Fixed price software development
What fixed price development means for you
You approve the cost before work starts
With fixed price development, there are no open invoices at the end of a task. Once you approve a quote, the price is set. If the work takes us longer than expected internally, that is our responsibility, not yours.
What it means: Budget certainty on every design and development task, from a single change request to a full project.
What it is not: A blanket arrangement for all activity. Meetings, emergency support, discovery work, and ongoing maintenance remain on an hourly basis because the effort for those cannot be defined in advance.
Scoping is where the work begins
A fixed price is only reliable when the scope is clear. Before we price any task, we document what is included, what is excluded, what we are assuming, and what the acceptance criteria are.
For larger projects, this also covers performance expectations, third-party dependencies, deployment process, and sign-off responsibilities. The quote you receive reflects all of this.
What it means: No gaps between what you approved and what we deliver.
What it is not: A rushed estimate. If a project is too technically uncertain to price responsibly, we will say so before any work begins.
How a fixed price task works
For new design and development task
- Submit your request – You describe what you need, either through your project manager or directly via our task management system.
- We scope the work – We document the deliverable, assumptions, acceptance criteria, and any dependencies.
- You receive a fixed price quote – The quote shows the cost for the agreed scope. Internal hours are not shown.
- You approve – Work begins only after you confirm the quote.
- We deliver – The completed work is made available for your review on a staging environment, or deployed directly to your live site.
- Task closed and billed – Once the agreed deliverable is ready, the task is complete and billed at the approved price.
For change requests on existing projects
- You request a change – Any addition or modification outside the original agreed scope is treated as a new task.
- We scope and price it – Each change request receives its own fixed price before work proceeds.
- You approve – As with new tasks, work starts only after approval.
- We deliver and close – The change is completed, reviewed, and billed at the approved price.
What stays on hourly billing
Fixed price is the right model for defined, scoped tasks. Some work is genuinely open-ended, and pricing it in advance would not be fair to either side.
The following activities remain hourly:
Client meetings, strategy sessions, and consultations
Emergency support, where responding quickly matters more than a scoping process
Discovery, estimation, and troubleshooting done before a scope can be defined
Ongoing maintenance, including security updates, CMS updates, and plugin or module updates
For emergency support, we act first and bill by time used. You are never waiting on an approval process when something needs to be fixed.
Why we moved to fixed price
Budget certainty for every task
Under hourly billing, the final cost depends on how long the work takes. You approve work without knowing the exact invoice. Under fixed price, you know the cost before a single line of code is written or a design file is opened.
Changes stay controlled
Any request outside the agreed scope is quoted as a separate fixed price task before work proceeds. This means your project does not quietly grow in cost as new ideas get added mid-delivery. Every addition is visible, priced, and approved by you first.
Better scoping discipline
Fixed price only works when scope is clear. That discipline benefits you directly: clearer deliverables, documented assumptions, and defined acceptance criteria on every task.
More accurate pricing through experience and AI
We use an internally developed estimation system that draws on data from years of completed projects. AI tools also support parts of our development and review process. The 1902 Software team remains responsible for architecture, quality, security, and delivery. The benefit of more consistent delivery passes to you through pricing you can rely on.
Ready to discuss your project?
Whether you have a new project or an ongoing development need, we are happy to talk through the scope and put a fixed price quote together.
Commonly asked questions
Does fixed price apply to all work at 1902 Software?
No. Fixed price is the default for clearly scoped design and development tasks. Meetings, emergency support, discovery work, and ongoing maintenance remain hourly because the effort for those activities cannot be defined in advance.
What happens if the work takes longer than expected?
If the work takes longer internally than we estimated, that is our responsibility. The price you approved does not change unless the scope changes.
What happens if I need something extra after I approve a quote?
Any request that falls outside the agreed scope is treated as a new fixed price task. We scope it, price it, and send it for your approval before any additional work begins.
How detailed does the scope need to be before you can give a fixed price?
Detailed enough that we can define what is included, what is excluded, what we are assuming, and what done looks like. For straightforward tasks, that can happen quickly. For complex projects, it may require a discovery conversation first, which we handle separately before pricing the development work.
What if a project is too uncertain to price?
If a project carries too much technical uncertainty to price responsibly, we will say so. In those cases, we discuss whether discovery work can reduce the uncertainty enough to proceed with a fixed price, or whether an alternative arrangement is more appropriate.
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