The Pricing Authority & Boundary Control system defines pricing and boundaries as structural decision conditions within FM Mastery.
Pricing is framed as a decision declaration, not a market tactic. Boundaries are framed as control conditions, not enforcement tools.
This system does not aim to improve rates, influence outcomes, manage clients, or optimize workload. It exists to determine whether pricing and boundaries are authorized by pre-existing decision authority or reactive to income pressure.
This system does not optimize results. It defines governance.
Problem State Being Resolved
Even when work acceptance authority is established, pricing often remains structurally reactive.
Income pressure re-enters at the pricing layer, converting declared prices into conditional positions and weakening boundaries that appear present but are not governed.
In this state, boundaries exist in language but erode under pressure, exceptions, or timing constraints.
The failure is not negotiation skill, confidence, or market conditions. It is the absence of pricing authority and boundary control as governed conditions.
Work may be accepted with intent, yet pricing and limits remain vulnerable.
(Depends on:
Q3.1 — Income Control Framework
Q3.2 — Work Acceptance Decision System
Q3.3 — Income Variability Mapping)
Core Definition: Pricing Authority (FM Mastery)
Pricing authority is the condition in which price is declared as a pre-authorized decision, independent of acceptance, persuasion, urgency, or outcome validation.
Within FM Mastery, pricing authority exists before interaction. It does not require confirmation through agreement, justification, or results.
Authority is anchored to already-governed decision conditions, not to external response.
This definition is structural and abstract. It does not assess whether prices are high, low, competitive, or effective.
Core Definition: Boundary Control (FM Mastery)
Boundary control is the condition in which limits function as governance constraints without enforcement, negotiation, or exception-based validation.
Boundaries are not defenses, rules, or acts of discipline. They are control conditions that remain intact without effort because they are structurally authorized.
Boundary control is not behavior. It is system integrity.
Authorized vs Reactive Pricing Signals
This system distinguishes conditions, not practices.
Authorized Pricing
• Price exists as a declared decision
• Acceptance does not validate price
• Outcomes do not retroactively justify pricing
• Pressure does not alter the decision state
Reactive Pricing
• Price adjusts in response to urgency
• Acceptance substitutes for authority
• Outcomes are used to defend pricing
• Pressure reshapes the decision
These signals are diagnostic only. They imply no correction.
Boundary Integrity vs Boundary Erosion
Boundary control is evaluated by stability under pressure.
Boundary Integrity
• Limits remain intact without reinforcement
• Exceptions are not required for continuity
• Pressure does not reframe constraints
Boundary Erosion
• Limits weaken under income timing pressure
• Exceptions normalize as conditions
• Constraints require justification to persist
This distinction is structural. It implies no corrective action.
System Boundaries (Explicit Exclusions)
This system does not:
• Set prices or ranges
• Improve negotiation outcomes
• Influence client quality
• Reduce workload
• Enforce boundaries
• Address discipline, confidence, or persuasion
It does not solve pricing problems. It defines whether pricing and boundaries are structurally governed.
System Boundary Declaration
This system formally governs:
• The definition of pricing authority within FM Mastery
• The definition of boundary control as a governance condition
• The distinction between authorized and reactive pricing and boundaries
It intentionally leaves unresolved:
• How prices are chosen
• How boundaries are communicated
• How outcomes are improved
Those concerns fall outside this definition.
State Confirmation (Non-Advisory)
After reading this system, one of two conditions will be recognizable:
• Pricing and boundaries operate as authorized decisions
• Pricing and boundaries remain reactive under pressure
Neither state implies failure or deficiency.
This system exists solely to name the condition—not to change it.
Formal System Closure
The definitions of Pricing Authority and Boundary Control are complete.
No corrective or optimization action is implied.
This system is final, authoritative, and locked for downstream Q3 use within FM Mastery.
(Next system: Q3.5 — Decision Confidence Reinforcement)