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Why we quote after discovery, not before
A number given on the first call is a guess, and guesses in ERP work tend to grow. The real effort depends on things nobody knows yet: how many legal entities you run, how clean the customer and item records are, which systems must talk to Business Central, and how much of your current process should survive the move.
So the first step is a short discovery: a few working sessions with finance, operations and whoever owns the data. What comes out is a scope that names every process, report, integration and migration object we will deliver. The quote is priced against that list, and you can hold us to it line by line.
If you want a sense of the general cost components before talking to anyone, our guide to Business Central implementation cost walks through them. This page is narrower: it describes how our own engagements are priced and what the paperwork looks like.
Eight inputs that move our quote
Process scope
Which areas go live: general ledger only, or also purchasing, sales, inventory, warehouse, jobs or manufacturing.
Companies and entities
Each legal entity adds setup, and intercompany postings or consolidation add design and testing.
Integrations
Ecommerce, payroll, banking, EDI or CRM links, and whether a ready connector exists or something must be built.
Data migration
How many record types move, how much history you keep, and how much cleansing the source data needs first.
Customization
Extensions written in AL for gaps that standard features and AppSource apps cannot close.
Reports and documents
Invoice layouts, management packs and Power BI dashboards beyond what ships with the product.
Training approach
Train-the-trainer for a small key-user group, or role-based sessions for every department.
After go-live
Hypercare through the first month end, then an optional support arrangement priced on its own.
What you will find in the written scope
- ✓Every business process in scope, named and described in your own terms
- ✓The integrations we build or configure, with the direction data flows for each
- ✓Migration objects: which master records, open items and balances move, and how much history
- ✓Custom extensions and reports, each with a short functional description
- ✓Assumptions and responsibilities on both sides, including who supplies and signs off test data
- ✓How changes are requested, estimated and approved once work is under way
Who bills you for which part
From first call to a signed quote
- 1
Introductory call
We learn what you run today, what hurts, and any dates that matter, such as a system end of support or a fiscal year end.
- 2
Discovery sessions
Short working sessions with each department, mostly over video, to map processes, data and integrations.
- 3
Scope and quote
You receive the written scope with the price attached, plus a list of assumptions we would like you to challenge.
- 4
Sign-off
Both sides agree the document. Configuration starts only after that.
- 5
Change control
New requests during the project are written up and priced before anyone works on them, so the total never drifts without your approval.
Pricing questions buyers ask us
Why won't you give a ballpark on the first call?
Because it would not be worth much to you. The spread between a simple finance-only project and a multi-entity rollout with warehouse, integrations and heavy migration is wide, and the first call rarely reveals where you sit. A short discovery lets us price the actual work. You then get a figure tied to a document instead of a guess.
Is discovery itself charged?
That depends on its size, and we agree it with you up front. A light discovery for a straightforward finance project is different from a detailed fit-gap across several companies and a warehouse. Either way you know before it starts whether it is billed and what you receive at the end. The output is yours to keep, even if you choose another partner.
Do you sell the Business Central licenses?
Licenses are a separate purchase from our services. Business Central subscriptions are sold by Microsoft through Cloud Solution Provider partners, and we explain in the scoping conversation how licensing will be handled for your project. We also help you decide which users need Essentials, Premium or Team Members access, since buying the wrong mix is a common and avoidable expense.
What happens if the scope turns out to be wrong?
It gets corrected in writing through change control. If we missed something we should have caught in discovery, we say so and discuss it openly. If the business asks for something new, we estimate it and wait for approval before building it. Nothing is added to your bill without a signed change.
Can we lower the cost by doing some of the work ourselves?
Yes, and many clients do. Data cleansing, test script execution, end-user training and report building are all tasks a capable internal team can take on. The scope records exactly who owns each task, so nothing falls between two chairs. We will tell you honestly which tasks are safe to keep in-house and which usually go wrong without experience.
Talk to us about your project.
Tell us what you run today and what has to change. A senior consultant replies with a written next step.