Adjust the inputs to match your organization. The number on the right is what you spend every year -- and what you have left on Day 0 of the next cycle.
Direct contractor spend / year
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Hours billed at your stated rate across all contractors and cycles
Overhead carry cost / year
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Recruiting, onboarding, management time at 40%
Total annual documentation spend
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What you actually pay each year to keep the lights on
Permanent infrastructure built
$0
No style guide. No process. No trained staff. Just a pile of documents and an open req.
Direct spend assumes 160 billable hours per month per contractor. Style guide cost formula based on industry-standard methodology: minimum two Level 3 technical writers at $45/hr for 90–100 days, for a mid-size asset library of 5,000–10,000 documents. Overhead defaults to 40%; enterprise reality often runs 45–55% and sometimes higher in regulated industries. Asset retained value assumes a standard contractor engagement with no framework mandate — documents delivered, no infrastructure built. These figures use direct labor cost only and exclude delayed project costs, rework costs, and opportunity costs from documentation gaps.
The 60-Day AI Fluency Engagement builds your documentation infrastructure, AI literacy program, and internal capacity — then exits. Fixed scope. Fixed price. You own everything on Day 61.