How to Price Freelance Work Without Missing Hidden Hours

A project price needs to cover more than the time spent making the final file. Count messages, preparation, revisions, and a share of the time you spend finding work. Then subtract fees and costs before comparing the result with your target.

The worksheet below helps you set a quote and test whether a project fits. It does not tell you what clients will pay or promise that work will be available.

Define the job before pricing it

Write down the deliverable, size limit, client inputs, deadline, revision allowance, and exclusions. A price for “editing” is hard to judge. A price for editing one two-page resume, with one revision to the agreed brief, is something you can estimate.

For the fictional example below, the client supplies a complete draft. The job excludes writing a new resume, a cover letter, or job-search coaching. Missing inputs or a different brief require a new agreement before work starts.

Count all the hours

These times and prices are hypothetical inputs, not market rates or typical earnings.

Work	Planned hours
Review the brief and answer messages	0.5
Edit and format the document	2.0
Complete one revision	0.5
Deliver files and update records	0.5
Share of unpaid sales and admin time	0.5
Total	4.0

To estimate the last row, divide your unpaid sales and general admin hours by completed paid projects over the same period. Do not count an hour here if you already included it elsewhere. When you have no history, use a clearly labeled estimate and replace it with actual time after your first projects.

If you spend time on proposals that never become paid work, that time still belongs in your business records. If you complete no paid projects, report the time and costs as a loss for that period; do not divide by zero or assume future sales will cover them.

Calculate what remains per hour

Use this arithmetic for a single project:

Amount remaining before tax = project price − seller fees − project costs − allocated overhead.

Effective hourly amount before tax = amount remaining ÷ total hours.

For a Fiverr example, Fiverr currently says freelancers receive 80% of a completed order’s purchase amount, including extras and tips, before taxes. [1] Check the current terms before quoting. Other platforms and payment methods have different fee structures.

Assume a fictional $150 project, the 20% Fiverr deduction, $8 of project costs, and $12 of allocated overhead:

• Seller fee: $150 × 0.20 = $30.
• Remaining before tax: $150 − $30 − $8 − $12 = $100.
• Effective hourly amount: $100 ÷ 4 hours = $25 per hour before tax.

Those results come from the stated assumptions. They are not take-home pay or a prediction. Add any payout, currency-conversion, or other charges that apply to you. Count each cost once.

Work backward from a target

Suppose your own planning target is $30 per hour before tax, after the costs included above. With four hours of work and $20 in costs, you need $140 left after the percentage fee.

When a single percentage fee applies to the whole project price:

Required price = (target hourly amount × total hours + costs) ÷ (1 − fee rate).

For this example: ($30 × 4 + $20) ÷ 0.80 = $175.

Check it: $175 − $35 fee − $20 costs = $120; $120 ÷ 4 = $30 per hour before tax. Adding 20% to $140 would produce $168, which would fall short because the fee applies to the final price.

This shortcut does not cover tiered fees or fees charged on a different base. Include fixed charges in costs and calculate tiered charges under the actual fee schedule. A fee rate of 100% leaves no revenue to cover the target; do not use the formula with a zero or negative denominator.

Your planning target also needs room for your own taxes, benefits, time off, and business uncertainty. There is no universal target that fits every freelancer.

Test what happens when the work takes longer

At the $175 example price, the same fees and costs leave $120 before tax. If revisions add two hours, the result drops to $20 per hour across six hours. The client did not change the price, but the extra time changed the outcome.

Before accepting, decide what you will do if the estimate is wrong:

Situation	A practical response
Client has a smaller budget	Offer a smaller deliverable you can complete honestly, or decline. Recalculate the hours.
Client requests a new deliverable	Describe the added work and agree on a separate price and deadline before doing it.
You made an error in the agreed work	Correct it under your agreement; do not relabel your mistake as a paid extra.
Revision request is unclear	Ask for one consolidated list and compare it with the agreed brief.
Your estimate was too low	Honor the current agreement and use the actual hours to change future quotes.

Suggested wording for an added deliverable:

“The agreed package covers [original scope]. The new request adds [specific work]. I can quote that separately, or we can keep the original scope and deadline. Which would you prefer?”

Use the platform’s approved order-change process when applicable.

Keep a record after delivery

Record the quoted price, money actually received, each fee, costs, hours, refunds, and why the estimate differed. Count sales time across the same period so a quiet month does not disappear from your calculations.

The IRS says gig income must be reported even when it is part-time or no information form arrives. [2] This worksheet calculates a planning amount before tax; it does not calculate your tax bill or decide which expenses are deductible.

For your next quote, copy these six fields: scope, hours, fees, costs, target, price. Run the calculation, test a longer revision scenario, and decide whether to quote, reduce the scope, or pass. If you are setting up your first service, use our Fiverr setup guide alongside the worksheet.