A bundled services subscription, sometimes called a 'rundle' (recurring bundle), packages services customers usually buy ad hoc into one monthly fee. Customers get a lower total cost and the convenience of knowing it's all paid for. It suits salons, accountants, vets, trades and agencies, as long as you bundle services people already buy and control the cost of everything inside the bundle.
Key takeaways
- Only bundle services customers already buy. If they don't value a service alone, they won't love it in a bundle.
- Price the bundle from the a la carte value, then give a clear saving, often 10% to 15%.
- Accounting firms are moving to monthly bundles: hourly billing for CFO services fell from more than 20% of US firms to 10%.
- Control the costs inside the bundle. Car subscriptions stalled because providers carried depreciation and insurance they couldn't cap.
What do you mean you haven't heard of Lavelle Hairdressers?
Lavelle is a small hairdressing business in Australia. It offers everything you'd expect: style cuts, blow-dries, shampooing and scalp massages. Each one is available on its own with an appointment.
But Lavelle had a clever idea. It packaged the four services into a subscription called Strength and Shine, for $64 a month. Members get treatments they'd buy anyway, and save $108 a year.
That's it. No app. No venture capital. Just four services people already wanted, sold as one monthly fee.
And therein lies the secret to making this model work.
What Is the Bundled Services Model?
You package together a set of services people usually buy ad hoc and sell them for one recurring fee. Subscribers like the lower total cost and the convenience of knowing everything is purchased and paid for.
It's also known as the "rundle," short for recurring bundle.
The rule I keep coming back to:
There's little point in bundling services people aren't already buying. If customers don't like a service when it's sold individually, they won't fall in love with it in a bundle.
This model works when you have several services your customers use regularly, ideally ones they'd buy in a single visit or a single relationship. In Lavelle's case, all four services are things a client is likely to get in one appointment. To sweeten the deal, members can add services on top.
Bundled Services Examples in 2026
The model has spread well beyond salons and cable TV.
Accounting firms. A 2025 US Accounting and Tax Pricing Benchmark (219 firms) found hourly billing for CFO and controller services fell from more than 20% of firms to 10%, as firms move advisory work to fixed monthly fees. The most common price for monthly bookkeeping and accounting was $250 to $499 a month. Two-thirds of firms that raised prices in the past year lost no clients, or lost some but kept profitability stable. Read how accounting firms are ditching the timesheet.
Vet clinics. Greencross Vets' Healthy Pets Plus bundles unlimited consultations, vaccinations, microchipping and 10% off other services into a 12-month membership: A$660 for puppy, kitten and adult plans, A$696 for seniors, payable fortnightly, monthly or annually.
Enterprise software. Brisbane's TechnologyOne bundles implementation services into its "SaaS+" subscription. Customers avoid a big upfront bill, and the relationship gets stickier. It reported net revenue retention of 115% for FY25.
Telecoms and media. In the book I pointed to Virgin and Sky in the UK bundling TV, internet, home phone and mobile. On 12 October 2026, according to its own announcement, SpaceXAI folded Grok, Cursor and X Premium into one "X Subscription," saying its Premium tier bundles benefits that "previously cost $90/month combined."
When a bundle can't control its costs: car subscriptions
In the book I mentioned Jaguar offering cars on subscription from around $1,000 a month, including registration, insurance and maintenance. Since then the wave has retreated. Volvo suspended Care by Volvo in the US from 1 August 2024. A car subscription means the provider carries depreciation, insurance, repairs and the risk of the car coming back early. Margins vanish unless usage is high and terms are long. Read why car subscriptions stalled.
Who Should Use Bundled Services (and Who Shouldn't)?
It's a great fit for:
- Appointment businesses with regular repeat visits: salons, barbers, physios, beauty clinics, pet groomers.
- Professional services with predictable annual work: accountants, bookkeepers, lawyers, IT support. See the accountants playbook.
- Maintenance businesses: trades, car servicing, cleaning, pool care.
It's a poor fit when:
- Your services are one-off or rare (a wedding, a home renovation).
- The cost of delivering a service swings wildly from one customer to the next and you can't cap it.
- You'd need to bundle in someone else's costs you don't control, like a third party's prices or an asset that depreciates.
A Sample Bundled Services Offer
An illustrative monthly offer for a small accounting and bookkeeping practice (prices are examples only, GST extra):
| Essentials | Growth | CFO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly fee | A$290 | A$690 | A$1,900 |
| Annual financials and tax return | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| BAS lodgments | Quarterly | Quarterly or monthly | Monthly |
| Bookkeeping | Review only | Done for you | Done for you |
| Payroll | No | Up to 10 staff | Up to 30 staff |
| Advice calls | Email support | Quarterly review | Monthly board-style meeting |
| Cash flow forecast | No | Annual | Rolling 13-week |
The CFO tier is there partly to make Growth look like great value. (Pricing people call that an anchor. Everyone else calls it the reason they picked the middle option.) Read more about what goes in each tier in packaging and pricing, then build your own with the Pricing Table Builder.
Build your bundle tiers
Design a good-better-best service bundle and export it with the free Pricing Table Builder.
How Do You Price a Service Bundle?
Start with what the services are worth separately, then adjust for how much members will actually use.
Bundle price = (Sum of a la carte prices × Expected usage rate) × (1 − Bundle discount)
Worked example: Lavelle's numbers, reverse-engineered
Lavelle's bundle costs $64 a month, or $768 a year, and saves members $108. So the same services bought separately would cost about $876 a year. That's a saving of about 12%. For the salon, the bundle locks in 12 visits a year, smooths cash flow across quiet months, and puts the client in the chair where add-ons (color, treatments, products) are easy to say yes to.
Now build your own:
- List the services in the bundle and their normal prices.
- Estimate how often a typical member will use each one in a year. Be honest. Look at your best repeat customers.
- Work out your cost to deliver each service: staff time, materials, software.
- Set the discount so the saving is obvious (often around 10% to 15%) and your margin still holds at heavy usage.
- Check the price after GST and fees with the Subscription Price Calculator.
Free Subscription Profit Review
Australian business owners can book a free 30-minute review with a BPAG Accountants adviser. An honest conversation about:
- whether a subscription model could work for your business
- how recurring revenue could cover your fixed costs each month
- how it could lift what your business is worth
No cost, no obligation. General information only until we understand your situation.
What Are the Risks of Bundling Services?
Scope creep. "Unlimited advice" sounds generous until one client calls every day. Define what's included in plain words, and what costs extra.
Front-loaded work. If the bundle includes something big early, like a tax return or a website build, a customer can take it and cancel. Use a minimum term, or a clear catch-up fee. In Australia, keep any exit fee reasonable and disclosed: unfair terms in standard form contracts with consumers and small businesses have carried penalties since 9 November 2023. See unfair contract terms.
Cost inflation inside the bundle. Wages, rent and software rise every year. Review the bundle price annually, on a fixed date, so clients expect it.
Low usage leading to churn. A member who isn't using the bundle feels they're wasting money. Book their next appointment before they leave.
How Do You Combine Bundled Services With Other Models?
- With minimum commitment. A 12-month term protects front-loaded work. See the minimum commitment model.
- With insurance. Priority call-outs or "if it breaks, we fix it" cover turn a maintenance bundle into peace of mind. That's what vet and HVAC plans do.
- With member benefits. Members get a discount on everything outside the bundle.
- With software. TechnologyOne bundles services into a software subscription. An accounting firm can include the client's accounting software in the fee.
Two closely related approaches are worth reading next: productized services and retainers vs subscriptions.
What to Do Next
- Pull last year's invoices for your top 20 customers. Which services did they buy together, and how often?
- Group those into two or three bundles. Drop anything most customers don't already buy.
- Cost each bundle at heavy usage, not average usage.
- Pilot with five to ten loyal customers for 90 days, then adjust.
- Put the scope, the term and how to cancel on one page.
The question for your business: which three services do your best customers buy every single year?
That's your first bundle.
Frequently asked questions
What does 'rundle' mean?
Rundle is short for 'recurring bundle': a package of services sold together for one recurring fee. The term has been used for subscription bundles like Amazon Prime, Apple One and cable TV packages. The Subscription Playbook uses it for any business that combines services customers normally buy separately into a monthly plan.
How big a discount should a service bundle offer?
Enough to be obvious, not so much that you train customers to expect cheap. Lavelle Hairdressers' Strength and Shine bundle cost $64 a month and saved members $108 a year, about 12%. Many service bundles sit around 10% to 15% off the a la carte total. If you need a bigger discount to sell it, the bundle probably contains the wrong services.
What if a customer only uses part of the bundle?
That's normal and it's built into the price. Some members will use everything, others will use half. Price on expected usage across your members, not on the assumption everyone uses every service. Track usage per member, and contact anyone who hasn't used the bundle for 60 days before they decide it isn't worth it.
Can I let customers build their own bundle?
You can, but limit the choice. A fully custom bundle is hard to price, hard to market and hard to deliver. A better approach is three fixed tiers with one or two optional add-ons. Lavelle let members add extra services to the core four, which kept the bundle simple and still gave people flexibility.
Do bundled services need a minimum term?
Often, yes, if the bundle includes expensive work delivered early, like an annual tax return or a one-off setup. A 12-month term, or a clear catch-up fee if someone cancels after using that work, protects you. In Australia, make sure any exit fee is reasonable and clearly disclosed so it isn't an unfair contract term.
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Robert Coorey, MBA
Robert is the author of The Subscription Playbook and Feed a Starving Crowd and a Director at BPAG Accountants in Sydney. More about Robert.
Sources
- CPA Practice Advisor: Report shows shift in pricing for accounting firms (21 August 2025)
- Greencross Vets: Healthy Pets Plus (accessed October 2026)
- Automotive News: Volvo quits the car subscription business (2024)
- TechnologyOne FY25 full-year results presentation (November 2025)
- xAI, Introducing X Subscription (12 Oct 2026)
- ACCC: Businesses urged to remove unfair contract terms ahead of law changes
Facts and prices checked 27 October 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.