A clear understanding of project scope is the key to a successful and predictable 1C:ERP implementation.

In a 1C:ERP implementation, what should the project price include, and what will you have to pay extra for?

The answer is simple: the project scope includes everything described in the technical specification and the contract.

But in reality, it’s not that simple.

In practice, 99.9% of projects run into the same problem: the client believes certain work is included in the project price, while the contractor is sure it falls outside the contract and was never budgeted. This is the most common and painful situation in implementation projects.

Let’s take a closer look at the key principles and areas of responsibility.

Key principle: “out of the box” vs. “customizations”

1. Out-of-the-box, or standard, functionality (included in the project):
   • These are standard mechanisms and reports that already come with the standard 1C:ERP package. For example:
     • Setting up the chart of calculation types for complex payroll.
     • Setting up accounting under IFRS or Russian Accounting Standards (RAS).
     • Setting up document approval workflows.
     • Setting up cost calculation using the FIFO or weighted average method.
     • Creating standard reports (trial balances, account analysis, sales and purchasing reports) with built-in tools.
   • Important: Complex configuration alone does not make a task a customization. If the consultant uses only the tools available out of the box, the work is part of the project.
2. Customizations (additional budget):
   • Any change to the source code (program code) of the platform or configuration.
   • Creating new objects (catalogs, documents, reports) that are not in the standard package.
   • Modifying standard forms (adding new fields or buttons, changing logic).
   • Developing external reports and data processors (for example, a complex analytics dashboard in Excel or Power BI).
   • Integration with third-party systems (websites, CRM, access control systems, equipment) when there is no standard, ready-made exchange mechanism for it.

What is usually INCLUDED in the implementation budget

1. Pre-project assessment: analysis of your business processes and preparation of the technical specification.
2. Direct configuration of standard mechanisms:
   • Setting up the accounting policy (financial, tax, and management accounting).
   • Setting up catalogs (items, counterparties, cost items, etc.).
   • Setting up planning (budgeting, MRP).
   • Setting up payroll and HR recordkeeping.
   • Setting up sales, purchasing, and production processes.
   • Training your staff to work in the system.
3. Data migration from legacy systems: but only with standard export/import tools. If the data has a complex structure and requires custom scripts, this may be a separate task.
4. Technical support and maintenance during implementation.
5. Commissioning and go-live (transition to full production use).

What most often requires an ADDITIONAL budget

1. Integrations:
   • Data exchange with your website (online store).
   • Connecting online cash registers, mobile data terminals, and fiscal printers when a non-standard scenario is required.
   • Exchange with a CRM (for example, Bitrix24) when there is no standard data conversion.
   • Connection to electronic document exchange systems (SBIS, Diadoc, etc.) is usually included, but complex scenarios may cost extra.
2. Custom reports and print forms:
   • Any report that cannot be built with the built-in report designer or that requires complex programmed logic.
   • Changes to standard document forms (for example, adding a “Procurement Manager” field to the “Goods Delivery Note”).
3. Changes to standard logic:
   • You want posting a “Sales of Goods” document to automatically create a task for an adjacent department according to a non-standard algorithm.
   • You need a unique cost allocation method that the system does not offer.
4. Complex data visualization: development of dashboards and control panels beyond the standard capabilities.

How to avoid misunderstandings and budget disputes

1. A detailed technical specification is your main tool.
   • The specification should be as detailed as possible. Not “we need sales reports,” but “the sales report must contain the fields Manager, Counterparty, Item, Quantity, and Amount, grouped by month, with a filter by a specific manager.”
   • When agreeing on the specification, always ask: “Is this task solved by configuration or by customization?” Record the answer in the specification.
2. Choose a reliable contractor.
   • A good contractor always splits tasks into “standard” and “customization” during the pre-project assessment and discloses the risks and costs up front.
3. Use a change request procedure.
   • New wishes always come up during a project. Agree that every new requirement is submitted as a “Change Request” with an estimate of effort and cost. You approve it, and only then does the work begin.
4. Ask “Why?”
   • If you are told that one of your tasks is an expensive customization, ask: “Why can’t this be done with standard tools? Is there a standard solution that covers our need?” Often a business need can be met with out-of-the-box functionality, just in a different way.

In summary

Included in the project: implementing your business processes under the contract using tools that already exist in 1C:ERP “out of the box.”

Requires additional budget: creating new tools or changing existing ones that are not available out of the box, and new tasks raised during the project.

The main goal is to detail the requirements as much as possible at the start and formalize them in the technical specification. Anything beyond the specification is a matter for negotiation and additional funding.

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So what should you do to make the project a success?

Step 1: Set emotions aside and go back to the source documents

This is the most important and most objective step. Pull out the contract and the technical specification.

• What should you look for in the specification? Specific wording that describes the disputed functionality. The problem is often that the specification is vague (“provide production accounting”), and each party interprets it in its own way.
• Example:
  • Your understanding: “Production accounting” = automatic generation of a production schedule based on orders, taking machine changeovers into account.
  • The contractor’s understanding: “Production accounting” = entering “Production Order” and “Shift Production Report” documents and calculating cost based on direct costs.

Outcome:

• If the specification contains clear wording that covers your requirement, your position is strong. Insist that this work is within the scope of the contract.
• If the wording in the specification is vague or missing, your position is weaker, and you need to move to negotiations.

Step 2: Analyze together — “configuration” or “customization”?

Set up a meeting with the contractor and ask a direct but constructive question:

“Please explain why this task cannot be solved with the standard (out-of-the-box) tools of 1C:ERP and requires customization.”

The contractor should show:

1. Where the required mechanism is located in the standard configuration.
2. Why this mechanism does not cover your need. For example: “The standard configuration has no ‘Machine Changeover Schedule’ object; it has to be created from scratch in Designer.”
3. What standard alternatives or workarounds exist. A good consultant will always suggest something like: “We can’t do it exactly the way you want without customization, but we can implement similar logic using the standard ‘Business Processes’ mechanism and the ‘Production Operations’ catalog. That will cover 80% of your needs.”

Step 3: Find the root of the misunderstanding

The causes usually lie in one of the following:

• Insufficient pre-project assessment. The consultant or a company employee missed “hidden” business processes and did not see this need at the start.
• “Blind spots” in the specification. You may have discussed this point verbally, but it was never formally recorded in the documents.
• Changes in business processes. During the implementation, you gained a better understanding of your own needs and formulated a new requirement.

Step 4: Solution options and negotiation

Depending on the results of the analysis, choose a strategy:

1. You are right: the task is within the scope of the specification.

• Your position: “Under clause 2.3 of the specification, capacity planning functionality must be implemented. The current task is an integral part of it. Please complete the work under the existing contract.”
• Actions: Insist that the work be done. If the contractor resists, escalate the issue to a higher level (the project manager or the contractor’s CEO).

2. The specification is ambiguous, and there is a gray area.

• Your position: “We understand that the wording in the specification allows two interpretations. On our side, we assumed this was part of the project. We propose splitting the cost of this customization 50/50, or including it in the overall budget at a substantial discount, since both parties share responsibility for the unclear specification.”
• Actions: Offer a compromise. This is the most common and most civilized path.

3. You realize that this is a new requirement.

• Your position: “All right, we agree that this goes beyond the original specification. Please send us a commercial proposal for this customization with an effort estimate.”
• Actions: Accept the rules of the game. Assess the cost and importance of this feature. It may be worth postponing it to the “second phase” of the implementation.

4. Look for a standard solution.

• Your position: “Let’s look together at whether our task can be solved another way, using only standard capabilities. We are willing to consider adjusting our internal business process to fit the system.”
• Actions: Be flexible. You can often find a compromise that requires no programming.

How to prevent such situations

1. Introduce a “change request procedure.” Every new wish or clarification must now be submitted as a change request. The contractor estimates it in hours/days and cost, you sign it, and only then does the work begin.
2. Keep minutes of all meetings and record the agreements in them. Send them to both parties.
3. Ask clarifying questions at the estimation stage. “Is this setting part of the current phase? Is it covered by clause No. X of the specification?”

Bottom line: Your main task is to move the dispute from the emotional level (“we’re being cheated!”) to the level of facts and documents (the contract and the specification). Be ready to compromise, because a perfectly written specification is a rarity.

Stop guessing what the budget will cover!

Get a free express assessment

and we will show you clearly how we separate standard configuration from customization

What you get:

✅ A register of business processes down to level 2
✅ Preliminary recommendations on the 1C product that fits your business
✅ A project schedule

How the assessment works

✔️ At an agreed time, our analyst interviews the key business process owners
✔️ Reviews the systems already in place at your company
✔️ Analyzes the main business processes
✔️ Selects possible solutions
✔️ Prepares a phased project schedule