Billing for time you no longer spend

The tacit bargain of the hour

Hourly billing rests on a tacit agreement: time spent measures value produced. That agreement holds as long as the duration of a task stays stable. Once it is quartered, the professional who honestly bills their time watches their income fall for the same work.

Four observed strategies

We interviewed forty-two freelancers in graphic design and visual identity. Fourteen raised their hourly rate without saying so. Eleven moved to a fixed price per project. Nine changed nothing and are absorbing the fall. Eight increased the volume of work they accept, which restores the income and lengthens the week.

I still bill two days. It takes me one. I am not about to explain to my client that I have learnt to work fast.

Fixed pricing shifts the risk

Moving to a fixed price looks like the most stable answer, but it shifts the risk onto the freelancer: if the project runs away, the loss is theirs. Seven of the eleven concerned added a review clause beyond a set number of rounds. The other four have had at least one loss-making project since the change.