Switched from a monthly retainer to project-based billing for a regular client

I had a client in Austin who I'd been charging $1500 a month for bookkeeping. They asked me to handle their year-end taxes too, which was a big extra job. I almost just added it to the retainer, but my friend said to price it as a separate project. I quoted $2200 for the tax work alone, and they agreed without a fuss. Now I see I was leaving money on the table by bundling everything into one flat fee. How do you guys decide when to switch from a retainer to project pricing?

3 comments

3 Comments

hollyscott9d ago

That's a smart move, breaking out the big extra jobs. I've seen similar things in my own work. Sometimes a client will ask for packing help on top of the standard move, and it's easy to just say "sure" and throw it in. But that's a whole different service with its own costs. Now I give a separate quote for those add-ons, and it's always fairer for everyone. It makes the value of each piece of work clear.

paul6089d ago

We started doing that with assembly jobs last year. Honestly, it cut down on so many arguments about the final bill. People see the line item and get it.

sam_cooper9d ago

Breaking out every little thing can actually make a quote look messy and scare people off. Paul608 has a point about cutting down arguments, but sometimes a client just wants one clear number to say yes to. If you start listing ten small tasks separately, it feels like you're nickel and diming them. I prefer to bundle common extras into a slightly higher base price, so the whole job feels simpler. That way everyone knows what they're getting without a confusing list.