Your software bill moves to the meter

Do this: Open your two biggest software invoices and list every line item with its monthly amount. Two minutes, and you will know whether you pay per seat, per use, or both.

PASTE THIS

Act as a procurement analyst. For each line item below, say whether it is billed per seat, per use, or flat, what would double it, and whether it is a meter nobody is watching. Then give me the three questions to ask before renewal, and one sentence requesting a cap on yearly increases. Mark anything unclear as check the contract. [paste line items here]

You'll get: A one-page renewal brief: what the meter counts, what doubles it, and the sentence to send. Most owners find one line item nobody owns, and the cap request costs nothing to ask. Do it before your next renewal date.

The four-line payment rule to send your bookkeeper this week

Send this to whoever pays invoices at your business, before the midterm phishing wave peaks. The FBI warned this week that election-themed scams are already circulating.

1. No bank-detail change is accepted from an email. Ever.
2. Any change is confirmed by a call to a number already on file, never the number printed in the email.
3. An invoice with a new account number waits 24 hours and one human check, whoever is asking.
4. Urgency is the tell. If a supplier or a director pushes for same-day payment, stop and verify.

Pin it wherever invoices get paid.

The Fed may move again this month

Federal Reserve chairman Kevin Warsh signalled a steady outlook while inflation runs hot, and the Fed is weighing another rate increase later this month, Axios reports. CEO confidence has already slipped below zero. So what: before the Fed meets later this month, ask your bank for a fixed-rate quote in writing on any loan you already plan to take.

AI-written applications are eating the first interview

One jobseeker sent 200 AI-written applications and got nowhere, and recruiters now spot the pattern, the BBC reports. Hiring managers are drowning in polished, identical CVs. So what: this week, replace the first screen in your hiring with a three-line answer to one real problem from your own business, before the pile gets any deeper.

Chip capacity is sold out before you order

TSMC posted a record quarter but cannot make chips for everyone, with Nvidia, Apple, Broadcom and AMD bidding for the same lines, CNBC reports. Component prices are already climbing. So what: this week, ask your laptop or server supplier to quote in writing and to say how long that price holds, before the next list lands.

When your software last renewed, did you know what the meter counted?

A. Seats and people

B. Tasks and usage

C. Both, and it changed

D. It has never been clear

Reply with one letter — results next issue.

China is weighing an export-control list for AI. How many technologies would it add, and which two kinds does the report name?

Answer tomorrow — and no, we are not printing it here.

YESTERDAY'S ANSWER

Amazon's two new Bee wearables cost $75 and $100. What is the monthly fee for the service that turns what they hear into notes?

$11.99 a month for Bee Pro, per Amazon's product page (the page lists 30 days free for new customers).

Forwarded this from a friend? This is where owners put AI to work without the enterprise price tag.