Part of the reason is it is going to vary a LOT. Licensing costs are going to
vary according to how many licenses you buy, what MOSS/SQL/Windows editions you
use, what purchasing program you go through, etc and hardware will vary
depending on vendor. Could you be more specific about what MOSS features you
would be looking for, how many users, what type of users (employees vs.
clients/internet uses), what sort or performance/scalability/availability, etc.

Perhaps you don't need to go the whole MOSS2007 route to start  with.
Have you considered starting with a simple Secure Hosted SharePoint
solution.

The cost  of a full MOSS2007, SQL Server install with a decent number of
numbers is going to cost you in excessive of 20K. Of course it depends
what hardware you already have.

We don't you try it first and see if it works using a Hosted provider. I
would obviously recommend our own product at officetalk the popular
'officetalk Relay' which is a pay monthly secure hosted SharePoint
solution which can easily be migrated to a full MOSS2007 at a later
date, but there are a number of other UK companies offering basic hosted
SharePoint.

What is the approximate cost  of a hosted site?

If you Google: Sharepoint hosting, you'll get a list of dozens of companies
to choose from. Prices range from a few $$ a month upwards, depending on
features that you want.

> I'm just trying to get a complete cost  estimate (hardware & software)
> of everything (MOSS 2007, SQL Server, Windows Server 2005, Office
Enter
> etc.)that I would need to start  a small financial consulting company.
> I've been getting the run around from a number of different
consultants
> who can't give me a straight answer.....

There is no straight answer. It depends on who you talk to at Microsoft.

Just figuring out what you need to buy is daunting and (from what I've
found) MS is of little help.

As Andy suggests, don't bother with MOSS right now. Use WSS3. I have a
hunch a good number of MOSS customers bought MOSS prematurely without
fully looking at what WSS3 can provide.

> I would be forever in your debt.

And Microsoft's.

If I where you here is what I would get and implement:

Win2k3 (cost depends on licensing... contact MS)
WSS 3.0 (FREE)
MSSQL 2005 Express (FREE)

If its a small company this is all you need to start. Try it out
develop some procedures and pratices for your company on how to use
the SharePoint environment and you can grow into the full MOSS 2007
if you need. This does three things for your.

1. It reduces your inital investment.
2. Reduces the stresses that might cause you to "make it work"
because your initial investment was not over the top.
3. It allows you to grow into the larger more robust MOSS 2007

Hope this helps.