PRACTICE / THREE CORE PRACTICES · FOUR ENGAGEMENT MODELS

Engineering, on your side of the desk.

Three core practices — software, AI & automation, and embedded engineering — run by the same small senior team, with a few supporting services alongside. Pick a shape: a one-off sprint, an embedded squad, or a long retainer. Pricing is plain — we scope the work first, then quote in working days. Fixed, transparent, no hidden fees.

Not ready for a full engagement? Start with a 2-week audit →

CHAPTER01DISCIPLINES

What we actually do.

i

Software, built to last

iOSAndroidWebCross-platform

Our original craft. We build apps that ship, scale, and keep working after launch. Native where it matters, cross-platform where it doesn't.

From On request 6–12 weeks · fixed price

What you get

  • Native iPhone and iPad apps (iOS, SwiftUI) and/or Android (Kotlin) apps, App Store + Play release pipeline
  • Web/admin built in React or Next.js, deployed to your cloud or ours
  • Weekly demo, shared WhatsApp/Slack, code-ownership agreed up front
  • Post-launch support included on every project

Stack

SwiftUIKotlinReactNext.jsFlutterSupabaseFirebase
ii

AI & Automation

LLMRAGAgentsAutomationInternal tools

We help SMEs move from "ChatGPT on the side" to AI that is wired into the workflow — measured, evaluated, and owned.

From On request 4–10 weeks · fixed price

What you get

  • An honest AI readiness assessment — including "don't bother" cases
  • A working internal copilot or RAG system trained on your documents
  • An evaluation harness so model and prompt changes can be measured
  • Hand-off documentation your in-house team can run
  • Workflow automation and internal tools that take the repetitive work off your team

Stack

ClaudeGPT-4oLlama 3Postgres + pgvectorLangGraphModal
iii

Built With You

Remote-firstHybridSquad of 2–4

An engineer or two working alongside you on a weekly cadence, writing software against the actual operation — remote-first, hybrid, on-site when it genuinely helps. This is Forward-Deployed Engineering, our way: we embed in your problem and own the outcome — Accord's most differentiated engagement shape. See the full FDE page →

From Monthly retainer 6+ weeks · per engineer

Best for

  • Operations-heavy businesses — logistics, F&B, professional services, and multinational corporates
  • Founders who know "there's a tool here" but can't scope it from a deck
  • Teams that have lived through one bad outsourced project already
— We also offer
iv

Business Re-engineering

AuditAutomationInternal tools

A two-week process audit, a written roadmap, and a small set of internal tools that pay for the engagement in the first quarter.

2-week fixed-fee audit · credited to build
v

Growth & Marketing

AcquisitionRetentionAnalytics

The unglamorous loops that turn a product into a business — instrumented, tested weekly, and we only keep what moved the number.

Monthly retainer · 3-month minimum
vi

Fractional CTO

RetainerHiringArchitecture

Senior engineering leadership for founders pre-Series A and SMEs without a head of tech. Steady cadence, real accountability, no headcount.

Monthly retainer · 6-month minimum

WE C.A.R.E. — Code rescue

AuditRescueHandover

Quietly run since 2014 — named on the original site, kept because it remains one of the most useful things we do. We read the source code your former developer left behind and tell you, honestly, where you stand: Code read, Audit, Roadmap (rebuild / refactor / run-as-is), and Execution only if you choose us.

2-week fixed-price audit · written report
CHAPTER02ENGAGEMENT MODELS

Four shapes a relationship can take.

Not every engagement starts with an invoice. Some clients pay us the senior rate; some bring an idea but no capital; some want a partner, not a vendor; some are not-for-profit and we work for the cost of the coffee. We have built the studio to handle all four without pretending they are the same thing.

i

Professional

FOR · MOST CLIENTS

Standard fee-for-service. You bring the brief, we scope the work, we ship against a signed agreement. Built for clients with a budget and a clear ask — the bulk of what we do.

→ FIXED FEE OR T&M
ii

Investment

FOR · FOUNDERS WITH AN IDEA

You have the idea; the cheque is the bottleneck. We open our investor network — angels, family offices, the in-house sponsored-projects pool — and, where the project fits, help raise the capital that gets it built. Our investor page is the long version.

→ SEE INVESTOR PAGE
iii

Cooperation

FOR · STARTUPS · PARTNERS

A partnership shape, not a vendor shape. We can take work outsourced from other studios and treat it as our own; or sit beside a startup as a long-term partner in the business itself — sometimes at a flexed rate that respects what an early team can afford.

→ FLEXED RATE OR EQUITY
iv

Charity

FOR · NGOs · SMALL ORGS

For Hong Kong NGOs, charities and the smallest startups, we run a quota of low-cost or pro-bono consultations each year. It is our way of giving something back to the community we work in. There is no application form — a real email gets a real answer.

→ LIMITED QUOTA / YEAR
CHAPTER03HOW WE COMPARE

AccordHK vs. the others.

AccordHK Big agency Freelancer In-house build
Senior people on your project
Ship in weeks, not quarters
Stays after launch
No fixed bench you pay for
HK + EU team — near round-the-clock
CHAPTER04FREQUENT QUESTIONS

Questions we get a lot.

How do you price?

Plainly. For custom work and forward-deployed engagements, we need to understand your scope before we can quote anything meaningful — so the first call is free, and the first written plan comes out of it. The price itself is built from working days, fixed once we agree on the scope, and transparent on the line items. We don’t do hourly-creep or surprise invoices. If the scope changes mid-way, we tell you, and we agree the change before we do the work.

What does a typical engagement look like?

A free 35-minute discovery call → a short written plan (1 page, not 30) → a fixed-price audit or a time-boxed first sprint → an ongoing shape (retainer, squad, or embedded). Most clients we still work with today started with a small audit or a short build, then grew the relationship from there.

Who owns the code?

Ownership is yours to take. For most engagements you can own the resulting software outright, and we will never lock you in or hold work hostage; a clean hand-over is one of the things we are most proud of. Some fixed-scope or product-based engagements ship the working product without full source by default; full ownership on those is simply an option we scope and price in. We agree which model applies before any work starts.

Can you work with our existing developers?

Often that's the best shape. We frequently sit alongside an in-house team — sometimes filling a senior gap, sometimes accelerating a single workstream, sometimes mentoring a junior team into the next tier. We don't do politics, and we make sure your team gets the credit.

/ / WHERE NEXT

Not sure which shape you need?

That's what the first call is for. Tell us the problem; we'll tell you which practice (if any) is the honest answer.