Nobody at that table is paid to tell you what this will actually cost. I am.
Your solution partner wrote that ERP proposal to protect their margin. That's their job. The assumptions, exclusions and rate-card language in it — and in the Statement of Work behind it — are doing quiet work, and the only person in the room reading it on your behalf is you.
What I want for you is what you wanted when you started this: live, on budget, right the first time — and a business that's better afterwards. Five days on that proposal is the cheapest way I know to make that the likely outcome instead of the hoped-for one.
Four things decide whether this goes right the first time.
Not a strategy review. A line-by-line cross-examination of the document on your desk — because everything that derails an implementation in month nine is already written in it, in month zero.
The fine print.
The assumptions and exclusions that quietly move work off their side of the line and onto your team — the work you'll do anyway, at your cost, whether or not anyone budgeted for it.
- Assumptions schedule, exhibit by exhibit — including documents attached by reference
- Client-obligation clauses: data cleansing, testing effort, backfill, SME hours
- Exclusion language that converts to a change order the week after go-live
The gap between what you asked for and what they sold.
Scored line by line against your requirements — so you can see exactly where standard software stops and custom code starts. That line is where implementations get expensive.
- Requirement-to-response mapping, with every “configurable” tested against the module
- Customization and extension count vs. clean-core upgrade cost over five years
- Report and dashboard scope — what's built, what's “available in the toolset”
What isn't in there at all.
The omissions are the expensive part, and they're invisible unless you've run the operation. The real-world business logic your organization actually depends on, the system boundaries, and the operational edge cases that keep an initial bid looking competitive.
- Core operational business logic — subledger math, revenue recognition, multi-entity rules, and custom workflows
- System boundaries and integration ownership — direction, middleware, payload frequency, and licensing
- Transition mechanics — cutover strategy, parallel running, legacy data cleanup, and period-close support
Whether the team they've assigned can actually deliver it.
A good proposal from a stretched delivery team is still a bad outcome. I look at who is contractually committed to your project, not who presented in the room.
- Named-resource commitments vs. “or equivalent” substitution rights
- Onshore/offshore ratio by phase, and who does your design work at 2am
- Track record in your industry at your size — and their right-first-time history
Worth being plain about, so nobody buys the wrong thing.
- Not a software selection or a vendor bake-off. If you've already chosen, good — that's when this is worth most.
- Not an implementation plan, a business case, or a requirements exercise.
- Not a legal review. I read commercial and technical risk; your counsel reads the contract.
- Not a negotiation on your behalf. I hand you the points; you keep the relationship.
One page you and your steering committee can act on.
Impact against probability, every finding tied to the exact clause it came from. Not a list of objections — a list of the things standing between this proposal and a right-first-time delivery, while they're all still cheap to fix.
Structural redlines, written in the language the contract needs — so your CFO walks back in with specifics, not concerns.
Every finding, every clause reference, every question I'd want answered in writing before signature.
Before you ask.
- Is the SOW Audit a full vendor selection or RFP process?
- No. The audit evaluates a single proposal and Statement of Work already on your desk before you sign.
- What is the turnaround time and cost for the ERP proposal audit?
- The audit is completed in five business days for a fixed fee of $7,500 CAD.
- Does Sandra Kirsch accept vendor referral or reseller fees?
- No. Sandra Kirsch accepts no commissions, no reseller fees, and no referral fees from any vendor or partner.
I take no commissions, no reseller fees, and no referral fees. From anyone.
Not because the vendors are dishonest — because everyone else at that table gets paid when the deal closes, and you deserve one voice that doesn't. I have no partner tier to protect and no software to resell. My fee is the whole of my interest in the outcome — and the outcome I'm paid to want is the only one that counts: it works, first time, and you come out further ahead than you went in.
No charge and no pitch — I'll tell you straight whether a full SOW audit is worth $7,500 to you.
Or send me the SOW directlyMost SOW audits end in one of two places — a decision, or a standing seat at the table.
A sounding board through the build
Client-side governance, vendor accountability, and an independent second opinion on your desk before you approve any change order or technical compromise.
The third chair, embedded
Fractional enterprise architecture leadership — taking ownership of client-side integration design, data topology, and vendor execution control.
Monthly, scoped to the cadence you need. We'd set that after the audit, not before.