Why We Publish Our Price (2026)
The case for a public fixed price in a market that quotes on application. What price-on-application buys the seller, what it costs the buyer, and our…
Almost every firm in this market quotes on application, and we publish our number: the 90-Day Number is $17,850 plus GST, paid in three instalments of $5,950. Not “from” that figure, not “starting at”, not “typically in the region of”. That is the price, stated where anyone can read it before they ever speak to us. This essay is the case for doing that, in a market where the convention is to make you ask, and it explains what publishing a price forces on the firm that does it.
Published: July 2026
Price-on-application is not an accident of the professional-services market; it is a choice that benefits the seller in specific ways. The first is price discrimination: if the price is not published, the seller can quote different numbers to different buyers based on what each seems able to pay, charging the enterprise more than the startup for the same work. A published price forecloses that, which is precisely why sellers who rely on it keep their pricing behind a discovery call.
The second is anchoring room. A seller who controls when and how the price is revealed can build up the perceived value across several conversations before naming a number, so the figure lands against a carefully constructed sense of worth rather than cold. The discovery process is partly a value-building exercise designed to make the eventual price feel justified. Neither of these is illegitimate exactly, but both serve the seller, and it is worth being clear that price-on-application is a seller’s convention, not a buyer’s convenience.
What the convention buys the seller, it costs the buyer, mostly in time and asymmetry. To learn a single number, the buyer often has to sit through two or three discovery calls, each one a stage in the seller’s process rather than the buyer’s. The buyer wanted a price; they got a funnel. For a founder comparing providers, this is real expense: comparing three firms means nine or so calls just to reach the point where three published prices would have told them what they needed in three minutes.
There is an asymmetry cost too. The seller knows their price the whole time; the buyer discovers it only at the end, after investing the time that makes walking away feel wasteful. The process is structured so that by the time the number arrives, the buyer is committed enough that the number is harder to reject. Publishing the price removes all of that: the buyer knows the number first, decides whether it is in range before investing any time, and comes to a conversation as an equal rather than a prospect being worked through a sequence.
Publishing a price is not a marketing gesture; it forces real discipline on the firm that does it, which is the main reason most firms avoid it. A public fixed price forces scope discipline: we cannot publish $17,850 for an undefined amount of work, so the number compels us to define exactly what the deliverable is, where its edges are, and what is excluded, because otherwise the fixed price is a trap for us. The published price and the scoping method are two sides of the same discipline.
It also forces us to make the product worth the number, plainly. When the price is visible, it is judged directly against the deliverable, with no discovery process to build up the value first. The deliverable has to justify the number on its face, to a founder who is comparing it against alternatives with a clear figure in hand. That is a harder standard than price-on-application, where the value can be constructed conversationally, and meeting it keeps us honest about whether the deliverable is truly worth $17,850. The discipline the published price imposes on us is, not coincidentally, the discipline that makes the engagement good.
The standard objection is that complex financial work cannot be fixed-priced, because you cannot know in advance what it will take. This is true of open-ended work and false of a named deliverable. You cannot fix-price “ongoing CFO support”; you can absolutely fix-price a 13-week cashflow model delivered by a named date, because the deliverable is defined. The objection is really an argument for defining the work, not against pricing it. Once the deliverable is named, the fixed price is not only possible but honest, and the inability to fix-price is usually a sign that the work was never properly scoped.
For context, the common alternative in this market is an open-ended monthly retainer, which published industry figures put in the region of $3,000 to $8,000 a month, an arrangement whose total cost the buyer cannot know at the outset because it has no defined end. We are, as far as we can tell, one of the few project-based virtual CFOs in Australia pricing this way. The number, stated flat, is $17,850 plus GST, in three instalments of $5,950, for one named deliverable by day 90. It is published because a founder deciding how to spend that money deserves to know it before they spend an hour of their time finding out.
Why do most firms quote on application?
Because it benefits the seller. It enables price discrimination (quoting different buyers different numbers for the same work based on ability to pay) and anchoring room (building perceived value across several calls before naming a figure). Price-on-application is a seller’s convention, not a buyer’s convenience, which is why the pricing sits behind a discovery process rather than on the website.
What does quote-on-application cost me as a buyer?
Mostly time and asymmetry. Learning one number can take two or three discovery calls, so comparing three providers means around nine calls to reach what three published prices would tell you in minutes. And the seller knows their price throughout while you discover it only at the end, after investing enough time that walking away feels wasteful, which makes the number harder to reject.
What is your price?
The 90-Day Number is $17,850 plus GST, paid in three instalments of $5,950, for one named deliverable by day 90. Not “from” that figure or “starting at”, that is the price, published so you know it before speaking to us. If the deliverable is not worth that to your business, you should know before investing any time, which is exactly why it is public.
Doesn’t complex financial work need custom pricing?
Open-ended work does; a named deliverable does not. You cannot fix-price “ongoing support”, but you can fix-price a 13-week cashflow model delivered by a named date, because the deliverable is defined. The objection that complex work cannot be fixed-priced is really an argument for defining the work. Once the deliverable is named, a fixed price is both possible and honest.
How does publishing the price change what you deliver?
It forces scope discipline (we must define the deliverable, its edges, and its exclusions precisely, or the fixed price is a trap for us) and it forces the product to be worth the number on its face (with no discovery process to build up value first, the deliverable is judged directly against the figure). That discipline is harder than quote-on-application, and it is what makes the engagement good.
How does this compare to a retainer?
The common market alternative is an open-ended monthly retainer, which published figures put around $3,000 to $8,000 a month, and whose total cost you cannot know at the outset because it has no defined end. A fixed-price project names the price, scope, and date up front. We are one of the few project-based virtual CFOs in Australia pricing this way, which is why the number is published rather than quoted.
Sydney Virtual CFO is a Sydney-based virtual CFO service for founders running $2M to $15M businesses across SaaS, ecommerce, professional services, construction, and other low-volume, high-value industries. We deliver fixed-scope CFO engagements with a named deliverable on day 90: a 13-week cashflow forecast, a fundraise-ready financial model, a unit economics build, or a board reporting pack you can run on your own.
Our front-door product, the 90-Day Number, is fixed scope at $17,850 plus GST. We are one of the few project-based virtual CFOs in Australia, in a market built almost entirely on monthly retainers. No retainers without a deliverable. No 80-page reports. No theatre.
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This content is general information only, written for Australian founders running businesses in the $2M to $15M revenue range. It does not constitute tax, financial product, investment, or legal advice and should not be relied on as such. The work referenced is led by a Chartered Accountant (CA ANZ), but Sydney Virtual CFO is not a licensed tax agent, not a licensed financial adviser, and not authorised to provide personal financial advice. Tax obligations, accounting treatments, fundraise terms, and statutory requirements depend on your individual circumstances. For advice specific to your business, contact the team directly or consult a registered tax agent, licensed financial adviser, or qualified lawyer. Information was current at the time of publication and may change without notice. We review and update guides periodically.
