Technology total cost of ownership calculator

How the calculation works

The subscription for each year is the year-one price increased by the uplift and by user growth, compounding each year. Staff cost is the full-time equivalent multiplied by the loaded cost, every year. Implementation, integration and first-year training fall in year one, later training in each following year, and the exit cost in the final year.

The “subscription at year-one price” line is what most proposals show: the first year’s price multiplied by the term. Everything else on the list is cost the proposal leaves out.

Where to get realistic inputs

• Uplift: the price increase clause in the vendor’s standard terms, or the increases you have received on similar contracts.
• Staff time: ask existing customers of a similar size how many people run the platform day to day. Vendor estimates tend to be low.
• Exit: the export format, transition assistance rates and any period where you pay both old and new providers. Our guide to exit and transition-out costs covers each part.

What this calculator does not do

It does not discount future costs to present value, include GST, or model tiered pricing that changes at volume thresholds. It is a planning tool for comparing proposals on the same basis, not a quote.

The Commonwealth Procurement Rules list whole-of-life costs, including transition out and licensing, among the factors in value for money (paragraphs 4.5 and 4.6 of the 2025 edition). The same list works for any organisation.