What a $5,000 Fixed-Scope Software Engagement Actually Gets You
At Samford Labs, $5,000 buys a single integration, shipped: two systems connected with bi-directional sync, error handling, full documentation, tested and in production — typically in weeks, not quarters. Here’s the week-by-week anatomy, what the floor deliberately excludes, and what larger scopes look like.
What exactly ships at the $5,000 floor?
The floor engagement is a single integration: two systems you already run, connected — bi-directional sync, error handling, an audit trail, full documentation, tested and shipped to production. It is a finished thing your team uses, not a phase, a prototype, or a proposal for the real project.
That definition matters because the alternative pattern is common: an engagement that ends with a deck and a quote for the work you thought you were buying. A fixed scope tied to a shipped deliverable makes the incentive structure honest — we don’t get paid more if it takes longer, and you know what 'done' means before the first dollar moves.
How do the weeks actually go?
A typical floor engagement runs its course in weeks, not quarters — with the honest caveat that the calendar depends on how quickly access and answers come back from your side.
The shape of a floor engagement:
- Before anything is signed: the free assessment — a 30-minute call and a written one-page roadmap. If the project shouldn’t be built, this is where we say so.
- First: a fixed-scope proposal — the deliverable, the price, the timeline, and what counts as done, in writing.
- Early build: credentials, API access, and a walking skeleton — data moving end to end in its simplest form, so integration risk dies first.
- Mid build: the real logic — field mapping, edge cases, error recovery, the audit trail. You see working software as it takes form and correct course while it’s cheap.
- Handover: tested, deployed, documented — architecture notes, runbooks, credentials inventory, failure modes. A walkthrough call, and the system is yours outright.
Weeks, not quarters
What does the floor deliberately NOT buy?
Honesty about the floor is the fastest qualifier there is. $5,000 does not buy multi-system orchestration across four or five APIs. It does not buy a new application with users, auth, and interfaces. It does not buy an embedded team, a retainer, or an open-ended stream of small tasks. And it does not buy AI features bolted on for their own sake.
Those aren’t refusals — they’re bigger scopes. Each is quoted the same way the floor is: a fixed deliverable, a fixed price, agreed before work begins. What the floor proves is the shape of the engagement; the ceiling is your scope, not our menu.
Note: If a $30/month off-the-shelf tool solves your problem, the assessment roadmap says exactly that — and costs you nothing. We’d rather lose a $5,000 build than sell one that shouldn’t exist.
What do larger scopes look like?
The floor anchors the pricing model; real projects scale by scope, not by hourly drift. These bands reflect the systems we’ve actually shipped — three products of our own and three systems delivered for clients.
| Band | What it typically buys | Shipped example of the shape |
|---|---|---|
| $5,000 floor | One integration: two systems, bi-directional sync, error handling, docs | The floor deliverable — the anatomy above |
| ≈ $10,000 | A workflow automated end to end, or a document pipeline with review queue | An intake flow that went from days to under 15 minutes, with zero lost forms |
| ≈ $25,000+ | Multi-API orchestration or a focused application with production security | An order-to-cash workflow replacing four disconnected tools — processing time down ~70% |
−70%
For a deeper look at how integration pricing scales — and the questions that actually move the number — see How Much Does a Custom Software Integration Cost in 2026?. And if you’re still deciding what kind of vendor fits, start with the honest three-way comparison.
Why publish the price at all?
Most firms in this market hide pricing behind a sales call. We publish the floor for a selfish reason and a service reason, and they’re the same reason: your time and ours are both too expensive for a three-call dance that ends at a number you never would have accepted.
If $5,000 is outside range, the free assessment still leaves you with a written roadmap — including, when it’s true, the recommendation to buy something off the shelf instead. That’s the collaborative spirit the practice is built on, and it starts before any money moves.
Common questions
Why is $5,000 the minimum engagement?
Because it’s the smallest scope that produces a finished, documented, production-grade deliverable rather than a fragment. Below that floor, fixed-scope work degenerates into hourly odd jobs — and the documentation, testing, and handover that make the work durable are the first things cut.
Do you bill hourly if the work goes faster or slower?
No. The price is fixed to the deliverable, agreed before work begins. If we scope it wrong, that’s our cost, not yours. If you change the scope, the change is priced and approved in writing before it costs anything.
What if my project outgrows the original scope mid-build?
It pauses for a one-page re-scope: what’s changing, what it costs, what it does to the timeline. You approve before anything proceeds. No surprise invoices — scope drift is the vendor’s problem to surface, not yours to discover.
Custom Integrations
Two systems connected — bi-directional sync, error handling, full documentation.
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