Got one system that needs building?
Search this and you get job boards, because "hire a developer" reads as recruitment. A 10-person firm does not need a recruit. It needs one system built and handed over. Below is what contractor, freelancer, consultancy and solo cost in NZD, and the questions to ask each.
Type "Power Apps developer NZ" into a search engine and the results are SEEK, Glassdoor and recruiter pages, because most people who type it are hiring staff for a 500-seat company. If you run a firm with under 20 staff, that is the wrong aisle. Once the first system is live, in my experience a firm that size has roughly 20 to 40 days a year of genuine Power Platform building (my estimate, not a survey). A permanent developer is a full salary plus KiwiSaver and leave for a job that sits idle most of the year, and the good ones leave for the 500-seat company anyway. What you actually need is a build, done to a fixed scope, handed over with source and documentation, and a phone number for afterwards.
| Route | What you pay, NZD | What you get | Right when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contractor by the hour or day | About $80 an hour intermediate to $150+ specialist; agency-placed seniors $750 to $1,100 a day (Kiwi Cost NZ salary guide, 2025) | Their hours, on your premises or remote. You manage the scope, they build. No handover discipline unless you insist on it | You have someone in-house who can write the spec and hold the scope |
| Freelancer via a platform | Wide range; often offshore, often below the NZ rates above | Cheap hours and variable quality. Whichever route you pick, check who gets admin rights to your Microsoft 365 tenant and where your data goes | A small, well-defined piece you can check yourself |
| Consultancy | Day rates at or above the contractor band, plus a paid discovery phase before a number; realistic minimum engagement $15,000 to $50,000 depending on size | A team: project manager, account manager, developers, a support retainer after. Real bench depth | A programme across several departments, or a board that needs a logo on the slide |
| Solo consultant, fixed price (this is me) | $4,000 to $8,000 for one app or automation; $8,000 to $18,000 for a SQL Server or Access migration; support by the hour after, no retainer required | The person you scope with writes the code. Source, credentials and documentation handed over at go-live, 60-day warranty | One system at a time, which is what most firms under 20 staff have. Not a 200-seat rollout |
Two things the table hides. First, the licence line does not change with who builds it: an app on SharePoint lists runs on the Microsoft 365 you already pay for, and anything on Dataverse or a premium connector costs NZ$32.40 per user per month, whoever built it. A developer who designs around that line is worth more than one who is cheaper by the hour. Second, hours are not the unit that matters. A contractor at $100 an hour who takes 120 hours because nobody held the scope costs more than a fixed $8,000 build, and you find out at the end.
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The twelve-question version, with what a good answer sounds like, is in questions to ask before hiring an automation consultant. Why the large partners answer the first question the way they do is in why the big Microsoft consultancies will not take your small migration.
Power Apps, Power Automate, Dataverse and Copilot Studio for firms with under 20 staff, fixed price, delivered remotely across New Zealand from Christchurch. The jobs that walk in the door and the prices are on the Power Apps developer page; migrations are on the migration hub; the bands are on services. Who this is for, and who it is not, is spelled out on the Power Platform consultant page. It starts with a free 30-minute call. If a $53-a-month subscription suits the job better than a build, I'll tell you that.
It depends on the shape you hire. NZ IT contractors run about $80 an hour for intermediate to $150 or more for specialists (Kiwi Cost's 2025 salary guide), and agency-placed senior contractors $750 to $1,100 a day. Consultancies quote day rates in that range or above plus a paid discovery phase. A solo consultant quotes the job: my bands are $4,000 to $8,000 for a single app or automation and $8,000 to $18,000 for a legacy system migration, migration included.
Almost never. In my experience a 10-person firm has roughly 20 to 40 days a year of actual Power Platform building once the first system is live (my estimate, not a survey), and a permanent developer costs a full salary plus KiwiSaver and leave for a job that is idle most of the year. Hire the build as a project with source and documentation handed over, and buy support by the hour after.
A freelancer or solo consultant sells their own hours or a fixed price, with no project manager or account manager on the invoice, and hands over source at the end. A consultancy sells a team: discovery phase, project manager, developers behind them, a support retainer after. The consultancy is right for a programme across departments; the solo route is right for one system at a time, which is what most firms under 20 staff actually have.
Yes. Who builds it changes nothing about Microsoft's licensing. Apps on SharePoint lists run on the Microsoft 365 seats you already pay for; Dataverse or a premium connector means Power Apps Premium at NZ$32.40 per user per month, whoever built the app. A good developer designs around that line and tells you before crossing it.
Is discovery paid and what do I get if I stop after it. Who writes the code and can I talk to them. What exactly is handed over at go-live: source, credentials, documentation, admin rights. What do I keep paying for it to keep working. Which licences will my staff need at Microsoft's NZ prices.
No, across New Zealand. Everything runs remotely over video call and screen-share, recorded so nothing gets lost between sessions.