Unbilled extra work eating my margin. The Scope Creep Cost Calculator takes unbilled extra hours per month, your billing rate, monthly fee for the project and returns value given away per month plus per year, as a share of the fee. Results update as you type, and the formula is shown under the result so you can repeat it in your own spreadsheet.
For freelancers and agencies the scarce resource is billable time. Pricing has to cover unpaid hours, tools, taxes and time off, not just the hours a client sees on an invoice. Use the worked example below to check the maths against your own figures.
How the Scope Creep Cost Calculator works
Scope creep is work you do and do not bill. Put a number on it each month; it is usually the difference between a profitable engagement and a loss-making one, and the case for a change-request process.
Worked example
With the example values (unbilled extra hours per month of 25 hours, your billing rate of $80, monthly fee for the project of $8,000), the value given away per month is $2,000.00; per year $24,000.00, as a share of the fee 25%. Change any figure above and the result updates immediately; use Copy results to paste the summary into a note or email.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How is value given away per month calculated?
cost = unbilled hours × billing rate.
Which figures do I need?
Unbilled extra hours per month, your billing rate, monthly fee for the project. Take them from the same period and the same set of accounts or reports so the ratio is consistent, and check the example values as a guide to the units expected.
How do I choose the target income or margin?
Start from what you need to earn after tax and expenses, add a margin for unpaid time (sales, admin, holidays, slow months) and check the resulting rate against what your market pays.
