Includes everything so there are no surprises
• Actively works to reduce your hidden costs through better service

That might mean paying more on the invoice. But paying less overall.

See our pricing - everything included, no hidden fees.