Costs and pricing
Part of Customer data platform costs: a whole-life budget template with a worked £82,500 example
A blank customer data platform budget template with evidence IDs and stop conditions
Use a blank CDP budget template with evidence IDs, owners, VAT and unit fields, scenario sensitivities, stop conditions and reforecast triggers.
Use this template only after defining a single customer-data journey. Every money, volume, labour and threshold field is intentionally blank. The buyer must enter approved evidence, not market guesses, and named UK accounting, tax, procurement and specialist reviewers must sign their sections.
The template was prepared on 6 September 2026 for an organisation operating in England. It does not calculate a price or return and gives no financial, tax or legal advice.
What to take away
- Define one customer-data journey before using this template, then leave every money, volume and threshold field blank.
- Each supplier row needs an exact edition, defined unit and dated UK availability record before any amount is entered.
- Keep invoice VAT, cash paid and later accounting entries separate, and let the buyer's adviser decide treatment.
- Low, base and high columns are buyer scenarios, not forecasts, so change one input at a time and state what stays fixed.
- Keep the current route in the template and document why any proposed option differs from it.
Control record
- buyer legal entity[enter verified entity]
- journey, purpose and version[enter controlled record]
- included functions[CRM / warehouse or lake / identity / preference / tags or storage access / analytics / activation / clean room / managed integration / other]
- excluded functions[list exclusions]
- budget period and Europe/London cut-off[enter period and timestamp]
- currency and exchange-rate source if relevant[enter approved basis]
- accounting owner, tax reviewer and approval date[name reviewers and date]
- evidence repository and version[enter controlled location]
Supplier quotation register
| Evidence ID | Legal supplier | Exact service or edition | UK availability | Currency | VAT presentation | Unit | Quantity | Period and term | Included use | Additions or overage | Renewal and exit | Owner and expiry |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [quote evidence] | [contracting entity] | [edition] | [dated UK record] | [currency] | [VAT basis] | [defined unit] | [buyer quantity] | [period and commitment] | [allowance] | [additions] | [renewal and departure] | [owner and expiry] |
Do not populate a supplier amount if the record lacks a unit or exact edition. HMRC's VAT expenses guidance describes conditions and records relevant to recovery. The buyer's adviser must determine treatment; this template keeps invoice VAT, cash paid and any later accounting entry separate.
Supplier quote evidence checks
- Evidence ID and legal supplier recorded
- Exact service or edition named
- Dated UK availability record attached
- Currency, VAT basis and unit defined
- Quantity, period and term entered
- Included use, overage and renewal stated
- Owner and expiry date assigned
Whole-life line items
Create one row for each applicable item:
| Line item | Cash or economic cost | Formula | Evidence ID | Owner | Low input | Base input | High input | Confidence and exclusion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supplier subscription or usage | [enter cash classification] | [verified unit price x approved quantity x periods] | [quote record] | [commercial owner] | [low input] | [base input] | [high input] | [confidence and exclusions] |
| Implementation and migration | [enter classification] | [approved loaded rate x recorded work] | [work evidence] | [delivery owner] | [lower workload] | [planned workload] | [upper workload] | [basis and omissions] |
| Data quality and identity work | [enter classification] | [buyer-approved equation] | [quality evidence] | [data owner] | [lower case] | [central case] | [upper case] | [uncertainty note] |
| Privacy, PECR and legal review | [enter classification] | [buyer-approved equation] | [review evidence] | [review owner] | [lower scope] | [declared scope] | [upper scope] | [unresolved questions] |
| Security and recovery | [enter classification] | [buyer-approved equation] | [assurance evidence] | [security owner] | [lower case] | [planned case] | [upper case] | [test boundary] |
| Accessibility testing and remediation | [enter classification] | [buyer-approved equation] | [accessibility evidence] | [accessibility owner] | [lower case] | [planned case] | [upper case] | [task exclusions] |
| Operation, support and rights handling | [enter classification] | [buyer-approved equation] | [operations evidence] | [service owner] | [lower case] | [planned case] | [upper case] | [population limits] |
| Renewal, transition, export and deletion | [enter classification] | [buyer-approved equation] | [exit evidence] | [exit owner] | [lower case] | [planned case] | [upper case] | [retention boundary] |
The ICO's data protection by design guidance supports lifecycle consideration. It does not supply staffing, duration or cost assumptions.
Totals and sensitivities
Supplier cash total = sum(verified supplier rows)
Three totals to keep separate
- Supplier cash totalsum of verified supplier rows
- Internal economic totalloaded rate x recorded hours plus direct resources
- Whole-life totalsupplier cash plus internal, assurance, operation, renewal and exit
Internal economic total = sum(approved loaded rate x recorded hours) + approved direct resources
Whole-life total = supplier cash + internal economic total + assurance + operation + renewal + exit
Low, base and high columns are buyer scenarios, not forecasts or probabilities. State which single input changes, why, and what remains fixed. Do not fill all three by applying an arbitrary percentage.
Reforecast and stop record
- reforecast triggers[source, destination, identity rule, billable-unit, volume, term, subprocessor, retention or support change]
- tolerance approved by[name authority]
- approval ceiling and authority[enter controlled limit]
- stop condition: [define observable event]
- containment and rollback owner[assign accountable role]
- next quote refresh and contract review[enter review dates]
- exit test and evidence location[enter test reference]
HM Treasury's Green Book 2026 is public-sector appraisal guidance, but its explicit treatment of business as usual and option risks is a useful check against omitting the baseline. Keep the current route in the template and document why any proposed option differs. Do not approve a blank or expired evidence field by assumption.
Before you act
- Define a single customer-data journey first
- Enter approved evidence, not market guesses
- Name accounting, tax, procurement and specialist reviewers
- Leave money, volume and threshold fields blank
- Record a stop condition and rollback owner
- Refresh quotes and review the contract
Common questions
What must be true before a supplier amount is entered?
The record must have a defined unit and an exact edition. The template says do not populate a supplier amount if the record lacks a unit or exact edition. Each row also needs dated UK availability, currency, VAT presentation, quantity, term and an owner with expiry.
How should the low, base and high columns be filled?
They are buyer scenarios, not forecasts or probabilities. State which single input changes, why, and what remains fixed. Do not fill all three by applying an arbitrary percentage. Each line item also needs an evidence ID, an owner, a formula and a confidence note with exclusions.
What triggers a reforecast and what stops the project?
Reforecast triggers include changes to the source, identity rule, billable unit or volume. Term, subprocessor, retention and support changes also count. A tolerance must be approved by a named authority, with an approval ceiling. The stop condition is a defined observable event, with a containment and rollback owner assigned.
