The Real Cost of BPO Services: A Detailed Breakdown by Function
Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is often promoted as a cost-saving strategy. However, many organizations underestimate or misunderstand the true cost of BPO services . While hourly rates and per-FTE pricing are easy to compare, the real financial impact of BPO depends on function-specific costs, operational complexity, service scope, and long-term efficiency gains . This guide provides a detailed, function-by-function breakdown of BPO costs , helping businesses make informed outsourcing decisions based on value, not just price. Understanding How BPO Pricing Really Works Before analysing costs by function, it is important to understand how BPO providers structure pricing . Most BPO services are priced using one or more of the following models: Per Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) – Fixed monthly cost per resource Hourly pricing – Common for customer support and IT-enabled services Transaction-based pricing – Cost per processed task or unit Outcome-based pricing – Linked to perfo...