Pricing
How engagements are priced.
Most firms will not tell you how they price until you are on a call. We think that wastes your time and ours. Here is the model, what moves the number, and what to expect.
The model
Two ways we charge, and no hourly billing.
Project work is a fixed fee, agreed in writing before we start. Ongoing work is a monthly retainer priced by function and standard. We never bill by the hour, because that rewards us for taking longer on work whose entire purpose is to make things faster.
Fixed fee
Design, build and hand over
Priced per project by headcount, number of functions in scope, and process complexity. Staged against milestones. Unchanged unless the scope changes in writing.
Monthly retainer
We operate it for you
Priced per function and service level on a six or twelve month term, with scope and response times defined in the contract. Always preceded by a paid documentation phase.
Systems Audit
Published, banded by size.
This is where most engagements start, so we publish it in full. The fee is credited against any engagement you begin within ninety days of the report.
| Band | Organisation | Duration | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Up to 25 people, 1 to 2 functions | 2 to 3 weeks | From KES 280,000approx. USD 2,200 |
| B | 25 to 100 people, 3 to 4 functions | 3 weeks | KES 525,000 to 630,000approx. USD 4,000 to 4,850 |
| C | 100+ people, multi-site or multi-entity | 4 to 6 weeks | From KES 875,000approx. USD 6,700 |
Everything else
What drives the number.
Build projects and monthly retainers are scoped individually, because a documentation project for a forty person NGO is genuinely different work from the same project across three countries. These are the factors that move the price, so you can see how it is arrived at before you speak to anyone.
| Engagement | Typical duration | What moves the price |
|---|---|---|
| Systems & Operations Design | 6 to 12 weeks | Number of processes and functions, complexity, how much documentation already exists |
| Executive & Business Administration | 6 or 12 month term | Number of people supported, volume, coverage hours, service levels |
| Data & Decision Intelligence | 4 to 10 weeks | Number of data sources, dashboards required, current data quality |
| AI Systems & Automation | 4 to 10 weeks | Number of workflows, systems to integrate, whether the process is documented |
| Documentation sprint | 2 to 4 weeks | Required before any retainer. Billed separately and delivered to you regardless of what happens next |
You receive a fixed written figure before committing to anything. All fees exclusive of VAT. International clients can contract and be invoiced in USD or GBP.
Principles
Six things about how we price.
Never by the hour
Hourly billing rewards us for taking longer. We price the function and the standard, and carry the risk if it takes us more time than expected.
Never per person
Per assistant pricing makes the unit of value somebody’s availability rather than a working business function. It caps what the service can ever be.
Documentation comes first
We will not operate a process we have not written down. That phase is billed separately and delivered to you whatever happens next.
The audit fee is credited back
Start any engagement within ninety days of your report and the full audit fee comes off the price.
Scope changes are agreed first
No surprise invoices. If something falls outside scope we tell you, price it, and wait for a yes.
We will tell you when not to buy
If the honest answer is that you need to hire someone, or that you need three processes written down rather than a full engagement, we will say so on the call.
The comparison that matters
Buying a function against building one.
Retainers look expensive next to a salary and inexpensive next to the true cost of a function. This is the calculation worth doing before you decide.
| Cost element | Hiring internally | Working with us |
|---|---|---|
| Salary | Full, plus annual increases | Included in the retainer |
| Statutory contributions and benefits | Additional on top | Included |
| Recruitment | Agency fees, or your own time | None |
| Tooling and licences | Purchased and maintained by you | Advised, often already in place |
| Management time | Someone senior supervises the role | Managed by us |
| Time to productive | Three to nine months | Thirty day transition after documentation |
| Cover for leave and illness | The work waits | Covered, because the process is documented |
| Turnover risk | Yours, including the knowledge that leaves | Ours. The documentation stays with you |
| Process design | You still have to do it | Included, and documented |
To be fair about it
Hiring internally wins in several situations. When the function is genuinely core to your competitive advantage. When you need someone in the room every day. When volumes are high enough that a full time person is fully occupied and the work is already well defined. We would rather help you see that clearly than sell you a retainer you should not buy.
Common questions
On money.
Why is only the audit price published?
Because it is the only piece of work with a fixed shape. The audit covers a defined scope over a defined period, so we can price it honestly without meeting you. Everything else genuinely depends on the size of your organisation and how much already exists, and a published figure would be either meaningless or misleading.
What are the payment terms?
Project work is staged against milestones. Retainers are billed monthly. The exact schedule is set out in the proposal and in the contract, before you commit to anything.
Can we pay in USD?
Yes. International clients can contract and be invoiced in USD or GBP. All fees are exclusive of VAT.
Is there a minimum engagement?
For retainers, yes: they run on a six or twelve month term, because a shorter one does not give the system long enough to prove it holds. Project work has no minimum beyond its own scope.
What happens if we want to stop?
The notice period is stated in the contract before you sign it. Whatever the reason, the documentation stays with you, in your systems, in your name. That is the point of documenting first rather than last.
Do you offer anything for early stage organisations?
The audit is banded by size, so a small organisation pays the Band A fee rather than a large-organisation fee. Beyond that, we would rather tell you honestly on the call that you need three processes written down, not a full engagement. We do that regularly.
Start here
You build the business. We help build the organisation behind it.
A short call. You tell us what is not working. We tell you honestly whether we can help, and whether you actually need us.
Every enquiry is reviewed personally. You will hear back within two business days.