Fixed Price vs. Time & Materials: Which Salesforce Engagement Model Actually Saves You More?

A common question we hear at Equals 11 is:

“Should we go Fixed Price or Time & Materials (T&M) for our Salesforce project?”

The honest answer: it depends on how you want to manage risk.

Why Fixed Price feels “safer” (but usually isn’t).

Fixed Price looks attractive because it promises certainty. You get a number upfront, and it seems like there will be no surprises. But in reality, Salesforce projects rarely play out that way. Requirements always evolve once the work begins. With complex processes and multiple systems in play, new needs will surface. That leads to change requests, and those change requests are where the cost starts to climb.

To protect themselves, vendors also factor contingency into Fixed Price estimates. They assume worst-case scenarios such as messy data migration, integration snags, or adoption delays. You end up paying for risks that may never materialize. On top of that, vendors working under a Fixed Price model may cut corners to stay within scope rather than making small adjustments that would actually deliver better business outcomes. What looks like “certainty on paper” often comes at a premium.

Why a well-managed T&M model usually costs less.

When we manage Salesforce projects under T&M at Equals 11, clients often see lower overall costs and faster outcomes. Unlike Fixed Price, there is no hidden padding. You only pay for what is delivered. T&M also allows smarter sequencing. We can prioritize must-have functionality first, deliver incremental value quickly, and push “nice-to-haves” later if they don’t justify ROI. This means you get results sooner without being locked into an inflexible contract.

Another important benefit is adaptability. Salesforce projects frequently uncover hidden technical debt such as unmanaged fields, over-customization, or poor org configuration. With T&M, we can pivot and address these issues without the costly renegotiations that Fixed Price contracts require. Finally, T&M provides transparency. Each sprint gives you visibility into the backlog, the hours spent, and the progress made. For IT leaders and VPs of Marketing, this level of tracking spend against business value is critical.

Of course, T&M without discipline can spiral. The key difference is governance. With strong upfront planning and ongoing project management, a T&M engagement consistently outperforms Fixed Price in both flexibility and cost-efficiency.

What Equals 11 does differently.

At Equals 11, we structure our T&M projects to eliminate the risks that make some leaders nervous about this model. We start with a thorough discovery that surfaces hidden complexity before it becomes a budget problem. We groom the backlog continuously so deliverables always align with business priorities. We build realistic cost models that highlight the major decision points, such as integrations or user training, before the project begins. And we give our clients complete transparency into how hours map to outcomes.

This is why our T&M projects do not just stay on track but often come in under budget compared to Fixed Price.

What our clients say.

“Equals 11 did considerable planning ahead of time to put effective resources in place. This helped to not waste time and effort on both sides.”
— Nonprofit Client, USA | Feb 28, 2024

“Equals 11 was engaged to evaluate our Salesforce-native rail-logistics prototype and craft a roadmap for turning it into a commercial SaaS offering. Their blend of product strategy and deep technical expertise produced a clear build-vs-buy matrix, a groomed agile backlog, and a realistic cost model. These were all insights no other partner had provided.”
— Rail Logistics Client, USA | May 21, 2025

The decision point.

If your top priority is having a fixed number on paper, then Fixed Price can provide that. But if your real priority is flexibility, visibility, and cost efficiency, a well-managed T&M model, the Equals 11 way, almost always delivers more value.

In just 20 minutes, we can show you how Equals 11 structures T&M engagements so your Salesforce project stays on track, adapts as you learn, and costs you less than any padded Fixed Price contract. Book a discovery call