The first thing you want to do is figure out how much time and money is being wasted on an ongoing bases.  You can use one of the worksheets below to help you derive your current costs. These worksheets require MS Excel or any other spreadsheet program. You can save them on to your hard drive and rework your numbers to your hearts content.

Try and keep track of how long it takes to handle a typical transaction from initial contact to final payment. Talk to your staff and get an idea of the areas they feel could be improved upon.  

Once you have that, you know how much time is being wasted currently.  The initial solution would costs approximately 35% of the current annual cost.  Thereafter, annual fees run about 35% of the initial solution.

As an example, let's say your current costs amount to $35,000.
A viable solution would calculate out to approximately $12,250*, plus annual maintenance, user and licensing fees of approximately $4,300/year.

Using this scenario, your would SAVE:
Year 1   -  $22,750
Year 2, 3, 4,... -  +$29,000 per year, working on the premise that repetitive tasks increase with time.

Over and above these savings, you will end up with a staff that is less stressed and noticeably  more productive.

* 20% deposit upon commencement of project, balance payable over six months.  Annual fees commence year 2.