Buyer decision tool
A brief can look complete and still leave the supplier scoping a different job. This checklist produces a scope decision record with an owner and evidence against each line, so both sides describe the same work before a number is quoted.
Use it: Before you ask suppliers to scope AI data collection or production work.
Proof scale
300+ languages 1,000+ brands served since 2015 across AI data, translation, localization, media, and interpretation.When to use this
Ask these questions until both sides can describe the same work without filling gaps with assumptions.
What it produces
The checklist
Every question below is on the page as text. Use the link on any row to send a colleague straight to that one question.
| Ask this | A useful answer is specific about | What the answer actually tells you |
|---|---|---|
| What exactly is the supplier doing, and what stays with your team? # | Separate collection or production from coordination, consent and privacy handling, quality review, and final acceptance. Write down any assumption that still needs agreement. | Whether both sides are scoping the same job, or one side has silently included work the other expects to own. |
| What counts as one deliverable unit? # | What belongs in the unit, what must travel with it, and what is excluded. | Whether volume can be counted consistently and whether hidden work sits outside the stated unit. |
| What is the full recording or production period? # | The number of working days or the date window, plus the expected work pattern within it. Hours per day without the number of days is incomplete. | Whether the schedule and staffing request are measurable rather than implied. |
| What files, samples or recording conditions will the supplier actually receive? # | The input condition, the relevant contributor or speaker profile, and the conditions that would make the source unusable. | Whether the scope is based on the material that will arrive, rather than an ideal example. |
| What must the finished delivery contain? # | File type, technical settings, metadata, naming rules, packaging, and anything that must accompany each unit. | Whether the supplier is building the output you can actually ingest and review. |
| What equipment is required, and who is responsible for it? # | The device and specification, who buys or supplies it, who configures it, who handles shipping, and what happens to it afterwards. | Whether a major operational responsibility is included, excluded, or still sitting between the two sides. |
| Where will the work happen, and how will material move? # | Who owns the workspace, how access is granted, how uploads are batched, and who receives each hand-off. | Whether the delivery route works in practice and where material could stall. |
| Who handles privacy, consent and quality review? # | One named side for each activity, including final acceptance. Do not leave an assumption doing the work of an agreement. | Whether sensitive or quality-critical tasks have a real owner. |
| What will count as accepted, and who can approve a change? # | The acceptance rule, reviewer, correction route, exclusions, and who can approve a scope change. | Whether everyone shares the same definition of done and whether later changes will be visible. |
How to fill it in
Work down the first column with the supplier in the room. A row is only answered when the middle column is specific — a yes that is not specific about anything is the thing this tool exists to catch. Write the unresolved rows down; those are the ones worth a call.
What counts as evidence
A named owner, a document you can open, a sample produced under the instructions you will actually use, or a test whose result changes the decision. A capability statement, an organisation-wide headcount, or a claim about a different assignment does not answer these rows.
The document
The PDF needs no sign-in and is free to forward or quote. The working document is there if you would rather copy the checklist into your own process. If either will not open for you, tell us and we will fix it the same day.
Where this fits
The guide explains what to look for; this checklist is what you take into the conversation. Both are published in full.
A procurement framework for speaker fit, consent scope, recording control, metadata integrity, QA evidence, and pilot-to-production governance.
Read the guideStuck on a row?