Pleasance House Consulting - Commercial
Pleasance House Consulting appreciates how poor commercial agreements can taint otherwise successful projects. Clients purchasing IT goods and services dislike hidden costs. People supplying the IT goods and services dislike cash flow being delayed because of disputes over complex commercial agreements. All PHC goods and services are therefore quoted inclusive of all costs. Products are supplied on a fixed price basis with no annual licence fee, rates for consultancy services are quoted inclusive of expenses and training course costs are also all-inclusive. Invoicing and payment schedules are simple.
Product Pricing
Customers wishing to purchase the PHC Management Information System will be offered a fixed price that is calculated using a special model. The model incorporates allowances for the scale of system to be provided in terms of hardware and software requirements and the number of users. The complexity of data structures in connected systems, the corresponding work required to extract, cleanse and consolidate it plus any documented bespoke requirements are also taken into consideration.
One free day of consultancy will be provided initially to set the terms of reference for the implementation project and to agree the fixed price. The fixed price includes absolutely everything the retailer will have to pay for the initial implementation of the specified system. This includes all new hardware, software and implementation services. It does not include recurring annual licence fees for third party software or hardware maintenance agreements, but these costs will be stated separately, so the client has a clear view of the future spend. Changes to the original specification that are requested during or after the initial implementation project will be estimated, priced and charged by the day.
The agreed fixed price will be invoiced in three equal parts:
- Invoice raised when the project is initiated
- Invoice raised when the system is in place and the first reports are available
- Invoice raised on satisfactory completion
All PHC invoices are payable one month in arrears. These three payments are all the customer will have to make until recurring licences are due the following year.
At the moment there is no pricing model for the PHC Seasonal Stock Manager. For the next implementation the work will have to be undertaken on a time and materials basis. A specially discounted rate may be negotiated, preferential to the standard consultancy rates given below.
Cost of Services
The rates charged for the two Cognos training courses are publicised on the learndirect scotland web pages.
All other work including the various options offered under the "retail systems consultancy" umbrella, Cognos support and Buyers Toolbox implementation services are charged out at standard consultancy rates.
PHC prefers to invoice clients directly for professional services, rather than dealing through any secondary agency or supplier, but is flexible enough to make sure that suitable arrangements can be arrived at to ensure the smooth running of any project that it is involved in. Invoices are raised weekly and payment is expected monthly in arrears. Expenses are paid by PHC as a cost of doing business. PHC is not VAT registered so customers cannot claim back any tax. Cheques/other methods of payment must be made out to Allan Wilkie personally.
All quoted rates are expenses-inclusive, assuming three days minimum term. If a customer requires less than three days' consultancy, special rates and expenses will have to be applied as there is inevitably some additional non-billable preparation work and normally inclusive expenses would not be spread over a large enough income base. It is expected that one day will be required initially to meet and agree project parameters and terms and conditions for the contract. PHC will provide this day (including associated expenses) free of charge.
Rates for chargeable work vary depending on where the work is to be done, and how long it will last for, stated in days. A day consists of at least seven hours and is the minimum period that can be commissioned, worked and invoiced. Four-day weeks are preferred but there is a high degree of flexibility as PHC is sympathetic to the changing needs of customers as projects go through their various stages of development. Volume discounts of approximately 10% and 20% are available when the initial commitment is more than 8 days and more than 20 days respectively. The table below shows the current charge-out rates for all retail systems consultancy work, expressed in sterling. Euro and US dollar rates will be calculated using current exchange rates.
Pleasance House Consulting -
Table of Consultancy Charge-Out Rates (Exclusive of Expenses)
|
Location |
Mainland |
|
|
Other |
||||||||
|
Duration |
3-8 days |
9-20 days |
> 20 days |
3-8 days |
9-20 days |
> 20 days |
3-8 days |
9-20 days |
> 20 days |
3-8 days |
9-20 days |
> 20 days |
|
Daily Rate |
£950 |
£750 |
£550 |
£1,000 |
£800 |
£600 |
£1,200 |
£1,000 |
£800 |
£1,400 |
£1,200 |
£1,000 |
