How much does business software work cost, and what are you paying for?

Price is usually the first question in any conversation we have, and it is a fair one. The trouble is that “how much?” hides two other questions: how much for what, and what happens when the “what” changes. A number means little until both are answered.

So this article covers what we charge, what each price pays for, what sits outside it, and why a bigger build is priced only once the scope is agreed.

Our prices, in one place

We publish our prices because a number you can see is more useful than “it depends”. These are the eight services we offer.

Each service is a separate choice. A higher monthly fee does not automatically include the services priced below it. All prices exclude SST.

What a one-off fee pays for

The first four services have a clear boundary, and the boundary is what you are paying for.

A Decision Review covers one bounded decision, such as comparing two approaches, two vendors or a proposed system direction. You get an independent view of the trade-offs and a sensible next step. It does not include building the option you choose.

A System Review investigates one system or workflow problem and tells you the likely causes, the risks and what to fix first. It does not fix the system, and it cannot promise the system is safe beyond the evidence it could see.

A Fix Sprint fixes one clear problem. We look at it first, then confirm the price and what fixed means before any work starts. Other bugs and new features are separate.

A Custom Project starts from RM30,000. The final price is fixed once we have agreed the scope, milestones and how each one is accepted. More on why below.

What a monthly fee pays for

Monthly services pay for an agreed area of work moving forward. They do not buy an unlimited list.

Monthly services are paid in advance, month to month, with 30 days’ notice to stop. How much moves in a month depends on the priorities themselves, what they depend on and how quickly decisions and access arrive. One integration can take more work than ten small screen changes.

What sits outside the price

Every service lists what it excludes, because disagreements about software work usually come from assumptions, not from the number itself. The exclusions buyers most often assume are included:

• New features during Software Care. Care looks after a live system. New features or larger changes are agreed separately.
• An open backlog under System Improvement. The work follows an agreed, prioritised queue, not every idea at once.
• Unlimited tasks under Managed Delivery. A longer backlog changes what comes next, not how much moves at once.
• Third-party costs in a Custom Project, such as hosting, licences or other vendors’ fees, unless the quote includes them.
• Round-the-clock support. Our support hours are 9am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, Kuala Lumpur time, excluding public holidays.

If something matters to you and it is not written down, ask for it to be.

Why we quote a larger build after agreeing the scope

Larger builds start from RM30,000, but we won’t fix the final price before the work is understood.

Pricing unknown work leaves two options, and neither helps you. The vendor either adds a large margin for everything that might go wrong, or quotes low and then has to cut corners or argue about changes later. Both usually cost more than taking a small, paid step to understand the work first.

That is what the one-off reviews are for. If you are weighing a direction, a Decision Review settles that one question for RM1,000. If the problem itself is unclear, a System Review, RM5,000, tells you what is going on and what to fix first. Either way, the larger quote that follows is based on something both sides understand.

Questions to ask any vendor before you sign

Whoever you work with, these questions will tell you more than the headline price:

1. What exactly is included, and what is written down as excluded?
2. How are changes to the scope priced and agreed?
3. Who decides the priorities each month, and how are they reviewed?
4. What happens when work is blocked by missing access or a missing decision?
5. Are support hours and response times in the agreement, or assumed?

You can see how we answer each of these on our pricing page and in how we work. If you are not sure where to start, start with the smallest step that answers your question.