Document processing · Micro business (under 10 staff) · Professional services
Document processing automation for a two-person bookkeeping business
Automated reading of client receipts and invoices for a two-person bookkeeping business: fields extracted, checked and passed into its existing system, with people reviewing the uncertain cases. An off-the-shelf extraction service does most of the work at this size.
Illustrative cost
£3,500 to £12,000 ex VAT
- Typical
- £6,500
- Duration
- About 7 weeks
- Effort
- 8 to 15.5 days
Illustrative estimate, not a quote. Real prices vary.
Worked out from UK freelance contractor day rates in job adverts, with no consultancy or agency margin added. Consultancies and agencies usually charge more.
Source: IT Jobs Watch. Rates read on ; costs computed on .
What is included
- Analysis of sample documents and the current process
- An extraction pipeline using a document AI service or language model
- Validation rules and a human review queue
- Integration with one target system
- Testing on real samples
Deliverables
- A working extraction pipeline
- A review queue
- Accuracy report
- Operating guide
Assumptions
- At least 200 representative sample documents
- The target system has an API or import
- Service usage fees are paid by the client
Not included
- Process redesign beyond the document step
- Archive back-scanning
- Usage fees
Project plan
Phases run one after another, about 7 weeks in all.
| Phase | Weeks | Main tasks |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery and samples | 1 | Map the process; Collect and label samples; Define fields and rules |
| Extraction build | 2 | Configure extraction; Validation rules; Confidence thresholds |
| Integration | 2 | Connect the target system; Review queue |
| Testing | 1 | Accuracy testing on held-out samples; User acceptance |
| Go-live | 1 | Cut-over; Training; Early-life support |
Who does the work
Person-days per role in each phase, low and high effort.
| Phase | Role | Days (low to high) |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery and samples | Business analyst | 1 to 1.5 days |
| Extraction build | AI engineer | 3 to 5 days |
| Extraction build | Data scientist | 0.5 to 1.5 days |
| Integration | AI engineer | 1.5 to 3 days |
| Integration | Cloud engineer | 0.5 to 1 day |
| Testing | Test engineer | 1 to 2 days |
| Go-live | Project manager | 0.5 to 1.5 days |
How the cost adds up
| Role | Low (days × 25th percentile) | Typical (days × median) | High (days × 90th percentile) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business analyst | 1 × £425 = £425 | 1.25 × £500 = £625 | 1.5 × £662 = £993 |
| AI engineer | 4.5 × £488 = £2,196 | 6.25 × £589 = £3,681 | 8 × £863 = £6,904 |
| Data scientist | 0.5 × £481 = £241 | 1 × £600 = £600 | 1.5 × £788 = £1,182 |
| Cloud engineer | 0.5 × £428 = £214 | 0.75 × £513 = £385 | 1 × £675 = £675 |
| Test engineer | 1 × £350 = £350 | 1.5 × £438 = £657 | 2 × £588 = £1,176 |
| Project manager | 0.5 × £451 = £226 | 1 × £540 = £540 | 1.5 × £714 = £1,071 |
| Total, rounded | £3,500 | £6,500 | £12,000 |
How these estimates are worked out
Effort: for each phase we estimate how many days each role works, as a low and a high case. These are our estimates for a typical project of this kind, not measured data.
Rates: each role's daily rate comes from UK contract job adverts over the last six months, as published by IT Jobs Watch. These are freelance contractor rates as advertised, not what was paid, and not what a consultancy or agency charges.
Low end: the low-effort days at each role's 25th-percentile rate. We use the 25th percentile, not the 10th, because the lowest effort at the cheapest rates gives a floor few buyers would ever meet.
Typical: the mid-point between low and high effort, at each role's median rate.
High end: the high-effort days at each role's 90th-percentile rate.
Totals are rounded to the nearest £500 below £10,000 and the nearest £1,000 above, and exclude VAT. Phases run one after another.
Not included:
- Software licences, model and hosting fees
- Travel and expenses
- Your own staff's time
- A consultancy's or agency's margin, overheads and risk
Real prices vary with the supplier, the state of your data and systems, how much of the work your own team does, where the work happens and how much risk the supplier carries. Consultancies and agencies usually charge more than these contractor rates, and a fixed price usually costs more than time and materials because the supplier takes the risk.
Sources
Source: IT Jobs Watch: UK contract job adverts quoting a daily rate, 6 months to 15 November 2026. Each role's page was read on . Published under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
| Role | IT Jobs Watch page | Rates quoted | 25th percentile | Median | 90th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business analyst | Business Analyst | 1,394 | £425 | £500 | £662 |
| AI engineer | Artificial Intelligence Engineer | 384 | £488 | £589 | £863 |
| Data scientist | Data Scientist | 201 | £481 | £600 | £788 |
| Cloud engineer | Cloud Engineer | 513 | £428 | £513 | £675 |
| Test engineer | Test Engineer | 245 | £350 | £438 | £588 |
| Project manager | Project Manager | 1,226 | £451 | £540 | £714 |