> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.focaldata.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Cost & timelines

> Understand how cost and fieldwork timing are derived

Once an audience is defined and feasibility assessed, Focaldata AI provides cost and timeline guidance. This gives realistic expectations early, supports quoting and planning, and surfaces risk before fieldwork begins. The emphasis is on consistency and feasibility rather than false precision.

## How costs are determined

For panel-based projects, cost is driven primarily by how easy or difficult it is to reach the specified audience at scale.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Assess prevalence">
    Based on the audience definition and market, the system forms a directional view of how common the target group is on panel.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Map to a cost band">
    Rather than pricing every project from scratch, audiences are grouped into transparent CPI bands reflecting relative difficulty of recruitment.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Calculate total cost">
    The per-interview cost from the relevant band is multiplied by the requested number of completes.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  Own-audience or universal-link projects behave differently: the feasibility agent is skipped and pricing follows a fixed per-respondent model.
</Note>

## How timelines are estimated

Timeline guidance uses the same inputs as cost, focused on how quickly the requested sample can realistically be completed. The system considers panel supply in the selected market(s), combines that with audience difficulty and requested sample size, and returns an indicative fieldwork duration (e.g. "1–2 days" vs "7+ days").

| Audience               | Typical fieldwork |
| ---------------------- | ----------------- |
| Broad (high incidence) | 24–48 hours       |
| Moderate               | 48–72 hours       |
| Narrow (low incidence) | 72+ hours         |

## Interrogating cost and timing

Cost and timeline guidance is designed to be explainable, not opaque. You can:

* Ask how a given cost or timeline was arrived at.
* Request clarification on assumptions or trade-offs.
* Explore how changing the audience, sample size, or market would affect delivery.

This makes cost and timelines part of the design conversation, rather than something discovered at the end of setup.