You pay for the tools. Who pays for the work between them?
One client question can touch eight systems, and a person carries it from one to the next: opening each screen, copying the figures, checking which version is current. This issue calls that burden the stack tax, and shows how to put a number on it.
Inside this issue
- Four costs that never appear on an invoice: coordination, vendor oversight, training, and blind spots
- An illustrative firm, with cash and staff capacity kept separate
- A fillable worksheet to price your stack in two passes: an estimate in one sitting, then a two-week measurement
- How to test one change against one workflow, and when the stack is worth keeping
The worksheet is also available on its own, with its own instructions: download the fillable Stack Tax Worksheet.
The chartbook is free, with no form. Read it in your browser or download the PDF, worksheets included.
