Price the finished workflow, including the difficult cases.
Two projects called “invoice automation” can have very different requirements. Extracting a few fields is different from matching orders, receipts and invoices, checking exceptions and preparing an authorised action across several systems.
Start here.
Canvo’s diagnostic is A$950 ex GST and is credited to implementation under the agreed scope. A bounded first implementation starts at A$4,900 ex GST. The final price depends on systems, data quality, rules, permissions and acceptance requirements. Software, hosting and API costs are separate; there is no mandatory Canvo subscription.
A defined implementation
The quote should name the starting input, accepted final result, included integrations and exceptions. A list of tool names is not a delivery scope.
Clear support boundaries
Included support runs for 12 months from acceptance, covering agreed delivered workflows, defects and minor API compatibility changes to existing integrations. New features and broader changes are separately scoped.
A complete running-cost view
List software subscriptions, model/API usage, hosting and any optional Canvo care separately. Compare costs on the same GST basis and check what the quote includes.
From an idea to a checked result
Define the result
Choose what must be completed and what evidence proves it. Identify normal cases and the exceptions that materially change the work.
Check access and data
Inspect available integrations, record identities, historical data and write permissions. Discovering these constraints early makes the scope more reliable.
Agree delivery and acceptance
Document the included paths, tests, rollout steps and operational handover. State what would count as additional work.
Model operating costs
Estimate realistic volume, retries, document sizes and review effort. Use vendor pricing relevant to the selected setup when preparing the quote.
Review the business case
Compare the implementation and running costs with tested capacity or genuinely avoidable spending. Revisit assumptions after representative operation.
What changes when the work gets complicated?
One source prepares a reviewed draft
- What arrives
- A standard document arrives and needs fields entered into one destination.
- What is checked
- Confirm stable format, identity, required fields and destination access.
- What happens next
- Extract, validate and prepare the draft; a person handles exceptions and approval.
- What finishes the work
- A narrow scope with a clear acceptance test, suitable for an initial implementation assessment.
Three records must agree before proceeding
- What arrives
- An invoice arrives for a purchase order with partial receipts.
- What is checked
- Check line identity, quantities, tolerances, prior invoices and approval authority.
- What happens next
- Match records, separate eligible lines and create an evidence-backed exception for discrepancies.
- What finishes the work
- A broader implementation because commercial state and failure recovery span several systems.
The business wants ongoing monitoring
- What arrives
- The delivered workflow becomes part of daily operations.
- What is checked
- Agree coverage, alert ownership, response expectations and change allowance.
- What happens next
- Choose self-operation or separately scoped proactive care; retain the included support boundary.
- What finishes the work
- A deliberate operating arrangement, with optional care from A$490 ex GST per month where that scope fits.
What changes the implementation effort?
Complexity usually sits in the business rules and failure paths, not the number of boxes on a workflow diagram.
Interfaces and identities
Supported APIs and stable record IDs are easier to work with than inconsistent exports or manual screens. Each extra system adds access, mapping and recovery questions.
Exceptions and authority
Partial fulfilment, substitutions, credit limits and approval chains need explicit rules. A workflow that prepares a record has a different acceptance boundary from one that commits it.
Testing and transition
Representative samples, safe rollout, reconciliation, staff training and handover are part of implementation. Omitting them can make a quote look smaller without making the finished system cheaper to operate.
An illustrative business case, not a quote
Assume 120 items each week, ten active minutes per item today, four afterwards, and four extra hours of monthly review and upkeep. Use 52 weeks divided by 12 months; the cost assumptions below exclude GST.
| Illustrative input or result | Amount |
|---|---|
| Implementation assumption | A$9,000 ex GST |
| Monthly running-cost assumption | A$180 ex GST |
| Monthly capacity released | 48 hours |
| Monthly capacity value less running costs | A$2,700 |
| First-year implementation plus running costs | A$11,160 ex GST |
| Capacity-based payback, if assumptions hold | About 3.3 months |
Capacity calculation
That is 520 items per month: about 86.7 current hours and 38.7 remaining hours including upkeep. The difference is 48 hours. At an assumed loaded hourly cost of A$60, capacity value is A$2,880 per month.
Costs and indicative payback
Assume an A$9,000 ex GST implementation and A$180 ex GST monthly running costs, with no optional paid care selected. Net capacity value is A$2,700 monthly, giving an indicative capacity-based payback of about 3.3 months.
What the arithmetic does not prove
Every input is an editable assumption. Payroll may remain unchanged, adoption may be incomplete and exception rates may differ. Treat the result as a hypothesis to validate, not a promised cash saving.
Compare proposals on the same basis
A useful comparison includes what gets delivered, who operates it and what happens when a dependency changes.
Do not double-count the diagnostic
Where the A$950 ex GST diagnostic is fully credited to an agreed A$4,900 ex GST implementation, the remaining implementation balance is A$3,950 ex GST. It is not an extra A$950 ex GST on top of that total.
Distinguish support from new development
Twelve months of included support is not unlimited redesign or a default 24-hour managed service. Confirm the agreed defect and minor compatibility scope, plus any separately purchased monitoring or response coverage.
Know what remains yours
Confirm account ownership, configuration access, documentation and the practical exit or handover process. Also identify who pays vendor bills and who reviews exceptions during normal operation.
Questions worth asking
Is A$4,900 ex GST a fixed price for any AI system?
No. It is the starting point for a bounded first implementation. The diagnostic or scoping work determines whether your requirements fit that scope and price.
Is A$490 ex GST per month compulsory?
No. Optional care starts from A$490 ex GST per month where the agreed coverage fits. It is separate from included support and third-party costs, and broader operating responsibilities require their own scope.
Can implementation be paid from guaranteed savings?
A forecast alone cannot establish a guaranteed saving. First identify measurable work and removable costs, then agree how results would be verified. Capacity value and revenue observations are not automatically cash available to fund a project.
What should a useful estimate include?
The finished result, systems, volume assumptions, exceptions, approval rules, acceptance checks, handover, support and separately estimated running costs. Bring representative examples so the estimate is based on your actual work.
Do Canvo’s published prices include GST?
No. Published Canvo fees are in Australian dollars and exclude GST. The proposal and invoice state GST separately. Compare implementation and running-cost estimates on the same GST basis, and check third-party billing separately.
How are implementation payments staged?
An indicative arrangement is a 10% deposit followed by agreed milestone payments. The proposal records the amount and completion condition for each payment, how any agreed diagnostic credit is applied, and whether there is a final retained portion with a defined release trigger. The final schedule is agreed for the project before work starts; this example is not a universal payment schedule.
Sources and further reading
Official documentation for the platform facts discussed in this guide. Business scenarios and recommendations are Canvo’s analysis.
Bring one process. We’ll map the next step.
Start with the input, the result your team needs and an exception that keeps coming back. Estimate the value, then check the assumptions with George.
12 months of support from acceptance covers defects in the agreed implementation and minor compatibility changes to existing integrations. Optional proactive care from A$490/month ex GST and further development are scoped separately. Third-party software, hosting and API costs are separate.