The cost of a process, automation or AI project depends mostly on six things: how many systems the work crosses, how clean the data is, how many exceptions and approvals the process has, how many people and sites use it, how much has to be custom-built, and what support you need afterwards. Two jobs that sound the same ("automate our supplier invoices") can differ a lot once you look at those six things. That's why we don't publish price ranges. We scope each piece of work and give a fixed quote after a free initial chat. When the scope isn't clear yet, the one fixed price we publish is the $5,000 Process & Systems Audit, which maps your processes and systems and gives you a written report. And sometimes the honest answer is that a low-cost tool you set up yourself will do the job.
What drives the cost
These are the things we look at before quoting. They're also the questions to ask yourself before you ask anyone for a price.
1. How many systems the work crosses
An automation inside one product is usually simple: often it's a setting or a built-in rule. Each extra system adds work: getting access, understanding how it stores information, matching records between them (which customer in the job system is which customer in the accounting software), and handling what happens when one is down. A process that runs across a job system, a stock system, a spreadsheet and the accounting software is a different size of job from one that lives in a single app.
2. How clean the data is
Automation copies whatever it's given. If customer names, product codes or job numbers don't match across systems, someone has to fix that first, or decide the rules for matching them. Duplicate records, free-text fields used for three different things, and spreadsheets with years of manual edits all add work. For AI, data quality matters even more, because the tool learns from or reads whatever is there. Our data cleansing services page explains what that clean-up involves.
3. Exceptions and approvals
The happy path is usually the cheap part. The cost is in the exceptions: the invoice with no purchase order, the order for a customer on credit hold, the timesheet with a missing job number, the approval when the manager is on leave. Each rule like "anything over the limit goes to the finance manager" or "if the supplier isn't set up, hold it" has to be designed, built and tested. A process with many approval levels or many special cases costs more than one with few.
4. How many people and sites use it
One team in one office is simpler than several sites, several entities or several roles with different permissions. More users means more training, more permission settings, and more ways people already do the task differently that have to be agreed first.
5. How much is custom-built
Sometimes an existing connector or a feature you already pay for does most of the job and we configure it. Sometimes nothing off the shelf fits, and part of it has to be built. Custom work costs more upfront but can avoid stacking up subscriptions that only half fit.
6. Support after go-live
Systems change. Vendors update screens and connections, staff change, the business adds a product line. Decide early who will look after it: your team, us, or a mix. Ongoing support is part of the real cost, and it's better to see it in the quote than discover it later.
Why we quote fixed
We give a fixed quote for a defined piece of work, rather than an open-ended hourly rate, for three reasons.
- You know the cost before you commit. Finance managers and owners can make a decision on a number. An estimate that keeps growing makes that impossible.
- It makes us scope properly. To quote fixed, we have to understand the systems, the data and the exceptions first. That conversation catches most of the surprises before any work starts.
- It puts the risk in the right place. The price for the agreed scope stays the same. If you change what you want, we agree the change and its cost in writing before doing it.
A fixed quote needs a clear scope. That's why the first step is a free initial chat: a no-obligation conversation about what's going wrong and what you'd like to happen. After it, we either quote the work, or tell you we need to understand more first, or tell you that you don't need us.
Why the $5,000 Process & Systems Audit exists
Sometimes the problem is clear: "our supplier invoices are typed in twice". We can quote that. Other times the problem is a feeling: month-end takes too long, the numbers never agree, every new hire seems to be admin. Nobody can honestly quote a fix for a feeling. The Process & Systems Audit is for that situation.
The audit has a fixed price of $5,000 that is set before we start. It covers:
- A 2-hour discovery session over video, with you and the people who do the day-to-day work.
- A written Systems Integration Report of 10 to 15 pages, typically within 5 to 7 business days. It includes a map of your key processes and systems, a data flow diagram showing where information gets retyped or stuck, a gap analysis, three quick-win recommendations, a prioritised 12-month roadmap and an ROI estimate (a rough return on the cost) for the recommendations.
- A 30-minute walkthrough call to go through the findings.
The report is yours. You can act on it yourselves, give it to someone else, or ask us to quote the next steps. If AI is the question, our AI readiness assessment uses the same audit, focused on whether your processes and data are ready for it.
When a cheaper DIY tool is enough
We'd rather tell you this than sell you a project you don't need. A low-cost subscription tool, set up by someone on your team, is often enough when:
- the task sits inside one or two popular apps that already connect through a well-supported connector;
- the steps are the same every time, with few exceptions;
- one person or team owns it, and it's not a problem if it stops for a day;
- the data in both apps is already tidy.
Tools such as Zapier, Make or Power Automate are built for exactly this. Our comparison of Power Automate vs Zapier covers the differences. Many of the AI features you may already pay for inside your existing software are worth trying before anything custom.
DIY tools tend to struggle when the process crosses several systems, has lots of exceptions or approvals, needs a clear record of who did what, or when a quiet failure would cost real money (a missed invoice, a wrong pay run). That's usually when it's worth getting help.
To get a feel for what the manual work is costing you before you ask anyone for a price, try our automation ROI calculator.
How to get a useful quote from anyone
Whoever you ask, including us, you'll get a better and more comparable quote if you bring:
- a list of the systems and key spreadsheets involved;
- a real example or two of the task, including a messy one;
- who does each step now, and who approves what;
- what "done" would look like ("supplier bills arrive in the accounting software matched to the purchase order, ready to approve");
- who will look after it afterwards.
Then ask what's included, what's not, what happens if the scope changes, and what support costs after go-live. Our guide to what a business process consultant does, and how to choose one lists more questions worth asking, and our red flags when hiring an automation or AI consultant covers the warning signs in a quote.
Frequently asked questions
How much does business process automation cost in Australia?
It varies widely with the number of systems, the state of the data, the number of exceptions and approvals, and how much is custom-built. We scope each job and give a fixed quote after a free initial chat. The only fixed price we publish is the $5,000 Process & Systems Audit.
Why don't you publish a price list?
Because two projects with the same name can be very different sizes. A published range would either be too wide to help you or misleading for your situation. A fixed quote for your actual scope is more useful.
Is the $5,000 audit required before every project?
No. If the problem and the systems are clear, we can quote the work directly after the free initial chat. The audit is for when you're not sure where the problem is or what to fix first.
What does the fixed quote include?
The agreed scope, the build or configuration, testing with your team, go-live, and any support we've agreed. Anything outside the scope is agreed in writing, with its cost, before we do it.
Can we start small?
Yes, and we usually recommend it. Start with the one task that wastes the most time for the least risk, prove it works, then decide on the next.
If you'd like a straight answer on what your project involves, book a free initial chat. If you're not sure where to start, see what the Process & Systems Audit covers, or read about business process automation.