What should you charge?

A useful price starts with a clear offer. If neither you nor the customer knows what is included, a number alone will not protect your time.

Write the scope first

Describe the result, delivery date, customer inputs, revision allowance and handover. For an app, clarify ownership, hosting costs and whether maintenance is included.

Turn “build me a system” into a small, testable deliverable before quoting. The first-build planning course can help you define it.

Count the full effort

Include discovery, messages, delivery, testing, changes and admin. Estimate tools, materials, payment fees and other expenses. Shared subscriptions also need to be covered across your work.

AI may shorten one task while leaving responsibility for checking and delivery with you.

Check costs and customer value

Your price needs to make the work sustainable. Also consider what the result is worth to the customer and what comparable offers include. A quick task can be valuable; a slow task is not automatically valuable.

The Australian Government’s pricing strategy guide is a useful general resource on balancing costs, customer value and market positioning. Its legal and tax references apply to Australia.

Use an example to check the numbers

Suppose a project takes five hours, costs 20 directly and needs to contribute 30 towards monthly overheads. At a price of 200, it leaves 150 after those costs, or 30 per hour across the five hours, before personal tax.

Those figures are illustrative, not a recommended rate. If the project actually takes ten hours, the same 150 works out at 15 per hour. Record real time so your next quote improves.

Give the customer a clear choice

Send a short written offer with the total, payment schedule and boundaries. If their budget is lower, consider a smaller scope you can deliver properly. Explain additional costs before starting extra work.

Check local requirements for displaying prices and any applicable taxes. Do not assume a price excluding tax is appropriate for every customer or country.

Try your own numbers in the planner, then read Getting paid for your first project.