Expense Templates
I created these 7 templates so you can easily ask your employer to pay the subscription.
You can fill in one of these templates and share it with your manager.
Replace the [text] with the correct details.
Add or remove sentences as needed.
Template 1
Hi [Manager's name],
I’d like to expense a subscription to the System Design Newsletter.
It provides insights into real-world system design case studies and software engineering fundamentals. And I'm confident each newsletter will help sharpen my skills in software architecture.
The subscription costs $150/year. If it helps us avoid even one bad design decision or improve a single feature, then the newsletter will easily pay for itself many times over. It’s an incredible deal.
Would it be okay to expense this through our learning budget?
Thanks,
[Your name]
Template 2
Hi [Manager's name],
I’d like to request a subscription to the System Design Newsletter.
It gives practical lessons in software architecture fundamentals and real-world engineering case studies. I’m confident it’ll help improve skills directly related to my role and improve my job performance. The subscription costs $150/year.
Let me know if this can be included under our development budget.
Best,
[Your name]
Template 3
Hi [Manager's name],
I’d love to subscribe to the System Design Newsletter.
It’s a weekly publication covering engineering case studies and system design fundamentals.
The cost is $150/year. I'm confident it'll help improve how I approach engineering problems at work.
Can I expense this through our training budget?
Thanks,
[Your name]
Template 4
Hi [Manager's name],
I’d like to expense a subscription to the System Design Newsletter.
It gives weekly insights into software architecture patterns and system design case studies. I believe this qualifies as a professional development expense. The cost is $150/year, and I can provide an invoice if needed.
I’m confident it will help me write better software and improve my work performance.
Thanks,
[Your name]
Template 5
Hi [Manager's name],
I’d like to expense a subscription to the System Design Newsletter.
It teaches how to build scalable systems with real-world engineering case studies. I'm confident it would help me get better at my job.
The cost is $150/year. Even if I use just one of its ideas to improve performance or reliability, it’s already worth it. And I’m pretty sure the ROI on it will easily be 10x.
Let me know if you're okay with this.
Thanks,
[Your name]
Template 6
Hi [Manager's name],
I’d love to expense a subscription to the System Design Newsletter (one of the fastest-growing technology newsletters on Substack).
It provides insights into building scalable systems from real-world engineering case studies. Here are some examples of the topics the newsletter covers.
It costs $150/year, and if it improves just one of my technical decisions per year, it’s a win. The author even guarantees that I’ll get 10x the value of the newsletter in terms of impact on my work, or my money back.
I’d like to subscribe. May I expense this under our professional development budget?
Thanks,
[Your name]
Template 7
Hey [Manager's name],
I’d like to request approval to expense a subscription to the System Design Newsletter.
It’s a weekly resource for software engineers, and I’m confident it will help improve my work performance.
Here’s what I’ll get:
System design fundamentals
Real-world engineering case studies
Software architecture patterns and tradeoffs
I plan to directly apply what I learn at work, and I’m happy to share key insights with the team to help us level up together.
The subscription is $150/year. Given its relevance to my work, I believe the benefits will far exceed the cost.
What are your thoughts?
Thanks,
[Your name]