@Bearface : Software is a rare case of getting more money for doing poor work. The customers are usually unaware or have a very hard time finding out what they bought. This is of course when you have customers, preferably ones with no alternatives. I blame Microsoft as the leader in having a shameless exploitation of the situation.
From having done Quality Assurance on accounting software projects, the budget is king,
and the project length is queen. QA after Design and Programming, can be a valued son of
the project or a bastard child barely recognized as part of the project. Depending on the
budget, programming heads that direction also, as designs changes mount before
programming even starts. Don't even get me started on outsourcing as Dilbert has reminded
us so often with Elbonian engineers who are allowed to bring their pigs to work.