Rates and pricing

Methods for setting a rate, with calculators that show their working.

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PageTypeApplies toState
How to set freelance accountant ratesA method for working out a freelance accounting rate from your own costs, hours and risk, plus the fee rules that limit how you may charge.OverviewUS rule; elsewhere, check your own regulatorDraft

Guides

PageTypeApplies toState
Currency and cross-border pay: getting paid in USDHow to settle currency, conversion costs and US tax paperwork such as Form W-8BEN when a non-US accountant invoices a US payer in dollars.GuideUS rule; elsewhere, check your own regulatorDraft
Estimating hours for an audit or review fileA task-by-task method for estimating hours on an audit, review or similar file, then checking the estimate against actual time and updating it.GuideCountry-neutralDraft
Hourly vs fixed fee vs per-file pricingWho carries the risk under hourly, fixed-fee and per-file pricing, how to convert between them, and which fee rules apply to accountants.GuideUS rule; elsewhere, check your own regulatorDraft
Per-file pay explained: how to judge an offerQuestions to ask about any per-file pay offer, how to convert it to an hourly equivalent from your own time records, and where it can go wrong.GuideUS rule; elsewhere, check your own regulatorDraft
Why you should not charge a contingent fee on some workWhat a contingent fee is under Circular 230 section 10.27, its exceptions, how pay can become contingent by accident, and where the AICPA rule sits.GuideUS rule; elsewhere, check your own regulatorDraft

Glossary entries

PageTypeApplies toState
RetainerA retainer is a fee paid in advance to reserve or pay for future services.GlossaryCountry-neutralDraft
Utilisation rateUtilisation rate is the share of your available working time spent on billable work: billable hours divided by available hours.GlossaryCountry-neutralDraft

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