>If you had spec'd it, and had some meetings with the customer up front, could the project have been the 300k project from the start?

No, all they wanted initially was Work Orders ...

After Work Orders, they came back and wanted to replace their ACCPAC General Ledger. A DOS system. The spec in this case was: "Convert DOS AccPac to Windows".

> And while you say you "never produced a single spec", was there any spec anywhere?

The existing ACCPAC system could have consituted a "spec" ... my responsibility was to reproduce it's functionality, which I did. Even without this "spec", I've worked on enough General Ledgers that I could have created one without sitting down with Users to "spec it out".

There aren't too many applications in the world that aren't based on common, widely known principles; eg. Inventory Control, HR, Production Planning, Labor Time, Purchasing, Order Entry, MRP, JIT, Scheduling, Accounts Receivable, Payables, Cost Accounting, ...

>> I can't believe any company would put that kind of money into anything without some sort of idea of what they want.

As I said, the original plan had only called for "Work Orders" ...

The fact was that the rapid rate of development (without the red tape) was able to fuel their enthusiasm and keep it alive. From day 1, I was able to provide them with something useable every week or two. They saw immediate benefits. They didn't have to stare at a chalkboard for 6 months, waiting for results.

>There's a lot of difference in billing a client for development based on their own internal specification, and determining what amount of work is involved in a particular project based on the deliverables of the project.
>
>I guess we will have to agree to disagree on this as I will never do any project without a clear definition of what is to be delivered. This protects both me and my client. My client knows what he is to receive upon delivery, I know what to deliver.

Maybe your clients are more IT savvy. Maybe they even have the time to spend a couple of months on "specs". If it makes everyone feel comfy, great.

I still maintain one size doesn't fit all.

(Know your toolbox).