Charge what services cost, and be able to show why.
FeeFrom $12,000 plus GST
$13,200 incl. GST
Timing6 to 8 weeks
ForCouncils
“Which fees recover their cost, which are subsidised, and what would a defensible schedule look like?”
What it is
Evidence of what each service actually costs to deliver, what it currently recovers, and a defensible recommended fee schedule with revenue impacts modelled.
Every fee line is mapped to its cost centre with a documented overhead allocation, so the pricing policy can be defended line by line.
When clients call us
Annual fee setting, community or councillor pressure over a specific fee, a new service being introduced, or a finding that cost recovery is not being met.
What you receive
Cost recovery model workbook, unlocked and fully formula driven
Recommended fee schedule
Revenue impact analysis by scenario
Methodology documentation, written to withstand public scrutiny
Findings report and presentation
What we’ll need from you
A one-page checklist comes with the engagement letter, with a private page to upload everything. The main items:
Current fees and charges schedule, complete
Prior two years of fee schedules for comparison
Revenue by fee line, last three years, actual
Volume and transaction data by fee line, last three years
General ledger extract with cost centre structure
Chart of accounts and cost centre mapping
Staff time allocation data or position descriptions for service delivery roles
Not included
Does not include community consultation, does not include legal review of fee-setting powers, and does not include implementation into the client's finance system.
What it can look like
Representative example
A growing council on the edge of South East Queensland · Fees, Charges and Cost Recovery Review
Recovering $380,000 a year the schedule was giving away
Development activity had doubled but the fees and charges schedule had only been indexed by CPI for a decade. Councillors were being asked by ratepayers why they were subsidising developers.
$380,000 a yearAdditional recovery at full phase-in
$210,000Recovered in year one
41% to 100%Development fee cost recovery
Development assessment: share of the service's cost recovered
Current schedule41%
Adopted policy (full recovery)100%
Up 59 points
Where the gap was
59% of the cost of development assessment was carried by ratepayers. Across the whole schedule, $380,000 a year was not recovered where the policy said it should be.
Insight
Mapping every fee line to its cost centre showed development assessment fees recovered 41% of the cost of the service, while some community fees recovered more than their cost. Across the schedule, $380,000 a year of cost was not being recovered where the policy said it should be.
Advice
Adopt a written cost-recovery policy by fee category, lift development fees to full recovery over two years, and hold community fees where the policy intends a subsidy.
Opportunity
About $380,000 a year of additional recovery at full implementation, with every line defensible against its costing.
Results
The council adopted the policy and a two-year phase-in. The first year recovered an extra $210,000, and the fee report went to council with the costing behind every line.
Representative example: a composite scenario with narrative-driven figures, showing the kind of result this work is designed to produce. It is not a specific client engagement and the outcome is not a guarantee. A full case study walk-through is available on request.
Common questions
How much does a fees and charges review cost?
From $12,000 plus GST ($13,200 including GST), usually over six to eight weeks.
What does it produce?
A costing of every fee line against its cost centre with a documented overhead allocation, a recovery rate for each fee, a recommended schedule with any phase-in, and a cost-recovery policy council can adopt.
Can councils charge full cost recovery?
Councils set cost-recovery fees under their own legislation and policy, and many deliberately subsidise some services. The review shows what each fee actually recovers so council can decide, line by line, where it wants to recover cost and where it intends a subsidy.
