JOURNAL
Published on
WHERE THE PRICEOF AN AUTOMATIONCOMES FROM
A quote reads better when you know what is pushing it up.
THE ANSWER
What a business automation costs comes down to five things, not a rate card. How many integrations it touches. Whether the systems have a decent API. What state the data is in. How many exceptions the process has, and who maintains it afterwards. Published ranges hold once the perimeter is written down.
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IN SHORT
The price is mostly perimeter, not hours.
Dirty data and missing APIs push it up.
Without a written perimeter, no figure is a price.
WHERE IT COMES FROM
IT ISN’T A RATE CARD
When you ask what an automation costs, the real question is another one. How much work it takes for that process to run by itself on a Monday morning. The price is not the number of steps I remove. It is analysis, build, error handling, testing on the real cases, documentation and handover. Two automations that sound identical in a meeting can differ by a factor of two. The first reads clean data, the second has to guess.
THE VARIABLES
FIVE THINGS THAT PUSH IT UP
These are what I look at before writing a number. Recognise them in your own process and you know which end of the range you are heading for.
How many integrations it touches
Reading from one place and writing to another is already a project. Across three systems it doesn’t cost three times as much: every extra connection multiplies the cases to test.
Whether the systems have a decent API
With a documented API I connect, authenticate and monitor. Without one I build a bridge: scheduled exports, files to parse, fields to recognise. It costs more, and it breaks the day somebody renames a column.
What state the data is in
If the same client is spelled four ways, a clean-up comes before the automation. That is real work, estimated separately, and ignoring it only moves it past handover.
How many exceptions the process has
The general rule can be written in an afternoon. The exceptions set the price: the client who pays in two instalments, the order that comes back. Each exception is a branch to build and to test.
Who will maintain it
An automation nobody watches stops working without saying so. If you keep watch you need clear logs and alerts that reach a person. If I keep watch it is support, and support sits in the price.
THE PERIMETER
WHY THE FIGURE COMES LAST
I can’t give you a number until I know what is in and out. That isn’t a defence: the price of an automation is almost all perimeter. When a process has never been written down, writing it down is a phase of its own: the definition Sprint. If the budget doesn’t reach the figure, I don’t cut the price and leave the work where it was. I cut the outcome, the sources or the exceptions, in writing.
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WHAT TO ASK
FOUR QUESTIONS BEFORE SIGNING
They apply to my quote as much as anyone else’s. If one answer doesn’t come back, that figure isn’t a price yet.
What is in and what stays out
Written as a list, not described out loud. It is what makes the handover checkable. Later it tells you whether a request is new or was already inside.
What happens when something goes wrong
An automation that stops in silence is worse than doing the job by hand. Ask where the errors land, who gets told, and what happens meanwhile.
Who holds the accounts and the code
Accounts, keys and repository in your name. If the system lives inside the builder’s account, the price you are reading doesn’t include the freedom to change supplier.
What is needed from you
Nearly every automation needs one person inside who decides on the exceptions. Without that person the work takes longer and costs more.
THE FIGURES
WHERE THE NUMBERS LIVE
- The ranges
- Published offer by offer on the pricing page, VAT excluded. I don’t repeat them here: two lists that drift apart would make one page a lie.
- Outside the price
- Hosting, domains, AI providers, paid APIs and licences stay in your name and on your invoice. (Unless the proposal says otherwise.)
- Before the quote
- When the process isn’t documented, the perimeter gets written during a definition Sprint. It is a paid phase in its own right, with its own page.
- When I can’t quote yet
- If nobody can say what happens in the exceptions, we look first. A number given at that point would be a guess wearing the clothes of a commitment.
An automation that came cheap because nobody looked at the data is one you pay for twice.
QUESTIONS
- So what does a business automation actually cost?
- It depends on the integrations, the state of the data, the number of exceptions and who maintains it. The range for each offer is published on the pricing page, VAT excluded. The quote lands inside it once the perimeter is written.
- Why are two quotes for the same process so far apart?
- Almost always because they describe two different perimeters. One includes error handling, exceptions, documentation and handover. The other includes only the case where everything goes well: compare the lists, not the totals.
- Can we start small and extend later?
- Yes, and it is usually the right call. One step — the one that repeats most — built properly all the way through. Then a piece at a time, each with its own estimate.
- Does AI push the price up?
- It pushes up the work around it: data handling, checks, human review and a provider to assess. It goes in only where there is a use case and someone accountable for the outcome.
- Can the quote fall outside the range?
- Upwards, and only with a reason I give you first: a wider perimeter than we agreed, an extra data source. You never get a number from me without the perimeter beside it.
The figures are written down, offer by offer, not held back until the call. Go and see which range your case falls into.