The short answer
In 2026, a fixed-scope business systems or operational assessment for a small or mid-sized company typically runs $5,000 to $25,000 from established consulting firms. Hourly advisory work clusters between $150 and $400 per hour, with most experienced specialists in the $200–$300 band. Broader strategy engagements at the small-business level are commonly quoted at $10,000–$50,000. These ranges are consistent across published market guides, including Clutch's consulting pricing guide and Thumbtack's small-business consulting fee data.
What we charge: Applied Architecture Group prices the Business Systems Assessment at roughly 25% below what comparable senior-led firms quote for the same fixed scope. In practice, most of our assessments land between $5,500 and $18,500, and most companies under 100 employees land between $5,500 and $11,500. The exact figure is fixed before work begins, based on the size and complexity factors below, and it does not change mid-engagement.
Why we publish this and most firms don't
Unpublished consulting prices work the same way unpublished list prices work everywhere: they're calibrated to be negotiated, and the buyer with the least market information pays the most. Enterprise buyers have procurement teams and reference prices; a 40-person business usually has neither. Publishing a real range costs us the ability to quote opportunistically — which is exactly the point, and consistent with how we tell clients to buy everything else: spend the right amount for today, with a plan to scale later.
What drives the price up or down
- Headcount and departments touched. An assessment maps how work actually flows. Thirty people in two departments is a smaller map than 200 people in six.
- Systems and spreadsheet sprawl. Every CRM, ERP, scheduling tool, and load-bearing spreadsheet has to be inventoried and traced. More sprawl, more work — sprawl is usually also where the findings are.
- Locations. Multi-site operations add workflow variants (each site quietly does things its own way) and coordination overhead.
- Data and reporting depth. If departments disagree on basic numbers, tracing why — across exports, reconciliations, and manual fixes — is real analytical work that pays for itself in the roadmap.
- Who does the work. A partner-led assessment costs more than one quoted by a partner and delegated to junior analysts. Ask any firm directly: who is actually doing my analysis?
What you should get for the money
Whatever you pay, a defensible systems assessment ends in deliverables you own. Ours has eight: a current-state review, workflow analysis, technology assessment, operational bottleneck review, risk identification, process evaluation, improvement recommendations, and a prioritized roadmap that sequences the highest-impact changes first. The test worth applying to any quote: if the engagement doesn't end in a roadmap you keep — whether or not you ever hire the firm again — you're buying a sales process, not an assessment.
Watch for two cheaper substitutes wearing the same name. A free assessment from a software vendor or its implementation partner is a sales-qualification call; its conclusion is reliably the platform they sell (we've written about how to tell an MSP, a consultant, and an implementation partner apart). And a templated questionnaire at a suspiciously low fixed price produces generic findings that could describe any company — you're paying for a report, not a diagnosis.
Is it worth it?
Benchmark the assessment against what it protects. A mid-market CRM or ERP decision commits $30,000–$250,000+ over a few years once licenses, implementation, and adoption time are counted — and the most expensive failures are chosen at selection time, not implementation time. An assessment priced at a fraction of that decision, done before the money moves, is cheap insurance; it routinely pays for itself by killing one wrong purchase or finding one workflow that's quietly burning payroll. If your operation is small and simple enough that this math doesn't apply, you likely don't need an assessment yet — read the signs you've outgrown spreadsheets and come back when three of them sting.
Questions to ask any firm quoting you
- Is the scope and price fixed in writing before work begins?
- Who — by name and seniority — performs the analysis?
- Do you resell software or take commissions from vendors you recommend? (Our answer: no, on both.)
- What exactly do I own when it's done?
- What happens if you find the problem isn't what we thought it was?
Any credible firm answers those five without flinching. The ones that flinch just answered a different question for you.