Compare Web and Advertising Estimates: Effort, Exclusions, and a Three-Year Cost Example
Shusaku Yosa
A lower estimate is not automatically cheaper when required migration or support is missing. A higher price does not establish higher quality either. First align scope, quantities, supplied inputs, acceptance checks, and recurring charges, then turn gaps into questions. Every price and effort figure in this article is fictional, not a market benchmark or a real supplier result.
Normalize scope and client-supplied work before price
The same “complete website” label can include different work: copy, photography, translation, data migration, forms, measurement checks, launch, and handover. Page count also conceals differences between reused layouts and individually designed screens.
Comparison area | Common basis | Question when unclear |
|---|---|---|
Pages and features | Inventory and individually designed items | Are the same 30 pages included? |
Supplied inputs | Copy, images, owner, due date | What happens if they arrive late? |
Migration | Volume, cleanup, URLs, reconciliation | Who performs and pays for it? |
Acceptance | Tests, environments, evidence | What is checked before delivery? |
Operations | Period, allowance, response conditions | What costs extra or changes at renewal? |
An exclusion is a comparison input, not automatically a defect. If your team will do the work, estimate its capacity; if another supplier will do it, include that cost. Do not assume an owner exists because an activity is necessary. Compare with agreed requirements. For unknown requirements, ask for assumptions, allowances, additional rates, and change handling without forcing every supplier into the same implementation.
Read quantities, rates, exclusions, and open questions
Read each line’s activity, quantity, unit, rate, subtotal, included checks, and exclusions. “Design: 10” needs a unit and scope. A lump sum can be suitable if its contents are explainable.
Fictional line | Quantity and rate | Subtotal JPY | Assumptions to check |
|---|---|---|---|
Individual layouts | 3 screens × 80,000 | 240,000 | Screens, revisions, file formats |
Copy formatting | 10 pages × 12,000 | 120,000 | Formatting scope, not new writing |
Migration | Lump sum 300,000 | 300,000 | Inventory, images, URLs, reconciliation |
These lines total 240,000 + 120,000 + 300,000 = JPY 660,000; they are not a full project estimate. Check discounts, overhead, tax treatment, minimum charges, and the unit used when quantities change. With quantities in B2:B3 and rates in C2:C3, =SUMPRODUCT(B2:B3,C2:C3) totals the first two lines at JPY 360,000. Add the migration lump sum separately after confirming it does not overlap.
See Microsoft’s SUMPRODUCT documentation for syntax. A function does not determine whether scopes are equivalent or prices are appropriate.
Separate person-month effort from staffing and duration
Person-months describe effort, not elapsed months. Confirm the working-day and working-hour assumptions used for conversion. Duration also depends on staffing, allocation, skill, and which activities can run in parallel.
For this example only, assume one person-month equals 20 person-days. Then 1.5 person-months × 20 = 30 person-days. If one person is allocated 50% and the work can proceed continuously with the same skill, a simple capacity calculation gives 30 ÷ 0.5 = 60 working days of elapsed allocation. Thirty person-days are not 30 calendar days, and the calculated 60 working days are not a committed delivery date.
Actual timing includes holidays, review waits, rework, specialist availability, and dependencies. Doubling headcount does not necessarily halve duration. Ask about the activities behind large effort lines, role allocations, required inputs, and completion conditions. For extra-work rates, check service hours, minimum orders, covered work, and review assumptions. A rate alone does not reveal expertise or responsibility.
Compare three-year costs on the same assumptions
This fictional comparison assumes the same required features, migration population, and support level for 36 months. Prices are tax-exclusive JPY. A quotes JPY 1.8 million initially, with JPY 300,000 migration added and JPY 60,000 monthly support. B includes migration in JPY 2.4 million and charges JPY 40,000 monthly. No price changes or additional revisions are included.
Item | Fictional A | Fictional B |
|---|---|---|
Initial quote | 1,800,000 | 2,400,000 |
Required migration addition | 300,000 | Included initially |
36-month operations | 60,000 × 36 = 2,160,000 | 40,000 × 36 = 1,440,000 |
External cash total | 4,260,000 | 3,840,000 |
Assumed internal effort value | 40 hours × 5,000 = 200,000 | 20 hours × 5,000 = 100,000 |
Cash plus effort comparison | 4,460,000 | 3,940,000 |
A’s external total = 1,800,000 + 300,000 + 60,000×36 = JPY 4,260,000. B’s = 2,400,000 + 40,000×36 = JPY 3,840,000. The cash difference is JPY 420,000. Valuing internal time provisionally at JPY 5,000 per hour produces comparison totals of JPY 4,460,000 and JPY 3,940,000, a JPY 520,000 difference.
Internal effort value is a decision assumption, not a supplier invoice or an immediate salary saving. Keep it separate from cash payments. A is lower initially and B is lower under this 36-month model, but that calculation does not establish B’s quality or suitability. Check contract length, cancellation, renewal, support coverage, data exit, extra revisions, and incident handling. Recalculate for shorter periods where useful; different duration or support scope can change the result.
Check the denominator behind advertising fees
For advertising fees, check the denominator as well as the percentage. A fee of 20% of media spend differs from 20% of the fee-inclusive total. The fictional total budget here is JPY 1,200,000 excluding tax, with no production costs or minimum fees. Twenty percent is an example input, not a general market rate.
Fee basis | Media JPY | Fee JPY | Total JPY |
|---|---|---|---|
20% of media spend | 1,000,000 | 200,000 | 1,200,000 |
20% of total budget | 960,000 | 240,000 | 1,200,000 |
On a media basis, media × 1.2 = 1,200,000, so media = 1,200,000 ÷ 1.2 = JPY 1,000,000 and the fee is JPY 200,000. On a total-budget basis, the fee = 1,200,000 × 0.2 = JPY 240,000 and media is JPY 960,000. Confirm the definition of media spend, tax, production, reporting, minimums, refunds, and unused balances. Equal invoice totals need not buy equal services or media exposure.
Resolve open items before selection and ordering
Finish the comparison with open items, required evidence, a respondent, and a date. Resolve unclear supplied work, differing support scope, and provisional migration allowances before ordering. An unknown price is not zero; show the unresolved portion of the total.
Record selection reasons across requirement fit, team, risk, operating burden, and price. Connect the selected quote version to ordered scope, acceptance conditions, and change rates. If additional work is requested, assess the difference from the agreed baseline and update cost and timing. Begin by normalizing migration, client-supplied work, and recurring charges in two current estimates. Being able to explain the difference lets you decide who will do the necessary work before negotiating price.
For the next step, use Purchase Order Management: A Filled Ledger for Commitments, Acceptance, and Payments; Requirements Document Template: Examples, Acceptance Criteria, and Change Log; Project Effort Management: Estimate, Track, and Review Actual Work.