Early spending is usually limited to an eligibility assessment and a source-of-funds review, which are worth doing before any project deposit. Translation, evaluation and project diligence costs follow once a structure is chosen. Ask for a staged scope showing what each phase covers, what triggers the next fee, and what happens if the review finds a problem.
Get the scope in writing before phase one
A written scope should say who does the work, which filings are included, whether responses to later requests for evidence are covered, and how dependants are handled. Confirm official filing fees from the agency at the time of each step rather than from a quotation prepared months earlier. Separately, note that any project's administrative or subscription charges are additional to the qualifying capital, not part of it.
Hypothetical example: an applicant considering a food-distribution warehouse project is quoted a single fee covering everything from assessment to conditional residence. A first review would ask for that to be broken into stages with a trigger for each, so the applicant can stop after the source-of-funds review if it goes badly. It would also confirm in writing whether responses to later requests for evidence are included, since those are the most common source of unexpected cost, and would separate the project's own administrative charges from the qualifying capital, which they are not part of.