Separate five layers of cost
Discovery pays for understanding the process, data, constraints and business case. Implementation covers design, configuration or development, integration, testing and handover. Subscriptions cover the products your team uses. Usage covers models, document processing, hosting and other metered services. Support covers monitoring, failures, provider changes and future improvements.
Ask which layers a proposal includes and which remain your responsibility. Check VAT treatment, billing ownership and whether extra platform licences are needed. Do not compare a prototype-only quote with a production workflow that includes permissions, recovery and training.
What changes implementation effort?
A supported connector moving a few well-defined fields is different from extracting inconsistent documents and updating several systems. API access, accounting rules, historical migration, approval routes and poor source data all affect effort. Security requirements and the consequences of a wrong action also change the testing needed.
Bring sample inputs, the systems and subscription plans involved, normal monthly volume and known exceptions. Redact sensitive details. An explicit boundary—such as preparing invoice drafts for approval—makes a scope more useful than “automate finance”.
Model normal usage and the awkward days
Estimate operating costs at your normal workload and a credible busy period. Include retries, failed extractions, long documents, storage and human checks, not just successful model requests. Give someone responsibility for reviewing usage and setting budgets or alerts.
The existing AI tokens and costs calculator helps explore model API usage. It is not a quote for discovery, delivery, integration or support. Check current provider prices and your actual workload before relying on any calculation.
Compare the whole process before and after
Measure handling time, waiting time, rework and error rates before changing anything. Then account for the review and exception work that will remain. Time released is useful capacity, but it does not automatically become a cash saving: explain how the business would use it.
Published invoice-processing work demonstrates experience connecting intake, extraction, approvals and accounting platforms. It does not establish a universal return or a price for your company. Use your own baseline and test assumptions with a limited pilot.
Buy the next decision, not an open-ended promise
At Fewzen, builds are scoped in stages, with scope and price agreed before each stage. There is no universal implementation rate published here. If the opportunity is unclear, the Opportunity Review is a separate discovery route; its current terms belong on the review page.
If one workflow is already defined, discuss the 10-Day Automation Sprint or a scoped build directly. Agree acceptance checks, dependencies, recurring bills, ownership and the support boundary before committing. A sensible recommendation may be a simpler process or an existing connector rather than AI.