One number at the start is a bet. A price against each phase is a decision you get to keep making.
The standard software quote asks a business to commit the whole budget at the point of least information — before anyone has seen a working version of anything.
Phase gates instead
Each phase is priced before it starts and signed off on its own. The audit ends with a roadmap that carries a price against every phase, so cost gets approved in stages rather than as a single figure at the beginning. If the second phase stops making sense after the first one ships, it does not happen.
This is less comfortable for the vendor and that is rather the point. It puts the burden of proof on each phase to earn the next one.
The audit fee comes off the build
If the audit leads to a build, its fee is credited against the price. The audit is designed to stand on its own — the roadmap belongs to the client whether or not anyone builds from it — but nobody should pay twice for the same thinking.
Photograph: cottonbro studio / Pexels
