Recharge or Absorb? How to Handle Dext Subscription Costs Across Your Client Base
Key Takeaways
Recharge decisions should follow usage, not habit. The clearest signal for whether to recharge Dext is whether the client actually interacts with the platform themselves, through expense claims, approvals, or mileage tracking.
Who does the transactional work determines who pays. If the firm handles the bookkeeping, Dext is always recharged; if the client self-serves, the firm charges for setup and training instead.
Usage-based pricing is fairer than a flat fee. Tiered pricing that scales with transaction volume better reflects the value delivered, especially for heavy users who benefit most from automation.
Separating the tech cost from the service fee protects client relationships. When clients see the firm's service and the underlying software as distinct, price increases are attributed to the tech provider, not the advisor.
Manual recharging doesn't scale and creates risk. Tracking subscription costs by hand across a growing client base leads to missed charges and absorbed price rises; automating the process closes that gap.
Every new financial year brings the same question: should you recharge your Dext subscriptions to clients, or absorb the cost yourself? Firms are split. Some recharge it, some build it into a service package, and some have not really decided either way.
Either way, it should be a deliberate decision. Not charging for a client-facing cost is money left on the table.
At Rechargly, we recently had a webinar with Aly Garrett from All In Advisory and Glenn Castle from Dext, hosted by Alex Millar. The session covered making the recharge call, pricing by usage, handling the conversation with clients, and where the process falls over. This blog shares the main takeaways.
If you'd prefer to watch, here's the recording:
Start with who actually uses Dext
Before pricing, the first question is usage. The clearest signal of whether to recharge is whether the client actually touches the platform.
Dext has moved well beyond receipt capture, so there are several signals to look for: staff submitting expense claims through the mobile app, approval workflows, even mileage claims. A client actively running part of their business through Dext is a strong candidate to recharge. One who never touches it, where everything is done on their behalf, is a reasonable one to absorb.
Drawing the line on who pays
The line comes down to the work being done. Where the firm does the transactional and bookkeeping work, Dext is a must, always paid by the client and recharged. Where a client takes it on themselves, the firm charges for setup and training, then checks in at BAS time. If it has not been used correctly, that becomes a conversation about bringing it back in-house or running more training, which is also charged for.
The principle is simple. If the client does not touch it, absorbing it is fine. Once it is client-facing, that is the chance to recharge.
Price by usage, not a flat fee
A flat fee is the simplest starting point, but volume-based pricing is fairer, because the clients running large volumes through Dext are usually better placed to pay for it.
In practice that means brackets: a lower charge for light users, a higher fee for heavy users, lifted once usage climbs past a set point. For a new client, estimate volume from their bank and supplier payments. For an existing one, use actual usage from the Dext report. And weigh value, not just cost: a supplier statement extraction might cost cents but save hours of reconciliation.
Communicate it without the pushback
Open communication does most of the work here. Scope it up front so there is no shock later, and do not presume: be honest, be open, and tell the client what your ideal scenario looks like.
Sell the value they actually see: electronic copies of receipts and supplier statements they can pull up themselves, with no paper to keep. It lands better as part of a bigger conversation across the whole client base, not a one-off Dext line item. These conversations get easier with practice, and it helps to re-engage clients every year alongside tax planning.
Separate the service from the tech
One shift makes a real difference: separating the service the firm provides from the technology that enables it. Once those are pulled apart, clients stop seeing the firm as Dext, Xero, or the oncharge, and start seeing the service and the tech as two separate things. It also takes the firm out of the middle of a price increase: the cost going up is the tech, not the service.
Get the recharge out of the spreadsheet
Even once the call is made, the recharge still has to happen across every client, every month. Keeping that current by hand is a nightmare, no matter how strong the systems behind it. Xero changes its prices once or twice a year, and teams end up doing it by hand in the background. Nobody wants to realise a client has not paid their subscription in months, then explain the gap as their trusted advisor.
This is the problem Rechargly was built to solve. It recharges the right amounts to the right clients with the least admin and aligns invoicing with the rules you set, so it makes no difference whether a client runs 1,000 or 10,000 transactions a month. If you already keep a spreadsheet of clients and ledgers, you are halfway there, because the Dext export drops straight in. The wider point is software as a lever: more client touchpoints mean more chances to add value, and more revenue per client.
Final thoughts
The common failures are familiar: onboarding the tech halfway, no one championing it, not communicating it, not charging for it, and absorbing price increases when they land. Each one is a cost the firm should be recharging and is not. The thread through the session was making conscious choices: put a system, a process and a policy in place, keep it updated, and make sure someone is championing it. Don't be afraid of the conversation, because plenty of firms are already recharging everything.
Everything used to be a disbursement: a phone call, a photocopy, a stamp. Technology came in and firms drifted back to absorbing those costs. The question worth sitting with is why we absorb costs that are still client-facing. Get those things right and you will capture the majority.
If you'd like to see what this looks like for your own clients, get a personalised product tour and we'll walk you through it.
