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Heard a client say 'I just pay what the invoice says' and it clicked for me | Freelance Finances - Vivisector

Heard a client say 'I just pay what the invoice says' and it clicked for me

I was at a coffee shop yesterday and the person next to me was telling their friend they never check their freelancer's invoices, they just pay them. It made me think about my own billing. I've been sending the same flat rate for a project type for two years without checking if my costs went up. So last night, I went through my last 12 jobs and found my average material cost rose by $87 per project. I'm raising my rates starting next month. Has anyone else had a moment like that, where a simple comment made you check your numbers?

4 comments

4 Comments

holly7095mo ago

Wow, that's a HUGE wake-up call. I had the exact same thing happen when a friend said she never questioned her contractor's bills. I went back and looked at my own time logs and realized I was spending way more hours on revisions than I was charging for. I started tracking my actual time per task for a month and it completely changed my pricing. You just don't see the slow creep until someone points it out. Good for you for checking your numbers.

henry_murray5mo ago

That slow creep is real. How did you change your pricing after tracking, did you just raise your rates or change how you charge?

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nina_taylor5mo ago

Honestly I just started charging by the project instead of the hour. Tracking showed me exactly how long things take, so I could set a flat rate that actually covered my time. Maybe it's just me but hourly billing always felt like I was punishing myself for getting faster.

david_reed223mo ago

That thing about the slow creep is so true. I read a study somewhere that said freelancers and small businesses on average undercharge by about 25% for their actual costs because they don't update their rates often enough. It's not just materials either, it's stuff like software subscriptions, insurance, and even your own time getting more valuable. Your coffee shop story is a good reminder to just run the numbers every six months or so instead of waiting for a stranger to point it out.