Honest engagement models, fair pricing, no surprise retainers.
Every engagement is fixed-scope, milestone-priced, and documented. You always know what you are paying for and what you are getting. No open-ended hourly meters. No hidden surcharges at renewal. No IP hostage. The named tiers below describe the three shapes our software engagements actually take, the three shapes our licensing arrangements actually take, and the one shape an applied-AI engagement actually takes. Exact pricing for your situation is a conversation, but the ranges and what is included in each tier are not.
Custom software engagements — three tiers
We build operational software for business owners. Every build is fixed-scope, properly documented, IP-assigned at completion, and delivered with a 60-day support window. The right tier depends on how much we are building, how integrated it needs to be, and whether we are operating it after delivery.
Starter custom build
For a single, well-scoped operational tool that solves one bottleneck. Common shape: a multi-entity dashboard, a document vault, a workflow automation, an internal CRM. One job, done well.
- Scope
- One operational tool, one integration boundary
- Timeline
- 6–10 weeks
- Team
- Lead engineer + applied-AI specialist
- Pricing
- Low five figures, fixed
- Support
- 60 days post-delivery
- Fixed scope & price, milestone billing
- Full documentation & IP assignment
- Deploys to your infrastructure
- Defect-fix window included
Standard engagement
For a multi-component operational system — accounting integration, document intelligence, CRM, automation flows, AI-augmented workflows. Most of our software engagements live here.
- Scope
- Multi-component system, several integrations
- Timeline
- 3–6 months
- Team
- 2–3 engineers + applied-AI specialist
- Pricing
- Mid five to low six figures, fixed
- Support
- 60 days post-delivery, extendable
- Discovery phase before SOW signing
- Milestone billing across 3–5 stages
- AMG IP components licensed in cleanly
- Optional managed hosting after delivery
- Written acceptance criteria for every milestone
Strategic partnership
For platform clients embedding AMG components, multi-year operational systems for fund and federal-contractor clients, or co-developed product work with a software vendor partner.
- Scope
- Multi-system or platform-level engagement
- Timeline
- 6–18 months, phased
- Team
- Dedicated engineering pod
- Pricing
- Six figures and up, structured
- Support
- Ongoing SLA, separately scoped
- Master agreement + phased SOWs
- Joint roadmap planning quarterly
- AMG IP licensed under master terms
- Optional exclusivity by field of use
- Operated by AMG or transitioned to client team
Licensing arrangements — three shapes
We license proprietary financial-software IP — personal finance, technical indicators, portfolio management, accounting, and private fund management — to platforms, funds, and software vendors. License pricing depends on the component, the field of use, and exclusivity. A license sheet is provided up front so renewals are never a surprise.
Single-component license
For a platform or fund that wants one specific component — a reconciliation engine, a portfolio rollup engine, an indicator library, a document intelligence pipeline.
- Form
- Source license, embedded library, or hosted service
- Exclusivity
- Non-exclusive by default
- Term
- Annual, auto-renewing
- Pricing
- Annual fee + optional usage royalty
- Integration
- Typically 2–6 weeks
- Clean grant of use under written terms
- Documentation & integration support
- Versioned updates over license term
- Field-of-use boundaries documented
Multi-component bundle
For a platform building a broader category — e.g. a fintech vendor licensing personal finance + multi-entity consolidation + document intelligence as a bundle, or a fund licensing portfolio + reconciliation + reporting components together.
- Form
- Bundle license under master agreement
- Exclusivity
- Non-exclusive or field-restricted
- Term
- Multi-year, with renewal mechanics
- Pricing
- Negotiated package rate, volume discount
- Integration
- 4–10 weeks, parallel components
- Joint integration plan
- Priority access to component updates
- Optional component-level customization
- Quarterly roadmap visibility
Exclusive / white-label
For a platform or fund that wants exclusivity in a specific field of use, or wants to ship a component under their own brand. Negotiated individually — typically an up-front exclusivity fee plus ongoing royalties.
- Form
- White-label or branded redistribution
- Exclusivity
- By field of use, geography, or vertical
- Term
- Negotiated, with exclusivity protections
- Pricing
- Up-front + royalty, six figures and up
- Integration
- 6–12 weeks, joint engineering
- Brand & UI customization rights
- Exclusivity in a defined field of use
- Joint engineering during integration
- Royalty audit rights both ways
Applied AI engagement — one shape, the right one
Applied-AI engagements run on a single methodology. There is no "small AI build" and "big AI build" — there is one disciplined loop, and the engagement size depends on how many tasks you put through it. The first one is the test of fit.
Applied AI engagement
Pick the task that eats your week. Measure it today. Build the smallest thing that automates it. Measure again. Iterate. Repeat with the next task. The methodology is the product — the actual deliverable is whatever shape AI takes inside your specific workflow.
- Phase 1
- Task selection & baseline (1–2 weeks)
- Phase 2
- Build the smallest useful thing (3–6 weeks)
- Phase 3
- Measure, iterate, document (2–4 weeks)
- Phase 4
- Hand off or extend to next task
- Pricing
- Fixed per phase, from low five figures up
- Outcome metric written down before build starts
- Humans in the loop where judgment matters
- Real evaluation, not vibes — test set + accuracy targets
- Your data, your model where it matters
- Honest about where the system can fail
- Extendable to next task once the loop works
The methodology, in plain words
Every applied-AI engagement we run follows the same five-step loop. The reason most "AI transformations" fail is that nobody wrote the number down at step 2. We start there.
- Pick the worst task. The one that eats your week.
- Measure it today — hours, errors, cycle days. Write it down.
- Build the smallest possible thing that automates that task
- Measure again on the same metric. Did the number move?
- If yes, pick the next task. If no, fix what is wrong before piling on more.
The same loop, run with discipline, is every multi-million-dollar AI program you have ever read about in a McKinsey deck. The discipline is the value. The AI is the tool.
What every AMG engagement includes
Independent of tier, the following are standard on every software, licensing, and applied-AI engagement we sign. These are not upsells. They are how we do business.
Written scope & acceptance criteria
Every milestone has written acceptance criteria, agreed before work begins. You know what "done" looks like, in writing, before we start.
Full versioning & source control
Every line of code lives in a versioned repository. Tagged releases. Documented commit history. The codebase is auditable on day one and on year five.
Written documentation
Architecture overview, runbooks, integration docs, data-handling posture, and a plain-English operator manual. Documentation is part of the deliverable, not a follow-up.
60-day post-delivery support
Defect-fix window included on every software engagement. We make the deliverable work in your environment after delivery, not just on our machines.
Clean IP assignment
For custom builds, your-owned IP is assigned to you in writing at completion. For AMG-licensed components, the license terms are documented up front. No grey area, no IP hostage.
Measurable outcomes
Every engagement defines a measurable outcome before kickoff — cycle days, manual hours, accuracy, error rate. We track it and report it. "It works in the demo" is not acceptance.
The things we refuse to do, on purpose.
A short list. We have lost engagements because of it. We are fine with that — these are the things that produce bad outcomes for clients, even when they want them, and we would rather pass than over-promise.
No open-ended retainers
We do not bill an hourly meter against a fuzzy scope. Every engagement is fixed-scope and milestone-priced. If scope changes, we issue a written change order. You always know what you are paying for.
No hidden surcharges at renewal
License sheets are provided up front. Renewal pricing is documented. We do not surprise clients with a 40% increase on year two because they are locked in. If renewal pricing changes, we tell you before you sign year one.
No IP hostage
For client-owned builds, IP is assigned to you at completion. If you stop working with us tomorrow, the codebase, the documentation, and the IP are yours. We do not hold deliverables hostage to a continuing retainer.
No demo-only AI
We do not ship AI features that work in the demo and fail in production. Every AI component has a test set, a measured accuracy target, and ongoing monitoring. If we cannot hit the target, we do not ship.
No engagements outside our six categories
We say yes to the operator profiles we know — independent owners, multi-entity, property management, federal contractors, funds, platforms. We refer everything else to specialists who actually live in the category. Better outcome for everyone.
No vendor lock for lock's sake
We do not architect for vendor lock. Where there is a reasonable open alternative — open file formats, standard APIs, exportable data — we use it. If you ever need to leave AMG, you leave with the deliverable in usable shape.
Common questions about engagement & pricing
How does AMG price custom software engagements?
Every software engagement is fixed-scope and milestone-priced. We define the deliverable, the acceptance criteria, the support window, and the price up front. No hourly billing surprises, no open-ended retainers. Starter custom builds typically begin in the low five figures. Standard engagements range from mid-five to low-six figures. Strategic partnerships are six figures and up, depending on scope and exclusivity.
How does IP licensing pricing work?
License pricing depends on three things: the component, the field of use, and exclusivity. Single-component non-exclusive licenses typically run on annual fees plus optional usage-based royalties. Multi-component bundles are negotiated package rates with volume discounts. Exclusive and white-label arrangements are negotiated individually with up-front fees plus ongoing royalties. We provide a license sheet up front so there are no surprises on renewal.
Do I own the software AMG builds for me?
Yes — for custom software engagements, you own the deliverable. We assign the IP cleanly at project completion. Where we use AMG's pre-existing licensed IP components inside your build (e.g. our reconciliation engine, our document intelligence components), those components are licensed to you under documented terms and remain AMG IP. The split is documented up front. No IP hostage, no IP grey area.
Do you offer hourly billing?
No. We do not offer open-ended hourly billing. Every engagement is scoped, milestoned, and fixed-priced. If scope changes mid-engagement, we issue a written change order with a new price. The goal is that you always know what you are paying for and what you are getting.
What are payment terms?
Software engagements are typically billed in three to five milestone payments — a kickoff deposit (usually 25–35%), interim milestones, and a final payment on delivery and acceptance. License fees are billed annually in advance, or as agreed in the license sheet. Net-30 on all invoices. We accept ACH, wire, and check.
What is included in a software engagement?
Every software engagement includes: a fully versioned codebase, written acceptance criteria, written documentation, deployment runbooks, a 60-day post-delivery support window for defect fixes, and a written IP assignment for client-owned components. Optional add-ons include extended support, managed hosting, ongoing feature development on retainer (against a defined backlog), and AMG-operated SLAs.
Do you handle hosting and operations?
Yes — optionally. We deliver the software to your infrastructure by default, but we can also operate it under a separately-scoped managed-hosting agreement. For applied-AI engagements that involve sensitive data, we will often recommend running the models on infrastructure you control. We tell you the data-handling posture up front, in writing.
How quickly can you start?
Typical engagement timelines: discovery and scoping is two to four weeks from first contact. Build starts immediately after a signed SOW and kickoff deposit. Starter engagements deliver in 6–10 weeks. Standard engagements run 3–6 months. Strategic partnerships are 6–18 months. License integrations are typically 2–6 weeks of integration work.
What happens at the end of an engagement?
On delivery and acceptance, you receive the deliverable, the documentation, and the IP assignment. The 60-day support window starts. After that, you can extend support, engage on a new fixed-scope project, or operate the software independently. We do not require a continuing retainer to keep the software working. That is not how we do business.
Can you work alongside our existing CPA, agency, or development team?
Yes — most of our engagements work alongside an existing CPA, bookkeeper, internal IT, or agency. We are explicit about who owns what in writing, integrate with whatever stack is already deployed (QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite, internal systems), and hand off cleanly when our scope is done. We do not try to displace your existing team. Most clients find their existing team becomes more useful, not less, after we apply AI properly.
Ready to scope an engagement?
Send a short note describing the problem you are solving, the work that fills your week, or the component you would like to license. We respond to qualified inquiries within a few business days with a candid first-pass scope and tier recommendation.