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u/folderit_dms 2d ago
I'd define the standard setup first, then decide whether its expected time fits your monthly price. Installing the management/security agents is a different amount of work from moving a user's files, specialist apps, printers and peripherals, even though customers may call both a new PC setup.
A useful handover checklist is: device enrolled, required agents reporting healthy, agreed apps installed, user sign-in tested, and any migration exceptions recorded. State which parts your included deployment covers and which need a separate estimate before work starts. Track the actual time on a few builds to check whether the included allowance is realistic.
For a replacement, link the new asset to the old one and record when each becomes active or retired in your device list. Otherwise a finished build can leave two supported-device entries behind, or an old machine still active after the user has moved on.
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u/LayerOneStaging 1d ago
This one bites a lot of shops because setup looks small until you are three machines deep. Unboxing, checking for damage, updates, enrollment, the user apps, and getting it to the desk takes real bench time, and that time is not free just because the monthly check is steady. My take is write down what a standard setup covers, and what counts as extra, before the boxes show up. If you include a basic setup in the monthly, say so plainly and hold the line when extra work gets added. If you charge for it, say that plainly too. Either way works, surprises are what make clients mad.
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u/justfixingproblems 1d ago
I've billed setup as a project line even when the client has a managed agreement, but the agreement says exactly what "standard setup" covers (image, domain join, core apps, data move). Anything outside that is T&M.
A couple of things that have helped save money for me is tagging new-device setup as its own work type in the PSA so it shows up in a weekly billing review. And then every month, compare the device count on the recurring invoice to the actual managed device count. Otherwise those new builds get supported but never added to the monthly bill.
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u/MountainSubie 2d ago
If they have a service agreement and purchase though us we include the setup.
If they don't have a service agreement or purchase on their own we bill for setup.