Before choosing a supplier, you should know how it behaves when a project goes well and when it does not. This page sets out our terms in plain words, shows the documents you will receive and lists what we will not do.
The same four steps whether we build something new, fix something old or connect two systems.
1
You describe the need
A short written description is enough: what the software should do, who uses it, which systems are involved. For legacy software, send us the file.
2
We reply with a proposal
A written proposal with the scope, the stages and a fixed price. For legacy software, a free assessment within 48 hours.
3
We build the first part
A first module, or a trial run on your data, that your staff use in their real work before the rest is built.
4
We deliver and look after it
Each stage is tested before it goes live. At the end you receive the source code and the documentation, and we can look after maintenance if you wish.
Our terms in plain words
Every proposal we send is based on these rules. They are short on purpose: nobody should need a lawyer to understand who does what.
1. Price
Each proposal states a fixed price for the work it describes. There is no hourly meter and no estimate that grows on its own.
2. Changes
If you ask for something the proposal does not cover, we send a separate written quote. Extra work starts only after your written approval.
3. Payment
We ask for 50% to start and 50% on acceptance. The second half is due before go-live and before the source code is handed over. Larger projects are split into milestone payments.
4. Acceptance
The proposal lists what will be checked at acceptance. You test the work on your own data, and acceptance is your written confirmation that it does what was agreed.
5. Ownership
Once the project is paid in full, the source code, the documentation and the data are yours. You pay us no licence fee to keep using them.
6. No lock-in
We use widely known technologies and no framework of our own, so any competent developer can take over from the documentation we deliver.
7. Confidentiality
If you want one, we sign an NDA before you send any file: yours, or a short one of ours. If your files contain personal data, we also sign a data processing agreement under Article 28 GDPR.
8. Your data
We ask only for what the job needs, and test or pseudonymised data is often enough. We work on copies, never on your live systems. For the transfer we recommend a password-protected archive, with the password sent in a separate message. At the end of the project we delete our copies and confirm it to you in writing.
9. Hosting
Where the choice is ours, we prefer providers with data centres in the EU, and hosting accounts are opened in your name. If a service you need is only available outside the EU, we tell you before using it.
10. AI-assisted tools
We use AI-assisted development tools from providers that are bound by contract not to use client data to train their models. Your real data never goes into them: we use them on code and on test data, and everything they help produce is reviewed by us and goes through the same tests as the rest of the work.
11. Parallel run
When we replace an existing program, the old one stays available for 30 days after go-live, so your staff can check results against it.
12. Communication
Everything is agreed in writing, in English, Italian, French, Spanish or German. If you write to us in Portuguese, Dutch, Chinese or Japanese, we answer in your language with the help of a translation tool. You get a reply within one working day.
13. Who does the work
We do not subcontract. Whoever writes your proposal also writes the code.
Every proposal repeats these terms. If you find a difference between a proposal and this page, tell us and we will correct the proposal.
How payment works
The same rule for every project: two payments, each tied to a point you can check.
Proposal approved
You approve the written proposal and its fixed price.
50%
50% to start
The first half is paid when work begins.
Work in stages
We show you each stage on test data as it is ready.
Acceptance
You check the result against the list in the proposal.
50%
50% before go-live
The second half is due before go-live and before the source code is handed over.
Larger projects are split into milestone payments, each tied to a stage you accept. Prices exclude VAT.
Sample documents
These are the three documents a modernisation project produces, shown for a fictional garage that runs on an Access 97 database. The layout and the level of detail are those you will receive; the company, the figures and the dates are invented.
Modernize StudioSample document, fictional client and data
Written assessment
Sample
Client
Corvelli Motors (fictional)
File received
05/10/2026, 09:40
Assessment sent
06/10/2026, 16:15
What the tool does
An Access 97 database used by reception and the workshop to open job cards, record parts and labour, and print invoices. Six people use it on two PCs that share the file over the office network.
What the file contains
14Tables
22Forms
9Reports
6Macros
2,100Lines of VBA
41,230Records
Points that need care
Invoice totals are calculated in a form and never stored. The rule will be rebuilt in one place and tested against every 2025 invoice.
Two reports depend on the page layout of one printer. They will become PDF documents with the same content.
37 customers appear twice under slightly different names. We will list them for you to decide before the migration.
Recommendation
Start with a pilot module covering job cards, customers and vehicles, used by reception for two weeks on a copy of the real data.
Price
Pilot module, fixed price
€1,400
Full migration, estimate
€10,000 – €13,000
The full price is fixed in writing after the pilot.
Modernize StudioSample document, fictional client and data
Quote Q-2026-031
Sample
Date
07/10/2026
Client
Corvelli Motors (fictional)
Subject
Migration of GARAGE.MDB (Access 97) to a web application
Milestone
Content
Fixed price
1
Pilot: job cards, customers and vehicles
€1,400
2
Parts, stock and invoices, with the invoice rule tested against 2025
€5,600
3
Reports as PDF, full data migration, 30 days in parallel
€4,500
Total, excluding VAT
€11,500
Payment
Each milestone: 50% at the start, 50% on acceptance. The last payment is due before go-live and before the source code is handed over.
Acceptance
A milestone is accepted when the checks listed in its annex pass on a copy of your data.
Included
Source code, documentation, automated tests, data migration and 30 days of parallel running.
Not included
Hosting fees and Microsoft licences, paid by you directly to the providers.
Changes
Work outside this quote is quoted separately and starts only after your written approval.
Modernize StudioSample document, fictional client and data
Results check: old and new program
Sample
Project
Corvelli Motors, GARAGE.MDB to web application
Run
Run no. 3, on a copy of the data from 13/11/2026
Check
Access 97
Web application
Result
Job cards (records)
4,812
4,812
Match
Customers (records)
1,148
1,148
Match
Vehicles (records)
1,377
1,377
Match
Invoiced in 2025, net
€186,402.70
€186,402.70
Match
VAT 2025
€37,280.54
€37,280.54
Match
Job cards still open
23
23
Match
6 of 6 checks match214 automated tests passed, 0 failed
Both programs process the same copy of the data, and every figure must match. The report is produced again before each release.
Check for yourself
Three things you can verify today, without writing to us.
The equivalence report
For the Northwind case study we published every comparison between the original Access database and the migrated version: tables, queries and totals.
No cookies, no analytics and nothing loaded from other websites. Open your browser's developer tools on any page: every file comes from our own domain. We build client sites to the same standard.
NameDomain
how-we-work/modernizestudio.com
main.cssmodernizestudio.com
main.jsmodernizestudio.com
plex-sans-latin.woff2modernizestudio.com
bricolage.woff2modernizestudio.com
favicon.svgmodernizestudio.com
What we will not do
Some commitments are clearer when written as refusals.
Start work before you have approved a fixed price in writing.
Bill extra work you have not approved in writing.
Pass your project to subcontractors.
Build on a framework of our own that ties you to us.
Ask for access to live systems when a copy is enough.
Keep copies of your data after the project ends.
Put your real data into AI tools.
Propose a rewrite when a fix is enough.
Add cookies or trackers to software we build for you, unless you ask for them.
Insist on calls when a question can be settled in writing.
What you receive at handover
Once the work is paid, you receive everything needed to run, change and rebuild the software without us.
Source code
The complete code in a repository you own, with its history.
Build and deployment
Step-by-step instructions to build the application and install it on a new server.
Database
The scripts that create the database, and the migrated data.
Automated tests
The tests we wrote, with instructions to run them.
Documentation
A technical guide for developers and a short guide for users.
Accounts and access
A list of every account, domain and service involved, transferred to your name.
Known limitations
A written note of anything we know is incomplete or worth improving.
Questions about how we work
Are these terms part of the agreement?
Yes. The proposal you approve in writing is our agreement, and it repeats these terms.
What if we do not go ahead after the free assessment?
You keep the written assessment and owe nothing.
Do you sign our NDA or use your own?
Either. We can sign yours, or prepare a short one for you to review before you send any files.
Does a proposal cost anything?
No. A written proposal with a fixed price costs nothing and does not commit you.
How should we send our files?
As a copy, with test data if you can. If the files contain real data, put them in a password-protected archive (ZIP or 7z with AES encryption) and send us the password in a separate message. At the end of the project we delete our copies and confirm it in writing.
Do you use AI tools?
Yes, AI-assisted development tools, from providers that are bound by contract not to use client data to train their models. Your real data never goes into them, and everything they help produce is reviewed by us and goes through the same tests as the rest of the work.
Contact
Use whichever channel suits you. We reply within one working day, in writing.
