Ask what a Workday consultant costs and the honest answer is a range. The lowest-priced tenth of consultants charge $45 an hour or less. The top tenth charge $135 or more.
Most of that spread comes from four things you can see before you hire. The first is the module: the part of Workday the consultant works in, such as Payroll or Financials. The others are years in Workday, certification and location. Compare within those and the range narrows fast.
The figures below are the hourly rates Workday consultants on Turbin set for themselves, before any fee. Every one passed the same admission review. That means 3 checked references from recent projects and a review of their Workday project history.
Turbin also checks any certification with the Workday partner that issued it. 66% of consultants on Turbin hold one.
What does a Workday consultant charge by module?
Each of the 12 largest Workday modules on Turbin has a median between $80 and $100 an hour. Core HCM, Workday's main HR module, is the largest group, at $80. Core Finance is the highest of the large modules, at $100.
Among all modules, Adaptive Planning has the highest median, $125. It comes from a much smaller group, though.
The table shows only the largest modules. Consultants often work in several modules, so one person can appear in more than one row. The rate report lists all 32 modules with their full ranges and a CSV download. That includes Adaptive Planning and the smaller Financials modules.
| Module | Middle half | Median | Certified median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core HCM Workers, organizations, business processes, security groups | $65–$110 | $80 | $90 |
| Reporting Custom reports, dashboards, calculated fields | $65–$115 | $85 | $100 |
| Security Domain and business-process policies, segregation of duties | $80–$118 | $92 | $85 |
| Integrations EIB, Core Connectors, web services | $60–$100 | $80 | $100 |
| Recruiting Requisitions, pipelines, offers, career sites | $70–$110 | $85 | $115 |
| Payroll (US and Canada) Pay groups, earnings, tax setup, retro | $80–$115 | $90 | $120 |
| Absence Leave plans, accruals, time-off eligibility | $60–$100 | $80 | $95 |
| Benefits Plans, enrollment events, carrier files | $65–$109 | $85 | $105 |
| Talent and Performance Reviews, goals, succession, calibration | $80–$120 | $95 | $120 |
| Time Tracking Time entry, calculations, approvals | $60–$105 | $80 | $90 |
| Compensation Comp plans, merit and bonus cycles | $70–$119 | $85 | $118 |
| Core Finance Ledger, journals, close, allocations | $80–$130 | $100 | $110 |
USD per hour, before any fee. "Middle half" is the range that half of consultants fall in: a quarter charge less, a quarter more. Largest modules only. Certified median shown where at least ten consultants in the row hold a certification Turbin has checked. Consultants work in several modules, so one person can appear in more than one row.
The middle half is the most useful column for budgeting. A quarter of consultants in each module charge its low end or less. Another quarter charge its high end or more.
So a quote outside the range is not wrong, but it should come with a reason. Good reasons include unusual depth in the module, a certification the project needs, or a location that changes the price. If the quote comes from an agency, part of it may be the markup, not the consultant. Ask what the consultant is paid.
What moves a rate up or down
The module moves a rate most. The typical rate across the Financials modules is $106, against $84 across the HR (HCM) modules. Adaptive Planning is Workday's budgeting and forecasting tool. It is the highest of all, at $125.
Within HR the spread is narrower. Core HCM, Absence and Time Tracking all sit at $80. Talent and Performance reaches $95.
Years in Workday come next, up to a point. Consultants with under five years charge a median of $80. Those with 5 to 7 years charge $90, and those with 8 to 11 years $108.
After that the curve flattens. Consultants with 12 or more years charge $105, slightly less than the band before them. So the most senior name on a shortlist is not always the most expensive.
A certification Turbin has checked raises the median in 16 of the 17 modules where at least ten consultants hold one. The lift runs from $3 an hour in Adaptive Planning up to $33 in Compensation.
Security is the exception. Its certified consultants charge $85, against $92 for the module as a whole. Treat a certification as something to check for the work in front of you, not as a price tier.
Location is the last big lever. US-based consultants make up 63% of consultants on Turbin and charge a median of $100. Canada-based consultants charge $90. The lowest country median is $35, in Argentina.
The rates by country guide covers onshore, nearshore and offshore rates. It also explains when location matters for the work.
What do you pay on top of the rate?
On Turbin you pay the consultant's rate plus a flat 20%, shown as its own line on the invoice. So a consultant at the median of $92 bills at $110. You pay the fee on top of the rate, and it never comes out of it. The consultant gets their full rate.
Through a staffing agency, the same $92 consultant usually bills $129–$184. That reflects the 40–100% markup we see when clients share agency invoices. Agencies rarely show how much goes to the consultant and how much is markup. Ask what the consultant is paid. Most won't say, because the gap is their margin.
Over a typical engagement, the gap is real money. At the median of 15 hours a week for about 6 months, the same consultant costs about $43k on Turbin. Through an agency, it costs $50k to $72k. It is the same person doing the same work.
Watch the terms as well as the rate. An agency earns more when the bill rate is higher and the contract runs longer, and some raise the rate at renewal. Turbin's fee stays a flat 20% of the consultant's own rate.
The agency markup guide compares three routes over a whole engagement: an agency, Turbin and hiring directly. It also lists what to ask an agency before you sign.
What does a typical Workday engagement cost in total?
Most Workday engagements are part-time and run for months, so the total depends on hours as much as rate. Across engagements run through Turbin, the median is 15 hours a week for about 6 months. And 72% of consultants take part-time work.
These examples use each module's median rate, with Turbin's flat 20% included. Three months of Core HCM support after go-live, at 20 hours a week, comes to about $25k.
Next, say you build two new integrations with outside vendors over four months, at 15 hours a week. (An integration is a connection that sends data between Workday and another system.) At the Integrations median of $80, that is about $25k.
A six-month rebuild of an Adaptive Planning budget model at 30 hours a week, at $125, is about $117k. It is the clearest example of how far the module moves a budget. Through a staffing agency at the typical markup, the same rebuild would cost $137k to $195k.
There is no minimum engagement and no fee for ending early. 30 days' written notice ends one, and you pay for the work done. If the first week's work is not up to standard, Turbin replaces the consultant within 72 hours at no charge. If you are comparing an agency, ask what its minimum term is and what ending early costs.
Time is part of the budget too. On Turbin the median is 48 hours from request to hire. Through a staffing agency, expect 3–6 weeks, because most start looking only after you ask. Name the module, the hours and the type of work in your request. You will get a sharper shortlist than if you ask for a "Workday consultant".
Questions we get asked.
Not by default. Rate follows the module, location and years in Workday as much as anything else. Adaptive Planning specialists charge a median of $125, while Core HCM, the largest group on Turbin, sits at $80. For an HR project, a Core HCM consultant with recent references and the right project history is usually a better hire than a pricier generalist. Match the module first, then compare rates within it.
Location and experience. Consultants on Turbin are based in 19 countries. Those in Argentina charge a median of $35, against $100 in the United States. Consultants with under five years in Workday charge a median of $80. So compare rates within the same module, location and experience level, not across everyone.
No. These are the rates consultants set for themselves, and the consultant gets their full rate. Turbin adds a flat 20%