How to buy a custom business system without a blown budget: the 9 things a fixed-price quote must include
A fixed price only protects your budget if the quote says exactly what it covers. Check any quote for these nine things, ours included.
- 01Every feature, named, with its own price.
- 02Each connection, priced on its own.
- 03The facts the price rests on.
- 04What’s included.
- 05What isn’t included, named up front.
- 06Payments tied to what you can see.
- 07A date for the first working version.
- 08How changes are priced.
- 09Your data, and the cost of looking after it.
Every feature, named, with its own price.
Check: each part your team will use has a fixed price, and the total is their sum. No day rates or blocks of hours.
How we do it: every feature is priced from a standard price list. Two businesses with the same answers get the same price.
Each connection, priced on its own.
Check: every system it talks to, such as Xero, Sage, QuickBooks or Shopify, is named with the data that moves. A system without an API takes more work, so the quote should say which is which.
How we do it: each connection is its own line, priced by whether the system has an API and how many data flows it carries.
The facts the price rests on.
Check: user roles, locations, staff numbers, old data to bring across, training sessions, languages. They change the work, so they belong in writing.
How we do it: we confirm them on the call, and each is priced as a line in your quote.
What’s included.
Check: set-up, testing, launch, training, and how long support lasts after launch.
How we do it: every project includes set-up, testing and launch, launch-day training, and the first 3 months of hosting and Care.
What isn’t included, named up front.
Check: third-party fees, usage-based costs and tax, each named.
How we do it: third-party costs are passed on at cost, AI usage is paid separately from a usage account you top up, and prices exclude VAT.
Payments tied to what you can see.
Check: what triggers each payment, and how much is paid before anything works.
How we do it: focused projects are 50% to start and 50% at launch. Larger systems are 40% to start, 30% when the first version is ready to try, and 30% at launch.
A date for the first working version.
Check: when you can try it with real work, and how you’ll see progress before then.
How we do it: the quote gives the date. A focused project’s first version takes 2–4 weeks, with a recorded demo every Friday.
How changes are priced.
Check: what happens when you ask for something new once work has started.
How we do it: the agreed features keep their price. Anything new gets its own fixed price, and we build it only once you agree.
Your data, and the cost of looking after it.
Check: who holds your data, how you get it out, and what support costs later.
How we do it: your data is yours, and you can export it at any time. If you ever leave, we hand your data over in full. Care is quoted with your project, so you know the cost before you sign.
If a quote leaves any of these out, ask for it in writing before you sign.