Invoice & Project Pricing Calculator
Build a project price from hours, your hourly rate, direct expenses, and a target profit margin — so you always know your invoice is profitable before you send it.
Project Pricing vs Hourly Billing
Fixed project pricing shifts risk to you (scope creep) but rewards efficiency — if you finish early, your effective hourly rate goes up. Hourly billing is safer but caps your upside and can create tension with clients who watch the clock. This calculator works for both: use it to verify that a fixed project quote generates your target margin, or to build a transparent hourly estimate with explicit expense pass-throughs.
The Margin Math
A 30% margin means you keep $30 for every $100 in revenue after direct costs. The formula: Invoice = Total Cost ÷ (1 - Margin). On $5,000 in costs at a 30% margin, the invoice is $7,143 — not $6,500. This is a common error: adding 30% to cost gives only a 23% margin. Use this calculator to get the math exactly right every time.
Scope Creep Protection
Add a 15–20% contingency to your hours estimate before applying margin. If a project you estimate at 40 hours has a 15% buffer, quote 46 hours. If it comes in on time, your effective hourly rate is higher. If scope expands moderately, you're still profitable. Define a clear change order process for anything beyond the quoted scope.