In this article, I will go through what a software audit is, why it’s useful, and what one looks like for a self-publisher based in Sydney, Australia.
What is a software audit?
The process of a software audit looks at the software you use for your self-publishing business, resulting in a list describing the following things:
- Name of software
- Login details (no password)
- License
- Cost
An example would be Microsoft Word using login X, with a license included in Microsoft365 costing $Y per year.
Why is it useful?
Software audits are useful to figure out how much you spend on software each year.
They are also useful when you are transferring to a new computer, and you need to reinstall all of the software that you use.
What does a software audit look like?
I have categorised my lists into the following:
- Standalone on computer: e.g. Microsoft Office, Scrivener, Zoom, Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Kindle Previewer, Norton Antivirus.
- Web- or Cloud-based: e.g. Google workspace, ChatGPT, MailChimp, Canva, OnlySocial.
- Finance/business: e.g. Xero, PayPal, Square.
- Social: e.g. Facebook, Threads, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google Business, TikTok.
- Publishing (online), which also includes the royalty payment method: e.g. Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, Google Play Books, Draft2Digital, Findaway Voices, Soundcloud for artists, Thorpe-Bowker, Copyright Agency, National eDeposit.
- Phone apps: e.g. Norton, Microsoft365, Google workspace, Zoom, Phone, Camera, Messages, MailChimp.
As you can see, the list for self-publishing professionals can be quite large.
Here’s an example of how I layout my information on a Microsoft Word document:
