Decode Your Investment

It happens. If the scope needs to expand — say, we discover during a Banking Relationship Audit that your covenant structure needs urgent attention, or a credit facility renewal accelerates unexpectedly — we pause, discuss the change with you, and issue an amendment to the letter of engagement with the revised fee before proceeding. No surprise invoices. No "we'll figure it out later." The amended scope and fee are documented in writing, and you approve before a single additional hour of work begins. In our experience, scope amendments occur in roughly 15% of engagements, and the conversation is always straightforward.

Standard terms are 50% at engagement start, 50% on deliverable completion. For larger engagements (over $50,000), we can structure milestone-based billing — say, 40% at start, 30% at interim deliverable, 30% at completion. For our ongoing covenant monitoring retainers, billing is quarterly in advance. We're flexible on payment structure — just not on the total fee. The number in the letter of engagement is the number you pay.

Complexity. A single-bank relationship audit for a $10M company with one operating location is simpler than a multi-institution audit for a $200M company with international operations, syndicated facilities, and complex intercompany cash flows. The number of banking relationships, credit facilities, operating locations, entity structures, and regulatory considerations all factor in. We assess complexity during the scoping call and explain exactly what drives the fee — line by line if you want. There are no hidden variables. If you're a straightforward engagement, you'll pay a straightforward fee near the lower end of the range.

Because success fees create a perverse incentive to inflate the "savings identified" number. If our fee goes up when the savings number goes up, we have a reason to present aggressive estimates rather than honest ones. We want zero daylight between what we report and what's actually recoverable. Fixed fees keep us honest. When we told Ridgepoint Agri-Foods their facility renegotiation recovered $600,000+ in value, that was the conservative, documented figure — not an inflated projection designed to maximize our invoice. Our methodology section explains why we believe this approach builds more trust and better long-term client relationships.

In roughly 80% of our engagements, we find at least one area where the client is paying materially more than market. In the rare case where we conduct a full audit and your banking arrangements are already well-optimized, the deliverable still has value — you now have an independent verification, a benchmarked baseline, and documentation your board or investors can reference with confidence. That said, we'll be direct during the scoping call if we suspect the opportunity is limited. We've talked prospects out of engaging us when the preliminary indicators suggested their banking was already reasonably well-structured. Honesty at the scoping stage is cheaper for everyone.

Absolutely — about 30% of our clients start with fee benchmarking (3–4 weeks, $15,000–$35,000) and then move to a full Banking Relationship Audit or credit facility advisory after seeing initial results. No commitment to a multi-month engagement upfront. Prove the value, then expand. Similarly, growth-stage companies often start with the Banking Foundations program ($15,000–$25,000) and return for more comprehensive advisory when their revenue and complexity increase.

No. Travel costs for Alberta engagements are included in the fixed engagement fee. We factored that into our pricing structure precisely so clients don't have to review expense reports. One fee. One scope. One letter of engagement. Derek Tsang leads our Alberta engagements, typically with 2–5 day on-site visits combined with remote advisory. The travel doesn't show up on your invoice because it's already built into the quoted fee.

National firms typically bill hourly at $350–$600 per hour for banking advisory work, with engagements that stretch to accommodate the billing model. A comparable Banking Relationship Audit from a Big Four-adjacent firm might run $60,000–$150,000+ with open-ended timelines and junior staff doing the analysis. Our fixed-fee model, regional specialization, and senior-led team structure means you pay less and get more experienced people doing the actual work. Every engagement at Foxworth Consulting is led by named senior team members — not delegated to analysts you've never met.

No. The fixed fee covers everything: all team time, all internal review rounds, all travel (including Alberta), all knowledge transfer sessions, all post-engagement support for 30 days, and access to our quarterly workshops. The only scenario where additional costs arise is if the scope formally changes — and that requires a written amendment you approve before work proceeds. We don't have "miscellaneous" line items, administrative surcharges, or technology fees. If it's not in the letter of engagement, we don't bill for it.