Where can practices lose margin on Apron overage and add-ons?
The plan fee is fixed. Everything on top of it moves every month.
- Overages are calculated monthly. A client can sit inside their allowance in October and 200 documents over in November.
- The inbox add-on is £5 a month on Books Core (Plus and Max include it), and £5 for each additional inbox.
- The Books Club discount only applies to plan fees billed to the practice. It doesn't apply to overages or add-ons.
Here's what that looks like. Say a firm is a Books Club Gold partner with 50 clients on Apron, all on Books Core. Gold gets 20% off plan fees, so the firm pays £4 per client and recharges £5. That's £1 of margin per client, or £50 a month.
The discount doesn't apply to overage. Three clients go over their 100-document allowance, by 20%, 50% and 100%.
| Clients | Revenue (invoiced at £5) | Apron plan cost (£4) | Overage at 20p | Total cost | Margin |
|---|
| 47 clients within allowance | £235 | £188 | £0 | £188 | £47 |
| Client no.48 (120 documents, 20% over) | £5 | £4 | £4 | £8 | -£3 |
| Client no.49 (150 documents, 50% over) | £5 | £4 | £10 | £14 | -£9 |
| Client no.50 (200 documents, 100% over) | £5 | £4 | £20 | £24 | -£19 |
| Total | £250 | £200 | £34 | £234 | £16 |
If the firm absorbs the overage, £34 of the £50 margin is gone. That's 68%. Margin as a share of revenue drops from 20% to 6.4%.
How to recharge Apron overage and the inbox add-on in Rechargly
Rechargly was built for exactly this: a fixed fee plus a variable amount that changes each month. You define the Apron plans and the add-ons. If you want to add a surcharge to an add-on, you can.
Rechargly also tracks whether the inbox add-on is on for each client. Without that, you absorb the £5 as well. Per-document overage is recharged in the same run, so you don't have to worry about missing any charges. Two decisions to make before 1 December:
- What happens with overage? You absorb it or pass it on.
- If you pass it on, at what price?
Absorbing is a choice, not a default. If you absorb it, the table above is your cost. The simplest answer on price is probably cost. Apron publishes its per-document rates (20p, 10p and 5p depending on the plan), so your clients can check them. Passing it on at cost is easy to explain and hard to argue with.
A firm that recharges the plan fee but not the variable charges is subsidising its clients' document volume. Using Dext as well? See our playbook for buying Dext in bulk. If you'd like to see how Apron recharging works, book a demo.
FAQ
What is changing with Apron pricing on 1 December 2026?
Apron moves from a flat per-client fee to a fixed plus variable model. Each client pays a plan fee, plus overage for documents above their allowance, plus any add-ons.
How much does Apron cost per client from 1 December?
Books plans are £5 (Core), £11 (Plus) and £21 (Max) a month. Payments plans, for clients connected to a practice, are £29, £49 and £99.
How much is Apron overage per extra document?
It's 20p on Books Core, 10p on Books Plus, and 5p on Books Max and all Payments plans. It's calculated monthly on documents above the plan allowance.
Is the Apron inbox add-on included?
On Books Core the email inbox and missing-documents workflow is a £5 monthly add-on. Books Plus and Books Max include it.
Does the Books Club discount apply to overage?
No. It applies to plan fees billed to the practice, not to overages or add-ons.
What happens to clients on Apron Go?
Go is retired for practice-connected clients. Anyone still on Go on 1 December moves to Books Core.
How do I recharge Apron costs to clients?
Define the Apron plans and add-ons in Rechargly, then decide whether to absorb overage or pass it on. Rechargly recharges the plan fee, per-document overage and inbox add-on in the same run.
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