Vocations · Professional Development · Freelancing

Quote the project.
Keep the rate.

List the phases and hours, set the rate you need, and the calculator builds a fixed price that still pays that rate after the buffer, the costs and the card fee.

Price my projectWhat you get

The freelance project pricing calculator

The worked example is a website redesign for a bakery. Nothing you type leaves this browser.

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What you get

Vocations · Professional DevelopmentFree

What you finish with
A fixed project price rounded to the next $25, the deposit and balance, what the work pays an hour on the estimate and if it runs over, and the price of each phase. It prints as a summary to attach to the quote.
Who it is for
Freelancers and contractors quoting a fixed price, students taking their first paid design, writing or coding job, and adults starting a side business.
Format
Browser calculator for a phone, tablet or computer, by touch or keyboard. Prints a summary; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); export and import a file.
Access
Free. No account, no sign-in and nothing to install. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Professional Development space in Caveat Vocations.
Support
Questions, a correction or a request: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. List each phase and its hours.
  2. Set the hourly rate you need.
  3. Keep a buffer for revisions.
  4. Add costs and the card fee.
  5. Send the quote with the scope.

Price my project

How the quote is built

Hours first, then the padding, the costs and the fee, then a round number.

The worked example: a bakery website redesignEstimate62 hfour phasesWith buffer71.3 h+15% for surprisesLabor + costs$5,588$75 an hour, $240Quote$5,775fee covered, up to $25The worked example: a bakery website redesignEstimate62 hfour phasesWith buffer71.3 h+15% for surprisesLabor + costs$5,588$75 an hour, $240Quote$5,775fee covered, up to $25
Hours set the labor; the buffer, direct costs and payment fee are added on top, then the price is rounded up.

Why a buffer

Estimates run short more often than long: an extra round of revisions, a slow reply, a file in the wrong format. Project managers call the padding a contingency reserve. Ten to twenty percent is common for small projects; a new kind of work deserves more.

Covering the fee

A card or invoice platform keeps a share of every payment. Adding the fee on top of the subtotal falls short; dividing the subtotal by one minus the fee is what leaves the full amount in your account. The rounded quote then reads as a decision, not a calculation.

Sources

  1. Project Management Institute. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide): contingency reserves (pmi.org).
  2. U.S. Small Business Administration. Calculate your startup costs and manage your finances (sba.gov).
  3. Internal Revenue Service. Self-Employed Individuals Tax Center (irs.gov).
  4. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Outlook Handbook, pay by occupation, for checking a rate against the market (bls.gov/ooh).

The quote is arithmetic on your own estimates; it does not set a market rate. Income from the project is self-employment income for federal tax. Your entries stay in this browser. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.