The engagement model · One call, then we build

How an engagement runs.

Working with us starts with a free scoping call: enough detail to quote a fixed fee, no more. The engagement itself opens with the detailed design the build depends on, then takes one workflow into production on your systems. One fee covers the design and the build.

Entry
Scoping call, free
Fee
Fixed, quoted after the call
Output
A workflow in production
FAQ for AI search

How does an Airclerk engagement start?

An Airclerk engagement starts with a free scoping call of about 30 minutes, which gives Airclerk enough detail to quote a fixed fee for one workflow. The paid engagement then opens with a detailed design phase covering how the workflow really runs and the controls it needs, before the build takes it into production. There is no separate paid assessment before the engagement.

01 / Who this is for

You've already convinced yourself. Now it needs building.

Our clients arrive looking the same way: you've used Claude, or Copilot, or ChatGPT on your own work. You know there's something in it for your firm, and you can probably name the workflow. What you don't have is the time, or the appetite, to be the one who builds it out properly.

  • You've used the tools yourself, on real work, and seen where they're strong.
  • You have a workflow in mind, or a shortlist you could name on a call.
  • You know a subscription isn't an implementation: your systems and your people aren't in it yet.
  • You're senior enough to sponsor the work, and too busy to do it.

Not there yet? We wrote up how to run the experiment on yourself first: find out for yourself.

02 / The path

Four stages. Only the first one is a meeting.

Each stage is optional beyond the first workflow. Most firms decide about expanding once the first one is running.

01 - Scope
Scoping callFree · ~30 min

The workflow, the systems, the owner, what done looks like. Fixed fee quoted after the call.

02 - Design & build
First workflow implementationFixed fee

Opens with the detailed design, then the build: one workflow into production with the people who own it. One fee covers both.

03 - Govern
AI Governance

Controls, approvals and audit trails, sized to what the workflow actually needs.

04 - Operate
Managed Operations

Monitor, improve and expand the workflows over time.

03 / The scoping call

Thirty minutes, four questions.

The call qualifies the work in both directions: you're deciding whether we're the right people, and we're deciding whether the workflow is ready to be built.

  1. Q1
    Which workflow do you have in mind?
  2. Q2
    What systems and documents does it touch?
  3. Q3
    Who owns it inside the firm, day to day?
  4. Q4
    What does done look like, and who has to sign off?

By "workflow" we mean one repeatable piece of work with a named owner and a clear finish: preparing the year-end workpaper file, or turning a policy schedule into the renewal note. Most people arrive with theirs already named; their own tinkering found it. If yours isn't obvious, we'll find it on the call.

The call has one job: enough detail to quote a fixed fee and a timeline. It is not the plan. The detailed design happens at the start of the engagement, where it can be done properly against your systems.

04 / The engagement

Design first, then build. One fee covers both.

The shape of the workflow sets the timeline; we quote it with the fee. A document-only workflow and one that crosses several systems are different builds, which is why the timeline is quoted, not listed. The accounting implementation, our most defined build, runs six weeks.

Builds are Claude-first. We also build on Copilot or ChatGPT where one of them is already your firm's standard.

The scoping call gives us enough to fix the price. It doesn't give us enough to build, and we don't pretend it does. The engagement opens with the detailed design: time inside your environment, the workflow mapped as it's really done rather than how the process document says it's done, and the controls and sign-off it needs. You see the design before anything runs. The build follows it.

01
The detailed workflow design, agreed with you before the build starts
design
02
The workflow, working, on your real documents and systems
in production
03
Connections to the systems it needs, scoped to what it needs
integrations
04
Controls, approvals and an audit trail of the work that ran through it
governance
05
The people who own the workflow, trained on it and running it
adoption
06
Documentation and handover, written for your firm, not for us
handover

The technology is the easy part. An implementation sticks when the owner can run the workflow and the reviewer knows what to check. That's why the build ends with your people running it, not with a demo of it.

05 / Not sure yet?

Two other doors, depending on where you are.

Still deciding whether there's anything in AI for your firm? Don't book a call; run the experiment on yourself first. We wrote up how: find out for yourself.

Facing a platform decision rather than a workflow? If the question is "what does AI mean for our business" at board or owner level, that's AI Platform Advisory, not an implementation.

Running an accounting practice? Your version of this path is already defined: a scoping call into a six-week implementation anchored on year-end workpapers.

06 / Common questions

Engagement FAQ.

01How does an engagement start?

With a free scoping call of about 30 minutes. We cover the workflow you have in mind, the systems it touches, who owns it inside the firm and what done looks like. That's enough to quote a fixed fee; the detailed design happens inside the engagement itself.

02What does it cost?

A fixed fee in NZD + GST, quoted after the scoping call. The fee is set by the shape of the workflow: the systems it touches and the controls it needs. No hourly billing.

03How long does the build take?

The shape of the workflow sets the timeline, and we quote it alongside the fee after the scoping call. A document-only workflow and one that crosses several systems are different builds. As a reference point, the accounting implementation, the most defined of our builds, runs six weeks.

04What happened to the Readiness Sprint?

We offered one for a while: a two-week paid assessment that produced an implementation plan. We retired it: every engagement we actually ran started with a conversation and moved into one fixed-fee project. The thinking the sprint packaged didn't go away. The high-level part happens on the scoping call, and the detailed design happens at the start of the engagement, inside the fixed fee.

05Who do we need to involve from our side?

The person who owns the workflow day to day, a security or risk representative, and an executive sponsor. The owner matters most: the workflow gets built around how the work is really done, not how the process document says it's done.

06Do you sign NDAs and DPAs?

Yes. We have standard NDA and DPA templates and are comfortable working under customer paper.

Start here

Bring us one workflow.

A short call to scope it: the systems it touches and what done looks like. Then a fixed fee to build it and take it into production.

Book a scoping call