TestingBudget

Run

Report and sign off

The per-run work of summarising results against the exit criteria and giving the release a go or no-go.

Unit
minutes per run
Where you enter it
Run tab, Detailed mode, per vendor.

What it means

The end of a regression cycle: compiling pass rates and open defects against the plan's exit criteria, and producing the summary the release decision is made on. It is a fixed amount per run rather than per case.

It is per vendor because tools with good reporting produce most of the summary; with poor reporting, someone assembles it by hand.

Why it matters to the cost

Small per run, but it is the one activity that exists at every cadence and every suite size, and it is the output the rest of the organisation actually sees. Thirty minutes a run at twenty-six runs is thirteen hours a year.

Typical values

Twenty to thirty minutes per run; longer where sign-off is a meeting.

Typical values describe a category of tool — AI-native, codeless, script-based, homegrown, manual — never a named product. Why we do not price named products.

Where it appears in the model

Run — every release

tests broken per run
Total test cases × Test breakage rate ÷ Runs per year — found here, repaired under Maintain
flaky per run
Total test cases × Flaky failures per run
Failures per run
Defects found per run + tests broken per run + flaky per run — derived, never asked
Run effort
Prepare and start a run + Failures per run × Triage one failure + Defects found per run × Write up one defect + Report and sign off — an automation tool
Run effort
Prepare and start a run + Total test cases × Execution time per case + Defects found per run × Write up one defect + Report and sign off — a manual approach — the tester is the run
Machine time per run
Total test cases × Execution time per case — automation only; duration, not labour
Run cost per year
Run effort per run × Runs per year × Effective hourly rate + Token cost

Every name is a link to its definition. See the whole model.

Try it with your numbers

Report and sign off is a row in the calculator. Change it and every total on the page moves with it — free, in your browser, nothing to install.

See how report and sign off impacts the calculation of test automation costs

Related terms

  • Run effort The person-hours a run costs — preparation, triage, defect write-up and sign-off for a tool; execution itself for manual testing — and the same figure over a year.
  • Prepare and start a run The per-run overhead before and during execution: environment readiness, test data, kick-off and monitoring.
  • Runs per year How many times a year the full regression suite is executed — the multiplier that turns a per-run cost into an annual one.

Last reviewed 2026-09-15. All terms.