Why is it better buying building software outright?
Saturday, November 19th, 2016
Buying building software is an investment in the future of your building firm so you want to make sure you get it right! Cashflow is sometimes an issue for building firms (ok all builders at some point!) but nevertheless the overwhelming majority of our customers say they prefer buying software outright rather than paying for a monthly subscription. That’s why our software is sold on something called a perpetual licence. That’s to say you own it, and can choose as and when you want to renew your maintenance for the software or upgrade to newer versions, later down the line, at a time and point convenient to you.
To help you decide if this is the right option for you we thought we’d break it down.
HBXL is designed for you, right down to payment method!
As a previous building firm owner, our founder Adrian Wild is all too aware of the issue of cash flow in running a small business. Having an ongoing outlay such as a subscription can become a problem when business is slower and cash flow is tight (comes with the territory of being a builder – waiting client payments and so on…). If you want to get your hands on our software and OWN IT but can’t afford the chunk upfront, why not consider our Take 3 option. Choose your software and split the cost over 3 months (no subscription, and no interest to pay!). Ask your software sales consultant for details or call 0117 916 7898 for details.
Benefits of buying outright to your accounts to suit your accounts
When buying software outright you can choose to show it as an enduring asset (a capital purchase) or as an operating expense.
A software purchase can be considered by HMRC as an “asset purchase” because software has a long term effect on the profitability of your business – rather than treating it as a general business expense.
Capital purchases (CAPEX) are deducted from your expenses differently to current expenses or operating expenses (known as OPEX). With capital purchases you capitalise them. That’s to say they won’t appear in your management accounts in full when you purchase them, and beginning the year after the purchase of your software you begin to depreciate them (write off the cost over time, usually monthly) over say 3 to 5 years. This has the impact of showing the investment as an asset on your balance sheet and improving your profits for the year.
Alternatively you might want to purchase the software as an operating expense to reduce your profits in the year, in order to reduce the corporation tax you pay on the profits you make from doing business. So rather than paying the HMRC for the privilege of you doing well, you can choose to invest in your business.
So whichever way you wish to account for it, buying outright suits builders well.
One purchase and it’s yours, for life. Just like the good old days!
We’ve been in business for nearly 17 years and have found that one purchase for the software, a year’s Support & Updates included free and no hidden charges is more manageable for our users. Once you buy, it’s yours! No monthly subscription nor ongoing payments to manage. It won’t switch off if you don’t subscribe because you OWN IT. And one more thing, with subscription or rental of software you may end up paying more long term as you continue to pay year after year – indeed you have to keep paying in order to access your old jobs or you’ll lose all your work.
What happens after year one?
As mentioned, Support & Updates is included in year one, FOC. But what happens after year one? The software is still yours, it will always be yours, don’t worry about that! The only difference is whether you want to continue receiving the benefit of our award winning Support & Updates service. If you choose not to continue you will not need to pay us another penny. BUT, you will no longer receive support via call/ the chat service/email or be able to utilise informative live webinars we frequently run. Nor will you benefit from our commitment to 25% of turnover reinvested into regular software updates and development or be using the latest prices, regulations and practices that are live updated across our software range. Trust us, it’s worth it! Follow the link to read a quick summary of all the developments we’ve made in 2016.
Give us a call!
Still not sure about buying building software outright? Speak to one of the team today on 0117 9167898 to find out more about getting your hands on award winning building software.