Not our lane
Forensic media audit
Independent plan → invoice → platform recon for finance and procurement. Agency contracts, rebates, multi-market leakage.
~$100K–$450K · $2M+ spend typical
Mcfly Analytics
Custom Data Solutions
Exact spend. Audited outcomes. Systems finance will sign off on.
Boutique marketing data science for operators who need a written SOW — platform recon, sales audits, lead-gen desks. Fixed fee $5–25K. You own the system. Not forensic theater. Not MMM SaaS.
Illustrative SAMPLE · not a live client desk
Qualified leads
186
Audited spend
$42,000
Cost / qualified lead
$226
CRM-qualified stages ÷ paid spend — not form-fill vanity.
Custom Data Solutions are fixed-fee engagements ($5–25K bands) that ship a weekly decision desk and written metric contracts — not always-on MMM theater and not an identity-graph product. Bands: Spend & Sales Audit $5–8K, Lead Gen Desk $8–15K, Advanced MDS $15–25K.
Shopify-only shops that need the Monday cash desk: start on Product. Company story: About.
Market map · then packages
Where do Custom Data Solutions sit vs forensic audits and MMM?
Elite buyers confuse forensic media audits, MMM subscriptions, and productized decision desks. Mcfly Ads — Custom Data Solutions is the third — fixed fee, written scope, outcomes ÷ spend.
Adjacent
MMM / incrementality SaaS
Bayesian mix models, geo tests, always-on scenario tools. Useful later — not what a $15–25K build claims to be.
~$30K–$200K+/yr mid-market · six figures enterprise
Our lane
Productized decision desks
Exact spend by platform, audited outcomes, CPQL / efficiency rituals, rules-based allocation — you keep the system.
$5–40K discrete market · Mcfly $5–25K
We sit in the $5–25K productized desk band — below forensic media audits and beside (not inside) MMM SaaS. Market comps in FAQ.
Fixed-fee engagements
What does a $5–25K fixed-fee engagement include?
Choose an engagement below to prefill the intake form. Tools/licenses billed at cost when needed — never buried in the fee. Structure of the letter: engagement specimen.
Review the engagement letter specimen — parties, fee, scope tiers, refuse list, signatures. Specimen only; final terms in the signed letter.
Process
How does a fixed-fee engagement run?
Four steps from first call to ownership transfer. Same spine every build — discovery, fixed fee, demos, handoff.
Discovery call
Fit, data access, success metric. We say no when pixels, MTA, or forensic depth is what you actually need.
Fixed-fee SOW
Written engagement letter: tier, fee, deliverables, refuse list. No hourly surprise. See the specimen.
Build with weekly demos
Metric contracts first. Then desk or memo work with a standing weekly touch on Tier II / III.
Handoff & ownership
Deliverables in your environment, runbooks, time-boxed credentials. Retainer optional — never required to keep the system.
Capacity
We run a small number of concurrent custom builds so weekly demos stay real. If the calendar is full, we’ll give you the next open start window — not a waitlist theater.
Expectations
What does “premium” mean in the SOW?
Elite buyers pay for clarity: fixed fee, named deliverables, ownership, and an honest refuse list — not a logo wall.
You provide
- Read access to ad platforms + invoice / billing exports
- Sales or CRM stage definitions (and a decision owner)
- Margin or target efficiency assumptions when allocation matters
- One weekly 30–45 min touch for Tier II / III
We provide
- Fixed fee in the engagement letter — addenda only for scope adds
- Written metric contracts before models or desks ship
- Deliverables in your cloud / Sheets when possible
- Handoff checklist, runbooks, time-boxed credentials
Fit
Who is Custom Data Solutions for?
We take a small number of custom builds. Budget band is $5–25K project fees — not $39 SaaS seats, not $100K forensic audits.
Good fit
- Need exact spend by platform + outcome audit
- Lead-gen, services, retail, or mixed — not Shopify-only
- Budget owner ready for a scoped $5–25K SOW
- Want production handoff, not a black-box suite
Not a fit
- Want pixels / MTA / path-credit “true ROAS”
- Need a free trial or sub-$5K dabble
- Looking for the Shopify cash desk app — use Product
- Need forensic $100K+ media audit or full MMM SaaS (we’ll redirect)
Illustrative method · SAMPLE figures
How do you reconcile exact spend by platform?
Toggle channels. Compare billed invoices to Ads Manager. Variance is the close — not a sync animation. Figures below are SAMPLE only.
Include platforms
Billed total
$0
Platform UI total
$0
Variance
$0
Within tolerance.
Illustrative method · SAMPLE figures
What is cost per qualified lead on a decision desk?
Drag spend, qualified volume, and your CPQL target. SAMPLE figures for agencies, SaaS, and services — not a live client desk.
Actual CPQL
$226
Under target — protect the mix.
Enterprise assurance
How do you handle data ownership and privacy?
Custom engagements follow the same privacy posture as our product: least data, written definitions, no identity-graph theater.
NDA / DPA available · time-boxed credentials · work in your cloud when possible
Work lands in your cloud / warehouse / Sheets when possible. We don’t build a shadow CRM of your customers. Deliverables and credentials transfer at handoff.
Time-boxed credentials, scoped service accounts, and access logs on request. No standing admin unless the SOW says so.
Written definitions for sales, spend, lead stages, and margin — versioned so finance and marketing argue from the same sheet.
We refuse: pixels, multi-touch path credit, “true ROAS” identity graphs, and forever-free bait. Outcomes ÷ spend. Full stop.
Pricing & fit FAQs
Answers before the call
Where do market comps land?
Discrete analytics / decision-desk projects often run $5–40K; dashboard builds $5–20K; full MMM projects often $30–150K; forensic paid-media audits start near $100K. Mcfly Analytics — Custom Data Solutions publishes the $5–25K band so the SOW isn’t a surprise.
Is $5–8K a “real” audit?
Yes for a finance-grade close memo: invoice vs platform spend, variance flags, and a sales/outcome period check. That sits with elite boutique audits (~$6K class). It is not a $100K forensic agency/rebate audit — and not a $249 CSV micro-recon. Different jobs; we name ours.
Do you replace Recast, Measured, Paramark, or Nielsen?
No. We build the weekly decision desk and metric contracts. Always-on measurement OS pricing often starts near $100K/year — we don’t fake that inside $25K. If you need full MMM SaaS later, we say so.
Who owns the data and the system?
You. Work lands in your environment when possible. Credentials are time-boxed. Handoff includes runbooks. Retainer is optional continuity — not a hostage fee.
What blows the budget?
Dirty source data and undefined metrics. Cleanup and scope expansion only via written addendum. Tools and third-party licenses are billed at cost, called out in the SOW.
Why refuse pixels and “true ROAS”?
Identity graphs thinned; finance still needs sales (or qualified pipeline) ÷ audited spend. Path credit is a different product category — we don’t sell it.
How is this different from the Shopify app?
The Shopify cash desk is a productized Total ROAS seat for merchants. Mcfly Analytics — Custom Data Solutions is a fixed-fee practice for companies that need spend recon, lead-gen desks, or MDS beyond that app — toggle between the two on this site.
Request an engagement letter
Intake for scoped builds only. Selecting an engagement above prefills budget and notes — or choose manually. Review the engagement specimen before the call.
Need the Shopify Total ROAS cash desk instead? That’s a separate product — Mcfly Analytics on Shopify · Try the demo. Background: About.