How to write a requirements brief that gets you accurate quotes, realistic timelines, and projects that stay on track. Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
Who this is for
Business owners or project sponsors writing a brief to send to development teams or agencies.
Question this answers
What should I put in a software requirements brief so developers can give me an accurate quote?
What you'll leave with
The quality of quotes you receive is directly proportional to the quality of your brief. Vague briefs get padded quotes because developers factor in the uncertainty. Clear briefs get accurate quotes because the scope is understood.
A good brief saves you money twice: once in more accurate quoting, and again in fewer change requests during development.
1. Business context. What do you do? What problem are you trying to solve? Why now? This helps the development team understand the "why" behind the requirements.
2. Current state. What do you use today? What works? What doesn't? Are there existing systems that the new software needs to work with?
3. User types. List everyone who'll use the system. Internal staff, customers, administrators, external partners. What does each group need to do?
4. Core workflows. Describe the key processes step by step. "A customer places an order → warehouse receives notification → picker fulfills order → customer gets tracking number." This is the most important part of the brief.
5. Integration requirements. Which systems does this need to connect to? Accounting, CRM, payment processing, shipping, email? Be specific about what data flows where.
6. Priority levels. Must-have vs should-have vs nice-to-have. This lets developers propose a realistic v1 scope.
7. Budget range. Even a broad range is helpful. "$50K-$100K" tells the developer to propose a focused solution. "$200K-$300K" means a more comprehensive build is possible.
8. Timeline expectations. Any hard deadlines? Seasonal requirements? Events or launches that constrain the schedule?
Avoid these, they make it hard for developers to quote accurately:
Analogies hide enormous complexity. Describe your actual requirements.
Usability is a design process, not a requirement. Describe what users need to do.
Unrealistic timelines get you either declined quotes or cutting corners.
This guarantees scope creep and budget overruns.
Latest doesn't mean best. Let the team choose appropriate technology.
Meet the person
This guide comes from real projects. If it raises a question about your own system, you can ask the founder directly.
HELLO PEOPLE designs, builds and looks after AI, software, app and data solutions for Australian businesses, with senior expertise on every project and a scope agreed before work starts. For software, that means starting with how your business runs, not with the code.
Since 2007, HELLO PEOPLE has delivered more than 100 projects from Perth for small and medium businesses across Australia: custom software and apps, system integrations, data migrations, reporting and dashboards, and AI that works inside the systems a business already runs.
I lead every engagement myself. I trained in accounting before moving into IT, hold accounting and IT professional qualifications and an MBA, and bring more than 20 years of experience across sales, service delivery, inventory and compliance. I am also a PhD candidate in AI at Curtin University, researching retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), so the technology is always judged by what it does for the business.
Small and boutique. The person who scopes your software is the person who builds it, and the same person is there on launch day.
No ticket queue and no account manager in between. You hear back within one business day, usually sooner.
The first release is the start, not the end. When you need the next system, integration or report, you call the same person, who already knows your business.
Ask the author
Ask it here and it comes straight to the founder. No sales call, no obligation, and a real answer even if the answer is that you do not need us.
Kasun Wijayamanna
Founder, replies within one business day
Tell us what you are comparing, replacing, or trying to improve. We will come back with a practical recommendation and realistic scope.
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