How to choose an ERP consulting firm on fees and scope

Hiring an ERP consulting firm starts with who pays them. For a 20 to 100 person company, pay an adviser yourself to choose the software, then hire a reseller or integrator to build it. ERP Research's US page lists fixed-fee selection at USD 15,000 to 75,000, and a focused selection of 8 to 16 weeks, last reviewed 23 July 2026. A firm that sells the licence should not score the shortlist. The rest of this page covers fee models, a 25-user licence bill in USD and CAD, and what to ask before you sign.

The expensive mistake at this size is treating a directory rank, a partnership badge, or a free workshop as proof that the firm will pick software the way you would. Payment decides the incentive. Hours, named people, and a written scope decide whether the fee is real.

How an ERP consulting firm gets paid

Three commercial models show up on almost every shortlist. They can sit inside one company, which is why the label on the website is a weak test.

A value-added reseller sells the licence and implements it, earning margin on both. A system integrator implements and integrates for delivery fees and does not have to resell the licence. An independent consultant advises and oversees, and does not sell software or bill implementation days. Those are the definitions ERP Research uses on a page last reviewed 12 August 2026. The same page says a firm that both advises on selection and can bid the implementation should be treated as a conflict. The safer pattern it describes is an independent party running the RFP while the reseller or integrator bids delivery like any other vendor.

ERP Research defines independence as a paid adviser with no reseller agreement, implementation contract, or commission arrangement with any ERP vendor, so the only revenue from the client is the fee. The page also states: "A firm that both advises on selection and bids for the implementation is not independent on that engagement, whatever it calls itself."

Vendor-paid work is easy to miss because the invoice you see is only half the story.

Microsoft's US Business Central pricing page tells buyers to "Contact a partner to purchase or to get an assessment, consulting services, or additional pricing." The same page says the prices shown may not be the checkout price. Ask each bidder to state in writing any reseller margin, referral fee, or commission they receive if you buy Business Central through them. A free assessment from the firm that also sells the licence is still a sales motion.

Odoo is more explicit about commission. Its partnership page states that official partners can earn up to 20 percent commission, that Odoo will not take a percentage of partner services, and that "Partners are free to set their services fees", which it calls the partner's main source of revenue. Odoo's pricing FAQ adds that companies under 50 employees usually work directly with Odoo using Success Packs, companies over 50 usually work with a partner for local project management, and companies over 250 should contact Odoo. Partners usually charge per day of consulting or development, and implementation services are not included in the subscription.

Delivery-paid work is the implementation invoice: hourly, daily, or a fixed project fee. Client-only advisory is the selection fee, the roadmap, or a monthly oversight retainer while someone else builds. A firm can be the right builder and the wrong referee. ERP Focus, updated 19 February 2026, puts the buyer-side version this way: "If yours isn’t getting a kickback from a particular vendor or software provider, then you may be more likely to get advice that has your best interests at heart." The same page notes that "without a revenue stream from a software partner, they may need to charge you a higher rate." A higher advisory rate can still be the cheaper way to choose.

ERP implementation for a 20 to 100 person company is the work we do after that choice is explicit: what is advice, what is delivery, and which phase is funded.

What publishers quote for fees as of 2026

There is no single hourly average worth using. Three publishers print three bands, and they disagree. Treat each figure as that publisher's range, as of the date on the page, and buy a deliverable with a cap.

• ERP Research, independent consultants, US, junior or associate (Figure as published: USD 100 to 150 per hour · Date on the page: Last reviewed 23 July 2026)
• ERP Research, independent, mid-level functional (Figure as published: USD 150 to 300 per hour · Date on the page: Last reviewed 23 July 2026)
• ERP Research, independent, senior or principal (Figure as published: USD 300 to 500 per hour · Date on the page: Last reviewed 23 July 2026)
• ERP Research directory, US hourly (Figure as published: USD 150 to 350 per hour · Date on the page: 2026 directory)
• ERP Research directory, day rates (Figure as published: USD 200 to over USD 1,000 · Date on the page: 2026 directory)
• ERP Research cost page, experienced North American consultants (Figure as published: USD 150 to 350 per hour · Date on the page: Last reviewed 21 September 2026)
• ERP Focus, enterprise software consultancy (Figure as published: USD 150 to 175 per hour · Date on the page: Updated 19 February 2026)

Sources for that table, in row order: independent consultant rates, the consulting firm directory, the implementation cost breakdown, and ERP Focus. ERP Focus says tier-one SAP and Oracle specialists sit at the upper end of its narrower band, and that a firm with no software-partner revenue may charge more. Do not average USD 150 to 175 with USD 300 to 500. They are different pages about different mixes of people.

The same independent-consultant page lists fixed commercial shapes that matter more than the hourly card for a company your size:

• Readiness or roadmap assessment: USD 8,000 to 30,000
• Fixed-fee selection (requirements, shortlist, scripted demos, RFP, recommendation): USD 15,000 to 75,000
• Monthly oversight retainer while an implementation partner delivers: USD 2,000 to 20,000 per month
• Full-program advisory: USD 30,000 to 2 million or more
• Travel: Billed at cost

Those ranges are on the independent consultant page. The VAR comparison gives typical engagement sizes of USD 50,000 to 2 million-plus for a VAR, USD 100,000 to 10 million-plus for a system integrator, and USD 15,000 to 500,000-plus for independent advisory. The directory says full projects run from about USD 50,000 for a single-site deployment to several million, and that it publishes no single average because context varies too widely.

Apply the hourly bands to a short block of work so the spread is visible. Assume 40 hours, one consultant for a week of advisory work.

1. At ERP Focus rates of USD 150 to 175, 40 hours is USD 6,000 to 7,000.
2. At the July 2026 mid-level band of USD 150 to 300, 40 hours is USD 6,000 to 12,000.
3. At the senior band of USD 300 to 500, 40 hours is USD 12,000 to 20,000.
4. Five days at an illustrative USD 1,000 day rate, inside the directory span of USD 200 to over USD 1,000, is USD 5,000 before travel. The same five days at the directory floor of USD 200 is USD 1,000. The USD 1,000 figure is an illustration inside that span, and the directory does not publish it as an endpoint.

Forty hours at USD 150 (USD 6,000) sits under the published readiness floor of USD 8,000. Forty hours at USD 300 (USD 12,000) sits inside USD 8,000 to 30,000. A fixed fee can exceed raw hours because it buys the written shortlist, the scores, and the recommendation, and covers the advisory firm's overhead for people who are not in the room. "The most common billing surprise is a principal-rate proposal delivered by an associate." Put the names and the rates in the same schedule.

Implementation services are a second budget. On the cost page last reviewed 21 September 2026, systems-integrator fees are typically 40 to 60 percent of implementation cost, and implementation services usually run 1x to 3x the first-year software fee. SMB implementations for 1 to 100 employees with simple processes are listed at USD 25,000 to 150,000. Microsoft Dynamics 365 implementations are listed at USD 50,000 to 500,000 over 4 to 12 months. Odoo implementations are listed at USD 10,000 to 100,000 over 2 to 6 months. All of those service figures exclude licence or subscription fees. If you run a professional services business and you are buying an ERP for that business, the same page puts professional-services industry implementations at USD 60,000 to 250,000. That is a software-project range for that industry. It is separate from what you pay an adviser to choose a product.

External PMO fees on that page are USD 5,000 to 20,000 per month. Mid-market data migration is USD 15,000 to 150,000 or more. Training and change management often get 5 to 10 percent of budget when the publisher says they should get 15 to 20 percent. Assume an implementation services budget of USD 100,000, which sits inside the SMB range and inside the Dynamics 365 range. Five percent is USD 5,000. Fifteen percent is USD 15,000. That gap is USD 10,000 of training time on the same services budget. Ask each bidder to price data migration as its own line, and to price the post-go-live support window as its own line, so those amounts cannot hide inside a single services total.

What a 25-user licence costs before any services fee

Software list price and the consulting fee answer different questions. Microsoft and Odoo publish the first. The firm publishes the second. Add them only after both are on paper.

Assume 25 users, all on Business Central Essentials, paid yearly. As of October 2026, Microsoft's US price is USD 80.00 per user per month. That is USD 2,000 per month, or USD 24,000 for the year. Microsoft's Canada price is CAD 108.50 per user per month, plus applicable tax. That is CAD 2,712.50 per month, or CAD 32,550 for the year, before tax.

Premium is USD 110.00 in the US and CAD 149.20 in Canada, on the same yearly basis. Twenty-five Premium users would be USD 33,000 a year in the US, or CAD 44,760 a year in Canada before tax. Team Members are USD 8.00 or CAD 10.90. Use those only for people whose real work fits that licence. Have the bidder show the role on your own users.

A second mix shows why a headcount of 25 is not yet a price. Assume 8 users need Essentials and 17 need Team Members.

• 25 Essentials (US list, paid yearly: USD 24,000 · Canada list, paid yearly, before tax: CAD 32,550)
• 8 Essentials and 17 Team Members (US list, paid yearly: USD 9,312 · Canada list, paid yearly, before tax: CAD 12,639.60)
• 25 Premium (US list, paid yearly: USD 33,000 · Canada list, paid yearly, before tax: CAD 44,760)

US amounts use Microsoft's US Business Central page. Canadian amounts use Microsoft's Canada page. Checkout can differ from the page. The 8-and-17 split is an assumption so you can see how the bill moves when most people sit on Team Members.

If a proposal prices Dynamics 365 Finance instead, the US Finance page lists Finance at USD 210.00 per user per month paid yearly, and Finance Premium at USD 300.00. Finance Premium includes 1,000 Copilot Credits per licence. Assume 10 finance users on that quote. Ten Finance licences are USD 25,200 a year. Ten Finance Premium licences are USD 36,000 a year. Ask why those users cannot sit on Business Central before you accept that jump. A Business Central rollout and a Finance rollout are different projects, different partner conversations, and different year-one bills.

The 1x to 3x services rule, applied only to the USD 24,000 Essentials year, is USD 24,000 to 72,000 of implementation services. The published Dynamics 365 services range starts at USD 50,000 and runs to USD 500,000. Both numbers can be true because one is a ratio to first-year software and the other is a project band across many scopes. Get a services price that excludes the licence, then add the licence the roles require.

Odoo subscriptions on the US pricing page, as of October 2026, show Standard plan figures of USD 31.10 and USD 38.90 per user per month, Custom plan figures of USD 61.00 and USD 76.20 per user per month, and a Light User at USD 8.90. A footnote says the discount is valid for 12 months for the initial users ordered. Hosting on Odoo.sh is extra. Assume 25 users on the lower Standard figure of USD 31.10: USD 777.50 per month, or USD 9,330 for a year, before hosting and before you interpret the second Standard figure. At USD 38.90 the same 25 users are USD 11,670 for a year. At the Custom figures they are USD 18,300 or USD 22,860 for a year. If you buy Odoo in Canada, take the CAD figures from the order form. The per-user amounts above are the figures on Odoo's US pricing page.

Odoo Success Packs are published hour caps. The new-customer prices below are already the first-pack prices with 15 percent off. Travel time and expenses are extra. Amounts are from the Success Packs page as of October 2026.

• Starter (Hours: 4 · New-customer first pack, already 15 percent off: USD 493 · Returning customer: USD 580)
• Basic (Hours: 25 · New-customer first pack, already 15 percent off: USD 3,060 · Returning customer: USD 3,600)
• Standard (Hours: 50 · New-customer first pack, already 15 percent off: USD 5,950 · Returning customer: USD 7,000)
• Custom (Hours: 100 · New-customer first pack, already 15 percent off: USD 10,625 · Returning customer: USD 12,500)
• Pro (Hours: 200 · New-customer first pack, already 15 percent off: USD 21,250 · Returning customer: USD 25,000)

Odoo says 80 percent of projects in the estimator's example scope go live in 200 hours or less. That sentence is about the estimator's example scope. A partner day-rate quote with no hour cap can pass USD 21,250 quickly. A 50-hour Standard pack at USD 5,950 sits under the USD 10,000 floor of the published Odoo implementation range because a pack is an hour bundle and the range is a project. Keep both figures in the comparison. For a company under 50 people, Odoo's own FAQ points at Success Packs with Odoo directly. Past 50 people, the usual path it describes is a partner who sets the day rate and can still earn licence commission. An Odoo implementation should show the pack, or the day rate, and the commission answer on the same page as the timeline.

What a paid discovery should hand you

A focused selection, on the independent-consultant page, typically runs 8 to 16 weeks: two to four weeks of requirements, four to six weeks of shortlisting and scripted demos, and the rest on references, commercial evaluation, and negotiation. Multi-entity selections often take six months or more. That clock covers selection. The build starts after the product is chosen. Dynamics 365 implementation timelines on the cost page run 4 to 12 months, and Odoo implementation timelines run 2 to 6 months, after the product is chosen. What an ERP consulting engagement looks like is the week-by-week view once you already know which firm is in which role.

Pay for discovery as its own fixed fee, in the USD 8,000 to 30,000 readiness band or the USD 15,000 to 75,000 selection band, before anyone is allowed to price the build. The documents you should own at the end are short enough to attach to a statement of work:

1. Current-state notes for order to cash, purchase to pay, inventory, and the monthly close, written so an operator can correct them.
2. A prioritized requirements list in your file, in your format, that you can hand to every bidder.
3. A shortlist scored on the same scripted scenarios, with the script attached.
4. A licence and services price comparison that keeps subscription, partner margin, implementation, data migration, training, travel, and the post-go-live window on separate lines.
5. Named consultants, the rate each one bills, and a substitution rule you have to approve in writing.
6. A written declaration of reseller, referral, and commission agreements with every product on the shortlist.

If a bidder will only start discovery after you name the product, you are in a sales cycle. That can be a fair way to buy implementation. It is a poor way to compare products. Keep the requirements and the scores when the discovery contract ends, even if you later hire that firm to build. Switching builders is painful when the only copy of the process notes lives in their workspace.

For the build itself, separate fixed-price phases from time-and-materials. Discovery, data migration, and custom code are the lines that blow up when they are buried in a single fixed number that was a guess. A fixed phase needs a named output and a change path. Time-and-materials needs a cap, a rate card by person, and a weekly burn you can read.

Questions that show who the firm works for

Ask these before the demo, while the proposal can still change. "The most common red flag is a reseller presenting itself as an independent adviser." You can hear that in the answers, if you ask plain questions.

1. "Do you earn any commission from the vendor on this deal?" Ask for reseller, referral, and commission relationships with every product you might buy, including introductions they call partnerships.
2. What share of your revenue on jobs like ours comes from implementation delivery, and what share comes from advisory fees the client pays?
3. Will you bid the implementation if you run this selection? If the answer is yes, they are a bidder. Score them with the other bidders.
4. Which named consultants will be on this engagement, and what else are they staffed on during the same weeks? Ask for the rate tied to each name.
5. Who approves a substitution, and what happens to the fee if a senior person is replaced by someone cheaper?
6. Which two clients of similar headcount went live in the last three years, and may we call them?
7. Describe one selection where you recommended against a product you sell or implement. If they have never done that, believe the incentive.

Partnership badges are a weak first filter. Odoo lists a Learning partnership fee of USD 990 and a Ready, Silver, and Gold fee of USD 3,950 on its partnership page, as of October 2026. A fee paid to a vendor tells you the firm joined a program. The tests that decide are the named people, the hours, the references, the phase plan, and who owns the configuration when the contract ends. ERP Research says its directory cross-checks listings against vendor partner records, and that featured listings are paying partners, and that payment affects placement. A firm can appear in the directory without paying for a featured slot. It counts 1,285 United States firms and 190 Canada firms in that directory, and only 24 firms tagged as independent selection advisers. Use the questions above on any firm that answers, featured or not.

What to listen for on reference calls

Call two references of similar size that went live in the last three years. Similar size means a headcount and a site count close to yours. A global logo on the first slide is a weak match for a 40-person company. Ask what went wrong, what the final invoice was against the first quote, and which person ran the weekly meeting.

Then ask the reference four operational questions about their week.

1. How many days did month-end take before go-live, and how many does it take now?
2. Which orders are still re-keyed, and which spreadsheet is still the stock list?
3. What did data migration cost as its own line, and what did you cut to stay inside it?
4. When the named lead was pulled onto another job, who showed up the next Monday, and did you approve that?

If the firm also sells a product, ask the reference whether any competing product was scored in writing. A clean reference still leaves you with contract work: a cap on substitutions, your ownership of requirements and evaluation notes, and a rate card that cannot be swapped in silence.

"The most common billing surprise is a principal-rate proposal delivered by an associate." Put a sentence in the order that names the people, the share of hours at each rate, and the approval you must give before a change. If they will not name people until after signature, the proposal is for an unnamed bench.

Which firm to hire at each stage

Match the firm to the decision in front of you. One company can hire two firms, on purpose.

• You have not chosen a product (Who should be paid: Client-paid adviser with no bid on the build · How they should be paid: Fixed fee in the readiness or selection band · What you should hold at the end: Requirements you own, scored shortlist, fee declaration)
• Product is chosen, you need a builder (Who should be paid: Reseller or integrator, competing if you can · How they should be paid: Fixed phases plus capped time-and-materials for data and custom code · What you should hold at the end: Statement of work, named team, licence quote separate from services)
• Build is underway and you want a check (Who should be paid: Oversight retainer from a firm other than the one billing the build · How they should be paid: USD 2,000 to 20,000 per month, scope written · What you should hold at the end: A monthly view of burn, scope changes, and open defects)
• You already bought Business Central through a partner (Who should be paid: That partner can implement · How they should be paid: Services quote, with the partner-purchase path made explicit · What you should hold at the end: Role-by-role licences and a phase plan)
• You are under 50 people and leaning to Odoo (Who should be paid: Odoo directly, via a Success Pack, unless local delivery is the point · How they should be paid: Published pack, travel extra · What you should hold at the end: Hour cap, named consultant, list of what the hours include)
• You are over 50 people and leaning to Odoo (Who should be paid: A partner, knowing the commission and the day rate · How they should be paid: Day rate or fixed phases you set · What you should hold at the end: Commission answer, hour or day cap, code and configuration ownership)

The retainer row uses the independent oversight range. The Odoo rows follow Odoo's pricing FAQ and the Success Pack price list. The Business Central row follows Microsoft's instruction to buy through a partner. External PMO at USD 5,000 to 20,000 per month is a different line from the oversight retainer. If both appear, ask which meetings each one attends so you do not buy the same status report twice.

How to choose an ERP implementation partner goes deeper on the builder: references, phase cuts, and the contract you sign once the product is already chosen. Use that when you are hiring delivery. Use this page when you are still deciding which kind of firm is allowed to influence the product.

Our target for a first usable phase is 8 to 12 weeks, using the Flectic Accelerated Delivery Framework, once the product and the first-phase scope are already agreed. A selection of 8 to 16 weeks sits in front of that phase when you have not chosen the software yet.

How to compare two proposals without averaging them

Lay the proposals on one sheet with the same rows. If a number is missing, leave the row blank until the bidder fills it. The wide published bands are context for that sheet.

1. Advisory fee, fixed, with the six discovery outputs listed above.
2. Declaration of reseller, referral, and commission relationships.
3. Licence or subscription by user type, at list, then any discount, with the source page and the date. For Business Central, start from USD 80 or CAD 108.50 for Essentials and show the checkout difference.
4. Implementation services, excluding licence, with timeline. Compare the quote with the published band that matches the product: USD 50,000 to 500,000 over 4 to 12 months for Dynamics 365, or USD 10,000 to 100,000 over 2 to 6 months for Odoo. A quote outside the band needs a written scope reason next to the number.
5. Data migration as its own line. If they refuse, you cannot compare them with a bidder who priced migration as its own line inside the published USD 15,000 to 150,000 span.
6. Training as a percent you can see. On a USD 100,000 services figure, decide whether you are buying the 5 percent habit or something closer to 15 percent.
7. Named people, rates, substitution rule, and the other jobs those people already hold.
8. Travel, taxes, hosting, and the support window after go-live.

When the sheet is full, hire the adviser first if the product is still open. Hire the builder when the scores are yours. A 30-minute call is enough to test whether a firm will fill the sheet or will ask you to pick from a catalog they already sell.

How Flectic can help

Flectic implements ERP on Odoo or Dynamics 365 for companies of 20 to 100 people in the US and Canada. Our ERP implementation service is led by a named senior consultant through five stages you approve. Each phase has a defined scope and price before it starts, and the first one delivers a working part of the system. The next step is to book a free discovery call with Flectic.

Sources

• Independent ERP Consultants: Rates and Hiring, ERP Research, July 2026.
• VAR vs System Integrator vs ERP Consultant, ERP Research, August 2026.
• ERP Consulting Firms Directory, ERP Research, October 2026.
• ERP Implementation Cost Breakdown 2026, ERP Research, September 2026.
• Budgeting for an ERP consultant, ERP Focus, February 2026.
• Dynamics 365 Business Central pricing (US), Microsoft, October 2026.
• Dynamics 365 Business Central pricing (Canada), Microsoft, October 2026.
• Dynamics 365 Finance pricing, Microsoft, October 2026.
• Odoo partnership program, Odoo, October 2026.
• Odoo Success Packs, Odoo, October 2026.
• Odoo pricing, Odoo, October 2026.