>I would appreciate anybody's estimates about hypotethic
>development of Payroll application in VFP 5.0
>(example: 3 programmers, 6 month, $ 500,000)
>Thanks in advance.

I prepared a nice long response which was axed by the server. So a shorter version.

U do not give enough details to prepare an estimate. Is it a simple or complex Payroll system? Does the system need to interact with other new or existing systems? Any client/server or intranet needs? Has the scope of work been clearly defined and documented? Does a design document exist and has it been approved by the client? What delivery dates have been established (This dictates how many resource U may need)? What business rules have been defined which must exist within the system. What is the delivery platform? VFP 5.0 only runs on NT and Win95. What documentation has the client requested? What level of testing has the client requested? I am preparing a 1000 page test plan for my current upgrade to a VFP 3.0b system. What constitues delivery of the system? What about installation, training, post installation maintenance, and bugs? And why I started this category many moons ago, Warrenty.

As U can see I can go on. Can U convince your client to let U perform a Technical Needs Analysis? Maybe there is a chance to develop an enterprise wide solution that expands beyond Payroll. Things like Human Resource stuff (401k, Reviews, Personal data, Health Plans,...) and other stuff (Expense, Invioce, Contractor, ... Tracking systems). Well this is just some quick thoughts through lunch. Good Luck. Steve...