Copier Leases and Managed Print: Minimums, Click Rates and the Lease That Never Ends

Short answer: a copier and managed print audit checks the equipment lease and the service invoices against the agreements and against the pages the machines actually printed. The money usually sits in six places: monthly page minimums far above real volume, color click rates charged on pages that were mostly black and white, annual click rate escalators, estimated meter reads in place of actual ones, devices still billed after they were removed or replaced, and new leases that quietly roll the balance of an old lease into the payment. Auto-renewal and return terms decide how much of it can be fixed at the end of the term.

Most office copiers are paid for with two separate documents. A lease, often with a third-party leasing company, pays for the machine over a fixed term. A service or maintenance agreement, usually with the dealer, pays for toner, parts and repairs through a charge for every page printed, called a click. The two arrive on different invoices from different companies, which is why they are so rarely checked against each other.

Page minimums and overages

Many service agreements bill a fixed number of pages each month whether or not they are printed, with overage charges above it. Minimums set when an office printed heavily often stay in place after a move to digital workflows, a hybrid schedule or a smaller team. Compare the minimum with twelve months of actual meter reads. A machine that never reaches its minimum is billing for pages that do not exist, and the same allowance spread across a fleet of devices can sometimes be pooled so that one busy machine is not paying overages while another sits below its minimum.

Color clicks and click rate escalators

• Color versus mono. A color click usually costs several times a black and white one. Some devices count a page as color if any color appears on it at all, such as a logo in a letterhead or a colored hyperlink. Check how color is counted and whether default print settings are sending black and white documents as color.
• Escalators. Many agreements raise the click rate every year by a stated percentage, and some allow increases by notice. Track the rate on every invoice against the agreement. An increase the agreement does not provide for is the first one to question.
• Bundled supplies. Confirm whether toner is included in the click rate. If it is, toner billed separately is a duplicate.

Meter reads and devices that are no longer there

Click charges depend on the meter. Most modern devices report their counts automatically, but when a read fails, a dealer may bill an estimate, sometimes based on the minimum or on a high month. Check the invoices for reads marked as estimated, and make sure later actual reads correct them rather than starting from the estimate.

List every device on every invoice by serial number and match it to a machine you can find. Devices that were returned, replaced or moved to another location often keep appearing on service invoices, and occasionally on the lease as well.

The lease, the buyout and the rollover

When a lease is upgraded before it ends, the remaining balance of the old lease is commonly paid off and added into the payment on the new one. That can be a reasonable arrangement, but it means the new monthly payment covers more than the new machine, often for the full new term. Ask for the buyout amount in writing and compare the new payment with what the new equipment alone would cost.

Check the end-of-term option as well. A fair market value lease ends with a choice to buy, return or renew, and a one dollar buyout lease ends with ownership. Leases often require written notice within a set window before the end of the term, and without it they can continue month to month or renew for a longer period. Return terms may also charge for shipping, packing or data removal. These are the same mechanics covered in processing agreements: the renewal nobody chose and the exit that costs money.

Other charges worth questioning

Lease invoices may carry property tax pass-throughs, insurance charges if the lessee has not shown proof of coverage, late fees, and documentation or administrative fees. Service invoices may carry freight or fuel surcharges on toner shipments and fees for software or connectivity. Each should be named in an agreement. If one is not, ask what authorizes it.

How to audit copier and print invoices

Collect the leases, the service agreements and twelve months of invoices for both. Build one list by serial number with the lease payment, the minimum, the mono and color click rates, and the actual monthly counts. Compare the rates with the agreements, total what was paid for unused minimums, look for estimated reads and missing devices, and put every end-of-term notice date in a calendar.

Copier and managed print spend is one of the categories AIME audits. It reads invoices in any format, from 30 days to 36 months of history, benchmarks every line against your contracted rates and fair market rates, and flags erroneous charges and junk fees, with an AIME consultant supporting the conversation with the vendor. It works inside your existing vendor relationships, with no switching and no IT lift, and if nothing is found there is no fee. You can run an audit here.

Frequently asked questions

What is a click charge on a copier?

A per-page charge under a copier service agreement that typically covers toner, parts and maintenance. Black and white and color pages usually have different rates.

Can I get out of a copier lease early?

Copier leases are often written to be non-cancelable, so ending one early usually means paying the remaining balance, either directly or rolled into a new lease. Read the termination and end-of-term clauses before signing an upgrade.

Why am I paying for pages we did not print?

Most likely a monthly minimum in the service agreement, an estimated meter read, or a device that is still billed after being removed. Compare the invoice with the agreement and the device's actual counts.

When should copier agreements be reviewed?

Monthly checks of rates and reads catch billing errors while they are small, and a full review well before the end-of-term notice window sets up the next agreement.