Planning Basis

Route	Fits when	Output to require	Main weakness to test	Renewal test
Expanded incumbent service	Existing capability is sound; planning scope is unclear	Written annual scope and event triggers	Informal promises replacing deliverables	Did the new service occur?
Independent diagnostic	Opportunity and scope are uncertain	Baseline, issues and prioritised next work	A sales report that requires a second contract to become useful	Usually project completion, not automatic renewal
Scoped specialist project	A sale, partner change or defined technical issue dominates	Opinion/model/implementation package for that event	Dependencies left outside the project	Is a new event or monitoring obligation present?
Recurring tax advisory	Several material decisions recur and interact	Scheduled updates and accepted implementation ownership	Year-one work used to justify indefinite fees	Specific continuing work and fresh decisions
Finance/CFO support	Weak records and cash visibility block decisions	Reliable reporting and decision models	Operational support sold as tax specialism	Better reporting and decisions, not a tax guarantee
Defer additional purchase	No material gap, no usable records or no ability to implement	Evidence-repair or monitoring plan	Delay becoming avoidance of an actual deadline	Revisit on a named trigger

A diagnostic should be useful even if the buyer does not buy the next service. Require enough explanation for the incumbent to understand findings and a clear statement of what has not been tested.

Explore the structured evidence

Expanded incumbent service

Fits when

Existing capability is sound; planning scope is unclear

Output to require

Written annual scope and event triggers

Main weakness to test

Informal promises replacing deliverables

Renewal test

Did the new service occur?

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Sources cited on this page

This page presents the desk’s editorial framework. Read the section sources →