A British engineering firm of twelve people agrees terms with a distributor in Germany. One contract, two rulebooks. Before anyone signs, somebody has to establish what each side must file, register, notify and document, and in what order. Three quarters of companies expanding into a second member state report that they must hire external legal counsel, and SMEs put the direct cost of entering one more member state at EUR 10,000 to EUR 15,000. In a firm of twelve, that somebody is the finance manager or the founder, working at half past nine at night.

That list is the discovery layer. It exercises no judgement, and it runs first on every clock.

What two firms charge for a list

In England and Wales the judiciary's Guideline Hourly Rates took effect on 1 January 2026. A Grade A solicitor is set at GBP 288 an hour in National Band 2, and at GBP 579 an hour in London 1 for heavy commercial work. Across the border the shape is the same. The German bar's own statistics put the standard hourly rate at EUR 244 for the 2024 financial year.

Then the number doubles. A firm in London cannot state a German notification duty and a firm in Frankfurt cannot state a British one, so a business that wants both sides retains counsel in each country and reconciles the two answers itself. Our own model of that engagement, built on 30 August 2026 from the rates above, puts the discovery layer at GBP 1,800 to GBP 2,200 for a light deal, GBP 5,000 to GBP 7,000 for a middling one, and GBP 15,000 to GBP 20,000 at the top. Negotiation and drafting sit outside all three. Two to six weeks pass before drafting begins.

What the same list costs here

The Cross Border B2B Compliance Agent produces the discovery layer for both parties at GBP 750 a screening, against the mapped compliance law of the United Kingdom and all 27 European Union member states. It runs inside the firm's own Claude account, and the dashboard shows the run as it goes. Set against the middle bracket, that is GBP 4,250 to GBP 6,250 less.

Membership costs GBP 500 a month. It carries three screenings, GBP 2,250 at the standalone price, resetting each calendar month, with further screenings at GBP 525, every toolkit the firm owns kept current as the law moves, and the Policy Shift briefing on what changed. Three deals in one month, GBP 500.

This comparison holds for discovery only. The screening states no opinion. It is not legal advice and it does not replace counsel, and three deal types are refused by design: acquiring control of a business, investment, and transfers of controlled technology. What it changes is where counsel starts, on the questions that need judgement rather than on the list that does not.

Before the next deal

Behind the screening sits the register it reads: 115 toolkits featuring 3,262 compliance agents covering 9,904 catalogued obligations. Two pieces of it cost nothing: the free assessment reads that same register and returns only the obligations that already apply to a business, and company law and GDPR agents are free for the United Kingdom and each of the 27 member states. So the engineering firm has something to do tonight. Open a free account, run the assessment, and by morning the founder knows which obligations already sit on the firm, before the German side is even asked. The GBP 750 comes later, if the deal is real.

ComplianceSME research articles are available for republication in full, free of charge, with attribution. Requests to toolkit@compliancesme.com.

More from ComplianceSME

Every claim and its source

Direct set-up costs of 10,000 to 15,000 euro per market entered as estimated by SMEs, and three quarters of companies expanding to a second member state reporting that they must hire external legal counsel: European Economic and Social Committee, Establishing the 28th Regime in Europe, study by CEPS and Ecorys, November 2025, citing Eurochambres 2024. Guideline Hourly Rates in effect from 1 January 2026, Grade A at 288 pounds an hour in National Band 2 and 579 pounds an hour in London 1 for heavy commercial work: Judiciary of England and Wales, solicitors' guideline hourly rates, in effect 1 January 2026. The German standard hourly rate averaging 244 euro in the 2024 financial year: Institut fuer Freie Berufe at Friedrich-Alexander-Universitaet Erlangen-Nuernberg for the Bundesrechtsanwaltskammer, STAR 2025 statistical reporting system for lawyers, Nuremberg, February 2026. The two-firm brackets of 1,800 to 2,200 pounds, 5,000 to 7,000 pounds and 15,000 to 20,000 pounds, built from five, ten and twenty hours in each country at the rates above plus a coordination allowance, with negotiation and drafting excluded: ComplianceSME valuation memo, 30 August 2026. Elapsed time of two to six weeks for engagement, reading and written advice in two countries before drafting begins: ComplianceSME valuation memo, 30 August 2026. The deal screening price of 750 pounds, the membership fee of 500 pounds a month carrying three screenings worth 2,250 pounds at the standalone price and resetting each calendar month, 525 pounds for every screening beyond the allowance, owned toolkits kept current, and the Policy Shift briefing: ComplianceSME published prices and membership page, read 3 September 2026. Coverage of the United Kingdom and all 27 European Union member states, the screening running inside the customer's own Claude account with progress shown on the dashboard, and the three deal types refused by design, being the acquisition of control of a business, investment, and transfers of controlled technology: ComplianceSME Cross Border B2B Compliance Agent page and its designed scope boundary. The register of 115 toolkits featuring 3,262 compliance agents covering 9,904 catalogued obligations, the free assessment that reads it, and the free company law and GDPR agents for the United Kingdom and each of the 27 member states: ComplianceSME agent count definition of 1 September 2026, counted from the dashboard manifests on disk; ComplianceSME published pages, read 3 September 2026. Every claim above verified 3 September 2026, with the full claims register held on file.