Contractor or Freelancer Engagement

The Finance team is requesting approval to hire a Senior Data Analyst to address a growing backlog of reporting and modelling work that is currently delaying monthly close commentary, board pack preparation, and ad hoc commercial analysis. The fully-loaded annual cost of the role is estimated at $142,000 including salary, superannuation, equipment, software licences, and onboarding. Three automation alternatives were assessed before this request was raised; each was found to address part of the problem but not the analytical judgement component. It is recommended this role be approved and advertised immediately with a target start date of Q2.

Current Problem

The Finance team currently operates with two analysts supporting a business that has grown revenue by 40% in two years without a corresponding increase in analytical headcount. The result is a consistent backlog: monthly close commentary is regularly submitted two days late, the board pack financial narrative is prepared under time pressure with limited peer review, and commercial teams wait an average of six days for modelling support on pricing and scenario requests. The CFO has absorbed the shortfall personally, which is not a sustainable or appropriate use of that role.

The team currently uses a combination of Excel spreadsheets and an unsupported CRM module embedded in the company ERP. Neither tool has kept pace with AI-driven developments in customer relationship management, and the gap is measurable. At a minimum, the switch to CRM.com is forecast to save 2 hours per week across 18 account managers, with that recovered capacity redirected to high-leverage activities including proactive renewal outreach, at-risk account intervention, and pipeline hygiene. The per-seat cost is $35 per month. It is recommended we pilot with the full account management team at a cost of $3,780 over six months before committing to an annual contract.

Current Problem

The current CRM module was included as part of the ERP implementation in 2019 and has not received a meaningful update since. It lacks integration with the company email platform, does not support pipeline forecasting, and offers no AI-assisted prompting for follow-up actions. Account managers have responded by maintaining parallel records in Excel, which creates version control issues and makes it impossible to report on pipeline health with confidence. Two account managers resigned in the past year citing tooling frustration as a contributing factor. The team lead has raised this issue in three consecutive quarterly reviews without resolution.

Approval is sought for $28,500 in unbudgeted expenditure to replace the primary cooling unit in the Sydney server room following mechanical failure detected on Tuesday evening. The risk of not acting within 48 hours is assessed as high: sustained operating temperatures above threshold will trigger automatic server shutdown, taking down all production systems including the customer-facing platform and internal ERP. A temporary portable unit has been installed at a cost of $1,200 per week to buy time for this approval. Two permanent replacement options were assessed; the recommended option is mid-range by cost and can be installed within 72 hours of approval.

Current Problem

The cooling unit failure was identified by automated monitoring at 11:42pm on Tuesday. The unit is 11 years old and was flagged as end-of-life in last year's infrastructure audit; replacement was included in the capital plan for next financial year. The interim portable unit stabilises temperatures but is not rated for sustained operation beyond three weeks. Operating beyond that window without a permanent solution materially increases the risk of hardware failure, with replacement server costs estimated at $180,000 and potential data recovery costs above that. The IT team has sourced three quotes; all confirm availability within the required timeframe.

Procurement is seeking approval to enter a 24-month freight agreement with National Freight Co. to replace the current arrangement with Metro Logistics, whose service levels have declined materially over the past two quarters. National Freight Co. was selected from a shortlist of four providers following a structured RFQ process. The proposed rate card delivers a 9% reduction in per-shipment cost based on current volumes, with guaranteed next-day metro delivery and a 48-hour regional window. Key exit provisions include a 60-day notice clause and a performance-based exit right triggered by two consecutive months below 95% on-time delivery.

Current Problem

Metro Logistics has failed to meet contracted on-time delivery thresholds in five of the past eight months. Customer complaints attributed to late delivery have increased by 34% year-on-year, and the commercial team has issued two formal credits in the past quarter as a direct result. Attempts to address the performance issues through the Metro account management team have produced short-term improvement followed by regression. The current contract expires in 11 weeks, creating a natural transition point that Procurement recommends using rather than renewing under the current terms.

The Salesforce Enterprise licence is due for renewal on 1 March at a proposed rate of $187,000 per annum, representing a 12% increase on the current contract. Following a structured review, it is recommended that the renewal proceed but with renegotiation targeting the current year's rate plus CPI only, on the basis that utilisation analysis shows 22 of 95 licences are inactive and the AI features included in the Enterprise tier are not in use. If renegotiation is unsuccessful, a migration assessment to HubSpot Enterprise — completed as part of this review — suggests an equivalent capability can be delivered at approximately $134,000 per annum.

Current Problem

The Salesforce contract has auto-renewed for the past three years without a structured review of utilisation, value delivered, or market alternatives. The 12% increase proposed for the coming year was flagged by Accounts Payable as part of routine invoice processing — not as part of a deliberate renewal strategy. The 22 inactive licences represent $43,340 in annual spend on unused seats. The AI features included in the Enterprise tier have not been activated because no one was assigned to evaluate or implement them following purchase.

Operations is proposing to consolidate commercial cleaning contracts across the Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane offices from three separate providers to a single national provider. The combined current spend is $312,000 per annum. The proposed consolidated contract with CleanNation is $248,000 per annum, representing a saving of $64,000 or 21%. Implementation costs are estimated at $4,200 to cover contract termination fees across the two sites being transitioned. The payback period is 24 days. It is recommended this initiative be approved with a transition target of 1 April.

Current Problem

The three cleaning contracts were established independently by each site manager at the time each office was opened, and they have never been consolidated or benchmarked as a portfolio. Rates across the three contracts vary significantly for comparable service specifications, suggesting the company is not benefiting from volume leverage. Each contract has also been renewed on a rolling annual basis without competitive retender. The last formal market test for any of these contracts was conducted in 2021.