How much should I quote for this project?
What does the Project pricing calculator do, and who is it for?
Price a project from hours, rate and target margin.
For: Any agency owner
Project pricing calculator
Quote a project without leaking margin
Pricing per hour invites scope arguments. Pricing per project anchors the client on the outcome. This finds the floor from your hours estimate, then adds the margin you need, so the quote already carries the cost of running the business.
+What is the calculation?
Delivery cost. Your hours estimate multiplied by the blended hourly rate you'd pay the team to do the work. Not your sell rate to the client - your internal cost.
Quote. Delivery cost divided by (1 - margin), rounded to the nearest $100. The cleaner the number, the easier the conversation.
Buffer. The optional 15% sits on top to absorb the scope creep that shows up on roughly every project. Use it when the brief is vague, skip it when the SOW is tight.
Not sure what blended rate to use? Calculate your true hourly rate first.
effective rate $250/hour
- Delivery cost
- $10,000
- Margin
- $10,000
- Buffer
- $0
Quote rounded to the nearest $100. Margin shown is the dollars you keep above delivery cost - not the markup percentage on the client price.
How this is calculated
The quote is your delivery cost divided by one minus your target margin, rounded to the nearest hundred. Delivery cost is estimated hours times your blended internal rate, not your sell rate.
The optional 15% buffer sits on top to absorb the scope creep that lands on most projects. Margin targets of 30 to 70% bracket the range, with 50% as a healthy middle that clears the 35% project-margin benchmark SPI Research treats as strong.
Sources
- 2026 Professional Services Maturity BenchmarkSPI Research (Service Performance Insight)509 firms, 160+ KPIs. Healthy billable utilisation 70%+, project margin 35%+, revenue leakage under 5%.
- A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)Project Management InstituteContingency reserves are standard practice for known estimating risk like scope change.
Frequently asked
How should an agency price a project?+
Estimate the hours, multiply by your blended internal rate to get delivery cost, then divide by one minus your target margin. Pricing per project anchors the client on the outcome, not the clock.
What margin should I build into a quote?+
A 50% gross delivery margin is a healthy middle for most agencies. SPI Research treats a project margin of 35% or more as strong, so 50% leaves room for the usual overruns.
Should I add a buffer for scope creep?+
If the brief is vague, yes. A 10 to 15% contingency is standard project-management practice for known estimating risk. If the scope is tight and signed, you can skip it.
Why not just charge by the hour?+
Hourly pricing rewards slowness and invites arguments over every line. A fixed project price built from your hours estimate keeps the upside if you deliver efficiently.
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