Video Editing Business Expenses: The Monthly Software Stack I Budget For

In the second year of my editing agency, I never wrote our video editing business expenses down anywhere, right, I just put every new subscription on the same card the day someone asked for it and told myself I'd sort it out at tax time. When my accountant finally printed the statement, we found three tools doing basically the same job of sending big files to clients, a review tool billed per user that grew every time I added an editor, and two music subscriptions because two editors had signed up on their own.

To be very honest, the money itself came to a few hundred dollars over the year, which is annoying but survivable. The worse part was that I had just priced a new retainer using the cost number I carried around in my head, and that number was wrong by enough that the client barely made us any profit for the first few months, and that's the kind of mistake you only make once before you start keeping a proper sheet, right.

So this post is basically that sheet, category by category, with illustrative numbers you can swap for your own and the worked math for what happens when you hire your second and fifth editor.

Why expenses sneak up on a growing editing business

When you're working as a solo freelancer, your freelance video editor expenses are small and easy to hold in your head, because you have one editing app, one cloud drive and maybe a music library. The catch here is that the moment you bring in a second editor, the stack starts growing in steps, right, because every tool that charges per person doubles overnight and every tool the new editor already likes comes along with them.

The second thing that sneaks up on you is duplicates, and in my agency those mostly came from people solving a problem on a Tuesday afternoon with whatever tool they already knew, so one editor sends a rough cut through a transfer service, another shares a cloud folder, and at the end of the month you're paying several vendors for what is really one job.

The third thing is renewal timing, right, because annual plans are lovely for the monthly average but they land as a lump, and if three renew in the same month you think the business had a terrible month when it really didn't. I wrote about paying yearly versus monthly because of this, and the short version is to convert every annual plan into a monthly figure so the number you look at is honest.

“

Expenses in an editing business grow in steps and duplicates, and the only real defence is one sheet you actually open every month.

The video editor software costs every business pays

Every editing business I have seen, mine included, pays for the same six software categories, and the tool names change from shop to shop but the categories basically never do, so I'll go through them biggest first and then cover the hardware underneath them.

Editing software

This is your non-linear editing app, and it's usually the biggest line because it's priced per editor with no way around that. We run mostly on Adobe Premiere Pro, and my rule is that every editor gets one primary editing subscription paid by the business, because suite bundles are really really easy to overbuy when only one person opens the extra apps.

Storage and backup

Footage is heavy, right, so you pay for a cloud backup and some shared storage for handing projects between editors, and it grows with volume far more than with headcount.

Music, fonts and stock

These are the sneaky ones, since they often get signed up for on a personal card for one project and never cancelled. I keep one business account per library, and when a client asks for a specific licensed track, that cost goes onto their invoice, which I covered in what video pros should always invoice.

Client review

This is the tool your clients open to watch cuts and leave notes, and I'll give it the whole next section, because it's the one line where the pricing model matters more than the price.

Comms and project management

Team chat, email and a task board are cheap per person, but they are per person, so they grow with every hire, and I check them every quarter for people who left or never logged in.

Invoicing and accounting

An invoicing tool, accounting software and the accountant's fee spread monthly all live here, and since this line barely moves with headcount, I'm pretty sure it's the one most freelancers forget to count at all.

Hardware, internet and the home office

None of these are software, but they belong on the same sheet, right, because your computer, drives, monitors, internet, phone and the share of your home you work from are real costs of the business. I spread hardware over the months I expect it to last, so an illustrative $2,400 machine kept for three years goes on as about $67 a month, and internet and phone go in at the business share only. Which of these count as allowable expenses depends on where you're registered, so I hand the sorted sheet to my accountant rather than guessing.

Where client review fits in the monthly budget

For years I thought of review as a small line, and it was, right up until the tool we used charged per user and my team grew. That model is common in this space, for instance Frame.io is priced per user starting from $15 per user per month, so an illustrative team of five in the review tool is already $75 a month before a single client watches anything.

The way I budget review now is as one flat line. PlayPause is priced per workspace rather than per person, so Creator is $9 a month for 10 members with 100 GB and 30 projects, and Agency is $19 a month for 50 members with 250 GB, unlimited projects and unlimited upload size. Whether I have three people or thirty in the workspace, that line stays where it is, and we built our flat review pricing for freelance editors around this exact problem because I was the one getting burned by it.

$9

Creator per month for 10 members

$19

Agency per month for 50 members

250 GB

storage on the Agency plan

What you get for that flat line matters too, right. On every plan the client opens one link in the browser with no account and no install, comments stick to the exact frame, they can draw on it, and new versions stack on the same card as MV1, MV2, MV3 and so on. Creator already includes who-watched analytics and Slack, and Agency adds AI transcription, side-by-side version compare, guest version upload and Playbooks, where I keep each client's style rules. I've gone deeper on paying for review software and calculating review software ROI.

Review_Cut_v4.mp4In Review

212160p · ProRes

00:34 / 02:18

SR

Sarah 0:34

Frame-accurate note, everyone sees the exact same thing.

Video editing agency monthly costs at two and five editors

Here's how my own sheet moved as we grew, right. At two editors the editing software line doubled, comms doubled, storage went up a bit, and review stayed put, because Creator has room for 10 members, which covered two editors, a project manager and me with space for a freelancer on busy weeks.

At five editors, the editing software line was five times what it was when I was alone, and that part is honestly unavoidable, right. Storage jumped because five editors produce a lot more versions, and this is where I moved us to Agency, mainly for unlimited projects, 90-day links and unlimited upload size. Review went from $9 to $19 for the whole workspace, and roles like Owner, Admin, Manager and Editor meant I wasn't handing everyone the keys to everything.

Keep one line flat as you hire

Editing software scales with every editor you add, so choose a review tool priced per workspace and let that line stay put.

The other thing that changes at five editors is time, which is an expense even if it never shows up on a statement. My editors work in Premiere, so the PlayPause Premiere Pro panel shows client comments inside Premiere, clicking one jumps the playhead to that moment, and they upload the next version from the timeline after pairing with a code. The panel is Premiere only, so editors on Final Cut Pro or DaVinci Resolve export, upload, review and then work through the notes in their editor, which still beats a feedback email, trust me on any level. If you're earlier in the journey, see PlayPause for freelance video editors for how this looks in a one-person shop.

Tools you can cut once review is sorted

This is where that accountant meeting finally paid off, right, because once review lives in one place a lot of other subscriptions become optional, and the first one we cut was the big-file transfer service. A review link already gets the file to the client, and playback runs in the browser from a streaming copy while the original stays untouched. Password-protected links with instant revoking control who sees what, and on Agency viewers can also save to Google Drive, which covered the clients who wanted a download.

Next went the feedback spreadsheet and the screen recording tool a couple of editors were paying for. Frame-accurate comments with threaded replies and @mentions replace the spreadsheet, and drawing on the frame replaces most walkthrough videos, since a client can just circle the logo they want bigger. In my agency, notes over WhatsApp used to add an extra round to every project because someone always missed a message, so this was as much a time saving as a money saving.

Old way

a transfer service, a feedback spreadsheet, screen recordings and notes scattered across chat apps

With PlayPause

one review link with comments pinned to the frame, versions stacked on one card and alerts in Slack

The last change was more of a consolidation, because Slack gets every comment on Creator and up, so nobody forwards notes by hand, and at the end of the day that's one less job for a project manager whose time I'm paying for. I've written more about pruning a creative tool set for anyone with renewals coming up.

A sample monthly expense sheet

Here is an illustrative sheet for three editors, a project manager and the owner, and the numbers outside PlayPause are placeholders I picked for easy math rather than quotes from any vendor, so you see what I mean here, right, the shape of the sheet matters more than the totals.

• Editing software: 3 editors at an illustrative $25 each, so $75
• Storage and backup: $30
• Music, fonts and stock libraries: $30
• Client review on PlayPause Creator, flat for the workspace: $9
• Team chat and email: 5 people at $4, so $20
• Project management board: 5 people at $3, so $15
• Invoicing and accounting software: $20
• Total illustrative monthly stack: $199

Laid out like this, you can see which lines move when you hire, because editing software, chat and the board grow with every person, storage grows with volume, and review, invoicing and libraries mostly stay put. So for a fourth editor the worked math is $25 for editing software, $4 for chat and $3 for the board, which is $32 a month on top of their pay and a new total of $231. With review billed per user from $15, that same hire would cost another $15, and so would every busy-week freelancer after them. If you're past 30 projects or want 90-day links, swap in Agency at $19 and the total moves by $10. Marketing teams should start from the video marketing budget template instead, and I've also laid out the agency tech stack I'd build from scratch.

1Export three months of card and bank statements

2Sort every charge into one of the categories above

3Flag duplicates and anything billed per person

4Cancel or merge before the next renewal date

5Open the sheet on the first of every month

Those are exactly the steps I took after that meeting, and the last one matters most, because a sheet you build once and never open again is just a nicer looking version of my original mistake, does that make sense, right.

Frequently asked questions

What are the biggest video editing business expenses each month?

For most agencies the editing software is the biggest software line, because it's priced per editor and every hire adds another subscription. After that it's usually storage, then music, font and stock libraries, then smaller lines like review, comms and invoicing, with hardware spread monthly on top. The order can flip if you handle a lot of raw footage, since storage grows with volume, so I'd check your own statements rather than trusting any general ranking, right.

How much should a freelance video editor budget for software?

I'd build it category by category rather than guessing a total. Count one editing app, storage and backup, any music or font libraries, a review tool and invoicing. For review, PlayPause Creator is $9 a month for 10 members, which leaves room to bring in help later without the line changing. Then add a small buffer for the one tool you'll inevitably pick up mid project.

Is per-user review pricing a problem for small teams?

It becomes one as soon as you grow, basically. With per-user pricing, every editor, project manager and freelancer you add pushes the monthly bill up, so the cost follows your headcount instead of your work. Flat pricing per workspace keeps that line steady, and hiring decisions are hard enough without the review bill jumping every time someone joins.

Can I cut my file transfer subscription if I use a review tool?

In my agency we did, right, because a review link already gets the cut to the client, plays in the browser from a streaming copy and can be password protected or revoked instantly. The one gap was clients who wanted a download, and on Agency viewers can save to Google Drive, which closed it for us. I'd still check your own client list before cancelling anything.

If you're building your own sheet this week, have a look at PlayPause pricing and start the 7-day free trial on whichever plan fits your team, then drop that flat review line onto your sheet and see how much calmer your hiring math feels.

So yeah. That's my way of saying it.