ERP cost is the most-asked, least-answered question in business systems procurement. Vendors quote licences. Implementers quote services. Nobody volunteers the hidden costs. This worksheet adds them up, line by line, with realistic Australian ranges from real engagements.
The seven cost components
Software licensing (Year 1)
Users × monthly per-user cost × 12
Business Central Premium ~AUD $153/user/month. Dynamics 365 Finance from ~AUD $300/user/month. NetSuite ~AUD $150-$300/user/month depending on edition. SAP Business One ~AUD $130/user/month perpetual or subscription. Don’t forget Team Member or limited-access licences for non-power users.
Mid-market example: 120 users mixed (50 Premium, 70 Team) × blended $90 × 12 = AUD $129,600
Implementation services
Effort days × blended day rate
Australian mid-market ERP day rates: AUD $1,800–$2,800 for senior consultant, AUD $2,500–$4,000 for solution architect. Effort scales with users, entities, integrations, and industry complexity. Budget 30 to 60 days for small business, 80 to 250 days for mid-market, 300+ days for enterprise.
Mid-market example: 150 days × $2,400 blended = AUD $360,000
Data migration
Source systems × complexity factor × base cost
AUD $5,000 to $15,000 per source system for clean data with documented mappings. AUD $20,000+ per source if data quality is poor or schema is undocumented. Add 30 to 50 percent if multiple years of historical transactions need migrating.
Mid-market example: 3 sources, mixed quality: AUD $45,000
Integrations (per system)
Number of systems × integration complexity
AUD $10,000 to $40,000 per integration depending on whether the source system has a published API and whether real-time bidirectional sync is needed. CRM, banking, payroll, e-commerce, EDI all common. Integration is usually where mid-market projects exceed budget.
Mid-market example: CRM, banking, e-commerce, EDI: AUD $90,000
Training
User groups × training hours × rate
AUD $1,500 to $3,000 per training day. End users typically need 2 to 4 hours; super-users 1 to 2 days; admin team 3 to 5 days. Don’t skip the train-the-trainer step for larger rollouts.
Mid-market example: AUD $35,000
Hypercare and stabilisation
Weeks × consultant rate
Plan 4 to 8 weeks of post-go-live hypercare at 30 to 60 percent of full project capacity. Most cost overruns happen here when issues exceed expectations.
Mid-market example: 8 weeks × $25,000/week = AUD $200,000
First-year total ranges by company size
Small business (under 30 users)
Licensing: $30,000–$60,000 per year
Services: $60,000–$140,000
Timeline: 8–14 weeks
First-year total: AUD $90,000–$200,000
Mid-market (30–250 users)
Licensing: $80,000–$300,000 per year
Services: $200,000–$700,000
Timeline: 4–9 months
First-year total: AUD $280,000–$1,000,000+
Enterprise (250+ users, multi-entity)
Licensing: $300,000–$1,500,000 per year
Services: $800,000–$3,500,000
Timeline: 12–24 months
First-year total: AUD $1.1M–$5M+
Eight hidden costs to add to every quote
- Sandbox and storage licences beyond the base plan.
- ISV add-ons for industry capability not in the base platform.
- Licence true-ups when actual user count exceeds the original estimate.
- Additional integrations discovered after design (always at least one).
- Reporting and BI tooling beyond the basic ERP reports.
- Change-management investment when adoption stalls.
- Parallel-run period license cost (running old + new for 4–8 weeks).
- Annual platform price increases (typically 5–10 percent year on year).
How to use this worksheet
- Estimate each of the seven components using the formulas. Take the higher end of each range to start; you can negotiate down once you have quotes.
- Add the hidden-cost checklist to the bottom of any vendor quote. If they can’t answer how each is handled, that’s your scope risk.
- Multiply your year-1 services number by 1.5x to get a 3-year run-rate including hypercare and minor enhancements.
- Cross-check against the company-size band ranges. If your estimate is below the band, scope is probably missing.
Want this estimated against your actual environment? We’ll run a 90-minute scoping call and produce a written cost estimate with assumptions documented. Read the long-form ERP implementation cost guide or book an ERP scoping call.