Kaching!
Project Cost Calculator
What is it?
It does what it says in the name. Feed the calculator the amount of time you think you’ll take on a project, along with your rate and details of your client.
Press a button.
It will spit out a number that you can use to start negotiating.
What it’ll need from you
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Your hourly rate.
You don’t have to share this with your client. This hourly rate just helps you put a dollar figure to the amount of effort you will spend on the project.
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Your relationship with the client.
Your effort on a project is proportional to how easy or difficult it is to work with your client. This project cost calculator takes this into account with a simple ranking system.
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A task-wise breakdown of your project.
Breaking a project into smaller tasks is crucial to reveal the actual scope of work. It is an effective way to ensure you don’t underestimate effort, or worse, underquote.
What you’ll get in return
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A solid pre-negotiation figure
A figure back by data that will give you confidence to hold your ground, and a flexible base for discussing scope reductions or adjustments with a client.
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Reveals actual task and effort
It forces you to break down the project into granular tasks to prevent underestimating the actual scope of work and, consequently, prevent underquoting.
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A cost that accounts for your effort
Combines your hourly rate, detailed effort estimations, and client-specific variables, to generate a final, objective number. Gives you the confidence to present your fee knowing it accurately covers all your effort, overhead, and desired profit margin.
A bit of history
One of the things I hate most about freelancing is figuring out a cost for a project.
When I started freelancing I used to wing it. Which is code for 'how much money do I think I need' tempered by 'how much I think the client will pay'.
My first leap forward was when I decided to calculate a cost per hour of my time. I landed on Rs. 1000 a day (8 hours of work). Seemed like a nice round figure. But then I saw rates on upwork and realised I would out-price myself into penury.
A flexible hourly rate
I landed on a flexible rate depending on the amount of work, kind of work, and the kind of client.
I charge more per hour for tv script projects because I have 15 years of experience and clients usually have good budgets.
I charge less per hour for bootstrapped startups because I am still building my portfolio, and I really enjoy working with founders.
I charge upwork and fiver rates for pure content jobs because I am in a competitive market, and who doesn’t need money?
The actual work is only 10% of the job
My second evolution was realising that a job as a freelancer also involved dealing with the repercussions of things like number of people approving the work, lack of clarity about the project outcome, etc.
I did some complex (for me) math and arrived at a formula that helped me set good budgets. I kept refining it over 4 years till I got to a point where I could share a budget in under 30 minutes.
This calculator is a refined version of the calculator I use.
Breaking down a project
The trick is to be able to break the task into smaller bits and try to account for everything. So instead of writing Script First draft - 12 hours, I write:
Ideating - 3 hours
First draft - 5 hours
Editing - 2 hours
Second draft - 30 min
Making a deck - 30 min
Presentation and feedback - 1 hour
This exercise helps me in three ways.
One: it gives me a good idea of the amount of effort involved.
Two: it helps me justify the cost.
Three: I have a base to start my negotiations with, and I know what I can take out of the scope, or spend less time on if the budget is low.
✺ Frequently asked questions ✺
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Kaching! eliminates the guesswork of pricing by moving past the flawed "what I think the client will pay" approach.
By combining your desired hourly rate, detailed effort estimations, and client-specific variables, it generates a final, objective number.
This process gives you the confidence to present your fee knowing it accurately covers all your effort, overhead, and desired profit margin.
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Trust me I know how much of a headache it is.
I have devised a formula that factors in the hidden, intangible costs of a project—like the number of people involved in the approval process, the client’s clarity of vision, or the likelihood of revisions.
In my experience of using this calculator I have been compensated for the administrative friction and emotional energy required to manage a challenging client or project, not just the creative work itself.
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The reason I used to underquote before is effort underestimation.
Kaching! forces you to break the project down into granular, minute-by-minute tasks (like "Ideating," "First Draft," "Editing," "Presentation").
This simple exercise reveals the true scope of work, ensuring you account for every step. The result is a cost estimate that is far more accurate and defensible.
I have rarely underquoted after listing out everything I know I have to do to wrap up a project.
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Kaching! gives you a powerful base for negotiation because your quote is built on data, not emotion.
You won't just be defending a final number; you'll be defending a comprehensive breakdown of effort.
If a client has a lower budget, you can confidently discuss scope reduction—like removing a round of revisions or skipping a presentation deck—instead of just lowering your rate.
This allows you to maintain your value while still finding a solution that fits the client's budget.
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I built this for individual project, but friends have used it for retainer projects also.
Instead of estimating a single project's time, they input the estimated aggregate tasks (e.g., 5 hours for meetings, 15 hours for design sprints, 10 hours for revisions) across a month.
This systematic approach ensures your monthly retainer rate isn't just a round number but a fair, data-driven figure that accounts for all recurring tasks and necessary administrative effort.
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Your fee isn't just about the number of hours you spend—it’s about your expertise and experience, which you should bake into a premium hourly rate.
If you have years of experience your hourly rate should be multiples more than someone with a few years of experience.
I usually find that breaking down the task helps me identify the premium that only I can provide to the client.
I focus on these service deliverable during my conversations so they are well aware of what I bring to the table, and so won’t mind paying my premium.