AMS stands for application management services. It is ongoing support from a consulting firm once Workday is live. A retainer is how it is usually sold: a fixed monthly fee for a set block of hours.
Most Workday customers face the AMS question when their rollout ends. The firm that set up Workday moves on, but the support tickets keep coming. These are requests to fix or change something in Workday.
So the firm offers a retainer: a block of hours each month, one rate for everyone, and a twelve-month term. It looks like insurance. Often it is a way of buying one or two people's time at about twice what they are paid.
This guide takes the retainer apart line by line and compares it with the other option. The rates quoted are the hourly rates Workday consultants on Turbin set for themselves. How an AMS rate splits between the firm and the consultant is an estimate, and we say so, because firms rarely publish it. To run the numbers on your own contract, use the AMS calculator.
What does an AMS retainer actually pay for?
A Workday AMS retainer usually pays for a fixed block of hours each month, at one hourly rate. That "blended" rate is the same for everyone the firm assigns, senior or junior. The contract usually runs twelve months and renews on its own. You get a report of hours by ticket type.
The service behind it is real. It covers sorting incoming tickets and making small improvements. It also covers testing that nothing breaks when Workday ships its two big updates each year. The pricing model is where the money leaks.
The block of hours is sized to how many tickets you expect. In the first year after go-live, nobody knows that number. In a typical contract, unused hours often do not carry over to the next month, and extra hours cost more. So you pay for the quiet months and pay extra for the busy ones.
The blended rate also hides who did the work. You pay one rate whoever picks up the ticket. So an hour from a junior consultant can cost you a senior price. You do not see who handled your ticket, or what they were paid.
The yearly commitment is the part that gets the least attention. Twelve months that renew on their own is common, and the renewal is when the rates usually change. Ask when the window to cancel closes. Miss it, and you may be committed for another year. The report, if there is one, shows hours used by ticket type. It rarely shows what was delivered, rarely ties work to your plans, and rarely names who did what.
Where does the AMS bill rate actually go?
On a typical split, about 50% of an AMS bill rate stays with the firm. That share pays for management, sales and overhead. The rest pays the consultant who works on your Workday system.
Take an example retainer at $200 an hour for 140 hours a month. That is about $336,000 a year. On that split, the consultant doing the work is paid around $100 an hour.
That same consultant through Turbin bills $120: their $100 plus a flat 20%. You get a monthly invoice with their name on it. That is $80 an hour less, a 40% lower bill rate. At the same hours, you save $11,200 a month and $134,400 a year.
The split is an estimate, not a measurement. AMS firms do not publish what they pay the people on your account. The split also varies by firm and by seniority, so ask yours.
Put simply, on that estimated split about 50 cents of each dollar you pay reach the person working on your tickets. The rest pays for the firm. The firm is not overcharging for the consultant. It is charging for everything around the consultant. Whether that is worth $134,400 a year depends on how much of it you actually use. The agency markup guide does the same math for a staffing agency.
What is the alternative to a retainer?
The alternative is one or two named consultants who know your Workday system. You pay for the hours you use, at their own rate plus a flat 20%. On Turbin, the median rate is $92, which bills at $110.
You know who does the work, because you pick them. You see the consultant's rate before you talk. Turbin's fee is its own line on the invoice, and the consultant gets their full rate.
Hours work differently too. There is no block. The consultant logs hours each week, and your team lead approves them. The hours roll into one monthly invoice on Net-30 terms. So you pay only for the hours used, no unused hours expire, and extra hours cost no more.
There is no yearly commitment and no minimum term. 30 days' notice ends the engagement. If the first week's work is not up to standard, Turbin replaces the consultant within 72 hours at no charge.
When you need deeper skills, add a specialist for just the hours you need. You pay their rate, rather than a blended rate for a generalist who is still learning. On Turbin, US and Canadian Payroll consultants charge a median of $90, and Core Finance consultants $100.
Across engagements run through Turbin, the median is 15 hours a week for about 6 months. That is the shape of most support after go-live. And 72% of consultants on Turbin take part-time work.
Switching is quick. On Turbin the median is 48 hours from request to hire. Through a staffing agency, expect 3–6 weeks. So a named consultant can overlap with the last weeks of a retainer, with no gap in support.
Large consulting firms and Workday services partners are the right choice for a full rollout. For one named specialist, part-time or for a few months, their minimums, blended rates and time to staff usually make them the expensive route.
The engagement models guide covers when a fixed-scope project or a permanent hire fits better than either.
What report should an AMS firm send you?
Ask for one written report a month. It should name every consultant and show what each hour delivered. Each piece of work should link to an item on your Workday roadmap: your list of planned changes.
Ticket types and blended hours are not enough. Whoever you pay, an AMS firm or a named consultant, this report is the minimum. It is also the document that lets you negotiate a renewal.
A firm that already tracks hours by ticket can add a "what was delivered" column within a month. When there is pushback, it is usually about what that column would show. If the firm cannot or will not do it, ask why.
To see the format, you can ask for a sample monthly report by email on the transparency report page.
Questions we get asked.
Yes, when you truly need cover across many parts of Workday at unpredictable hours. It also fits when nobody in-house can pass a ticket to the right specialist. That cover is worth paying for. But a retainer should not be a way to buy one person's time at about twice their rate. Nor should it come with a monthly report of ticket types instead of names and results.
Usually more than you expect. Many Workday consultants work across several related modules (parts of Workday, such as Absence and Time Tracking). And 72% of consultants on Turbin take part-time work. So 15 hours a week from one person who knows your Workday system is a normal engagement, not a special request. For deep Payroll or Financials work, add a second specialist for the hours you need.
Mostly the cost of handing over what the firm knows. Before the retainer ends, ask for written notes on how your Workday system is set up, plus the ticket history. Then give the new consultant two weeks of overlap on live tickets. Turbin engagements have no minimum term and end on 30 days' notice. So the overlap does not need a second yearly contract, only the hours it takes.