Two years ago a developer built your billing or booking software fast and cheap. Now every small change takes weeks, each fix breaks something else, and the new developer says the whole thing must be "rewritten". Before you agree, it helps to know what is technical debt, and how much of it you really carry.
This guide explains it in plain words for a business owner, not a programmer. You will learn where the term comes from, the signs that your software has too much of it, and how to choose between repairing and rebuilding.
Quick answer
What is technical debt, in plain words?
Technical debt is the hidden cost of shortcuts in software. When code is written quickly and not tidied up, every later change takes extra time.
That extra time is the "interest". Fixing the messy part properly is "paying back the loan".
The term comes from Ward Cunningham. In his 1992 OOPSLA conference report on the WyCash portfolio system, he wrote: "Shipping first time code is like going into debt. A little debt speeds development so long as it is paid back promptly with a rewrite".
The interest you pay
Cunningham went on: "Every minute spent on not-quite-right code counts as interest on that debt". He also warned that whole teams "can be brought to a stand-still under the debt load".
Martin Fowler explains the same idea with a simple example on his site in 2019. A messy structure turns a four-day feature into a six-day job. Those two extra days are the interest, and you pay them again on every similar change.
Debt is not always a mistake
Taking on some debt on purpose can be a sensible business choice. Launching before a festival season with a simpler version can be worth it.
The problem starts when nobody writes the shortcut down and nobody plans to fix it. Ask your developer to keep a simple list of every shortcut taken, with the reason and a rough date to fix it. That list is your loan statement.
Why does cheap, rushed software cost more later?
Cheap software is often cheap because steps were skipped: no tests, no notes, copy-pasted code, and no plan for growth. Each skipped step saves money on day one and adds cost on every change after that. Over two or three years, the interest can be larger than the saving.
Where shortcuts usually hide
- No automatic tests, so each change needs slow manual checking and still lets bugs through.
- The same logic copied into many places, so one rule change means editing ten screens.
- Settings such as tax rates or prices written into the code, so only a developer can change them.
- Old add-on libraries (ready-made code from other people) that nobody has updated for years.
- No written notes, so only the original developer knows how things fit together.
What the research says about the cost
Stripe's study "The Developer Coefficient", published in September 2018 with Harris Poll, surveyed over 1,000 developers and over 1,000 company heads. On average, respondents estimated developers spend 13.5 hours of a 41.1-hour week on technical debt.
That is about a third of the week. The survey covered the US, UK, France, Germany and Singapore, not India, so treat it as a sign of scale, not a figure for your shop.
What are the warning signs in your own software?
You do not need to read code to spot technical debt. Watch how long changes take, how often fixes break other things, and how many people can work on the system. If these get worse each year, the debt is growing faster than it is being paid.
| Warning sign | What it usually means | What to ask for |
| Small changes take weeks | Messy structure, high interest | A list of the slowest parts to change |
| One fix breaks another screen | No automatic tests | Tests for the most used flows first |
| Only one developer can work on it | No notes, unclear code | Written notes and code in your own account |
| Prices or tax rates need a developer | Settings written into code | An admin screen for those settings |
| Security warnings on old add-ons | Libraries not updated | An update plan, oldest risks first |
A tip most owners miss
Make sure the code sits in a repository (an online store for code, such as GitHub) under your company's own account. If the code lives only on a developer's laptop, you cannot get a second opinion, and you cannot move to another developer.
If your billing, stock or booking system has become slow and risky to change, see The Beyond Horizon's custom software development service for Indian businesses.
Should you repair or rebuild old software?
Repair the system step by step when the core still works and the problems sit in a few areas. Consider a rebuild only when the base itself blocks your business, for example when it cannot be secured or updated at all. Even then, replacing it in stages is usually safer than one big switch.
Why one big rewrite is risky
Martin Fowler describes this in his "Strangler Fig" article, updated in August 2024. He writes that "replacing a serious IT system takes a long time, and the users can't wait for new features". He adds that "it's hard to figure out the details of existing behavior".
His answer, named after a fig tree that slowly grows around its host, is to build new parts around the old system. Each new part takes over one job, until the old system has nothing left to do.
Repair or rebuild: a quick comparison
Here is how the two paths compare for a working business.
| Point | Repair step by step | Full rebuild |
| Risk to daily work | Low, old system keeps running | Higher, everything switches at once |
| When you see value | After each step | Only at the end |
| Cost pattern | Spread over months | Large amount up front |
| Best when | Core works, problems in a few areas | Base cannot be secured or updated |
How we deal with technical debt in our own projects
In Kafe Kufe, our restaurant software, the staff screen was built on an older part of Next.js, the tool it runs on. Moving it mid-product was judged high risk with low reward, so it stays as it is. The newer customer app uses the newer approach.
Knowing what debt you carry, and choosing not to pay it yet, is a fair decision. What matters is that the choice is written down, with a reason.
In Prodeazy, built for Bang Diamond Tools, form fields, workflow steps and print templates are stored as settings. Admins change them from a screen, without code changes or a new release. That design avoids a common kind of debt: rules that only a developer can change.
What should you ask a developer before you agree to a rewrite?
- Which three parts of the system cost us the most time or money today?
- Can those parts be fixed one at a time while the rest keeps running?
- Will the code be in my company's own repository account?
- Which tests will you add so the same bugs do not come back?
- How will my data move from the old system, and how will we check nothing is lost?
Paying down the debt
Now you know what is technical debt and how to spot it, you can ask for a plan instead of a guess. Start with the parts that slow your business the most, and fix them in order. If you want an outside look at your current system first, call or WhatsApp The Beyond Horizon on +91 75973 92744.