What counts as IT spending
Welcome to Brightline Studio
It's 1 July 2026, the start of a new financial year. You've just started at Brightline Studio, a 15-person design studio in Melbourne, as the office and IT coordinator. On your first Monday, the creative director, Maya, says:
“Our accountant says we spent a fortune on IT last year and I honestly don't know on what. Can you find out where it goes, whether we're wasting any, and what we should budget for next year?”
That's the whole course. By the end you'll have answered all three questions with real numbers — and you'll be able to do the same at any small business.
What counts as IT spending?
More than most people think. Brightline sorts it into five categories:
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Software & cloud | Microsoft 365, Adobe Creative Cloud, Figma, Canva, Slack, Dropbox, Xero, website hosting and domain names |
| Hardware | laptops, monitors, keyboards and headsets, the printer lease, the Wi-Fi router |
| Internet & phones | the NBN connection, staff mobile plans |
| IT support & services | the outside IT company, repairs, setup and call-outs |
| Security & backup | backup for Microsoft 365, antivirus/endpoint protection |
Some costs are easy to miss: tools staff pay for on a company card, a yearly renewal that only shows up once, the "free" printer that costs $165 a month to lease.
Why it matters
- IT is often one of a small business's biggest costs after wages and rent — and the one nobody owns
- Most waste isn't one big mistake. It's dozens of small ones: a seat for someone who left, two tools that do the same job, a plan nobody downgraded
- Cutting the waste is only half of it. Spending well — on reliable laptops, backups and security — saves more than it costs
Your files
This lesson has two downloads. Both open in Excel or Google Sheets (in Google Drive, upload the file and choose Open with › Google Sheets):
- Brightline-IT-Costs.xlsx — Brightline's data with every formula filled in. Follow along, check your answers, and see how each sheet works
- IT-Cost-Templates.xlsx — the same sheets, empty, for your own workplace. Yellow cells are for your data; the rest are formulas that fill themselves in
Open the example and go to the Start here sheet: it lists every sheet and which module uses it.
Brightline Studio is made up, and so are its prices. They're realistic examples, not quotes — real prices change often, so always check the current price before you decide anything. All amounts include GST.
Try it
- Download both workbooks and open the example in Excel or Google Sheets.
- Write down every IT cost you can think of at your own workplace (or school, or home). Which of the five categories does each one belong to?
Downloads
2 files to download once you enrol.