Expenses and costs
Updated July 18, 2026
The Expenses section covers the costs of running the business that are not payroll. Some are direct costs of delivering your service (COGS), others are general operating costs.
Technology costs
- SaaS tools — the software your team runs on. Set a monthly cost and whether it is flat or scales per customer.
- Cloud hosting — your infrastructure cost and how it scales as you add customers.
- AI / API costs — per-message or per-token costs if your product calls external models.
Costs that scale with usage or customers are treated as COGS and reduce your gross margin; flat overhead is treated as operating expense.
Payment processing
Set your payment processor fee (for example a percentage plus a fixed fee per transaction). Adlega applies it automatically to revenue, so your gross margin reflects the real cost of collecting money.
Email and communication
Model your email service and any messaging costs — flat or per-contact.
How expenses shape your P&L
Expenses flow into two places:
- COGS — hosting, payment fees and per-customer costs, which set your gross margin.
- Operating expenses — flat tools and overhead, which sit below gross profit and shape EBITDA.
Getting COGS right is what makes your gross margin credible to investors. Put costs that grow with your customer base into the scaling fields, not as flat overhead.
Related reading: SaaS gross margin and COGS.