Do you host it, or do we?

You do. In accounts in your name, billed to you. I will set them up and manage them, but the name on the invoice is yours.

Why I insist

Because the alternative creates a hostage situation nobody intends. If your systems run in my account, then any disagreement between us — about an invoice, about scope, about anything — happens while I am holding your business.

That is bad for you obviously. It is also bad for me, because every conversation about money then has an implied threat sitting underneath it that I do not want in my client relationships.

What this looks like in practice

• Cloud hosting under your account, your card, your control.
• Domain in your registrar account.
• AI provider keys in your organisation, so you can see the usage and the spend.
• My access is granted by you, and revocable by you, at any time.

The cost consequence

You see the real running costs rather than a marked-up monthly figure. Sometimes that is uncomfortable for suppliers, because the margin was in the hosting. I would rather charge properly for the work and let the infrastructure be at cost.

The exception

Occasionally a client genuinely wants none of this and asks me to hold everything. I will, if it is written down clearly, including exactly what happens to it if we stop working together.

I will still recommend against it, every time.