Guide · Maintenance · Quebec SMBs
Custom software maintenance: how much per year, and what to require
In short
Plan a yearly maintenance budget: Witify, a Quebec firm, recommends 10% to 15% of the initial cost per year, or $2,000 to $3,000 a year for a $20,000 system. That budget covers hosting, backups, security updates, fixes and small improvements. Before signing, require the source code, the documentation and the access in your company’s name: that’s what protects you if the supplier disappears.
What does custom software maintenance cover?
- Fixes: a calculation that’s wrong, a screen that crashes, a report that no longer runs.
- Security: updates to libraries, the server and certificates. Software that’s never updated becomes vulnerable, even if it still works.
- Backups: automatic, and above all tested with an actual restore.
- Hosting: server or cloud, domain name, emails sent by the system.
- Compatibility: new versions of Windows, browsers and the connected accounting software. A recent example: Windows 10 has not been supported since October 14, 2025 (Microsoft).
- Small improvements: one more field, a new report, a rule that changes.
How much does maintenance cost per year?
The rule published by Witify, a Quebec firm, is 10% to 15% of the initial cost per year. For a $20,000 system, that means $2,000 to $3,000 a year, plus hosting depending on usage.
With me, support is agreed on together after delivery — per phase, or under a monthly agreement — and the system is handed over documented, with all its access. You’re never locked in.
What should a maintenance contract specify?
- the response time for a blocking outage, and for an ordinary request;
- what’s included (fixes, security updates, backups) and what’s billed separately (improvements);
- how often backups run and how restores are tested;
- the price of improvements: fixed price per request or a bank of hours;
- reversibility: handover of the code, the documentation and the access if you change suppliers.
What happens if the developer disappears?
Without the source code and the access, every fix becomes a workaround. With them, another developer can take over the software. Be careful: in Canada, the author of software is the first owner of its copyright, and an assignment is only valid if it’s in writing and signed (Copyright Act, s. 13). An outside supplier therefore doesn’t transfer the code to you by default: put it in the contract.
If it has already happened, the method is in the guide to taking over old software.
Maintenance is part of your obligations under Quebec’s Law 25
If your software holds personal information (clients, employees), you must take reasonable security measures and keep a register of confidentiality incidents (Quebec’s privacy regulator). Software that’s never updated, with no tested backup, is hard to defend after an incident.