Reading a property ERP quotation: what to ask before you sign

The licence fee is the number on the proposal. It is rarely the number that decides what the project costs.

Here are the questions worth asking before signing anything, and roughly what a straight answer sounds like.

"What does implementation include, and what is extra?"

Configuration, data migration and training are often quoted separately or not at all. A low licence fee with open-ended implementation is not cheap; it is unpriced.

A straight answer names what is included, what is billed by the day, and gives a range with the assumptions behind it.

"Who moves our existing data, and what happens to the mess?"

Every business has ten years of inconsistent records. Somebody must decide what happens to a customer who appears three times under slightly different names.

A straight answer says the cleaning is collaborative, gives you a template, and is honest that this is the part that usually slips.

"What happens to our data if we stop paying?"

Ask for the export format in writing. If it is a proprietary format or "available on request", that is a lock-in you have not priced.

A straight answer: your data is exportable at any time, in a standard format, including after termination.

"Which parts are configuration, and which need the vendor?"

If changing an approval threshold requires a support ticket, you will stop changing approval thresholds. The system will slowly stop matching how you work.

A straight answer distinguishes clearly: thresholds, workflows and templates are yours; new modules are ours.

"What is genuinely built today?"

Ask about specific things. Instalment plans with rescheduling. Multi-company consolidation. Whatever matters most to you.

A straight answer will include some noes. A proposal where everything you ask about already exists and works perfectly deserves more scepticism, not less.

"Who else like us is running it, and can we talk to them?"

Not a logo wall — a phone call with somebody whose business resembles yours.

The question they hope you skip

"What has gone wrong on other implementations?"

Every vendor has failed implementations. One who says otherwise is either new or not telling you the truth. What you want is a specific story with a specific cause — because that tells you what they have learned, and where your own project is most likely to struggle.