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//// Career · Client Management

Bad Client Cost Calculator

Enter your contract value, actual hours, extra communication time, and payment delays to see the true cost of a difficult client — and whether you should fire them.

SE Tax Rate15.3%
QBI Deduction20%
Quarterly DeadlinesApr · Jun · Sep · Jan

Fire This Client?

No

You earned 85.7% of your target rate — within acceptable range, though scope discipline could improve profitability.

Client Engagement Details

What the client agreed to pay you

$

What you want to earn per hour

$

Original scope

hrs

True deliverable hours

hrs

Hours in emails, calls, Slack beyond what's normal

hrs

Days past due date

days

Per month (standard: 1.5%)

%/mo

True Cost Breakdown

Hourly Rate Reality

Target rate$100/hr
Effective rate earned$86/hr
Rate ratio85.7%

Money Lost

Scope creep cost

10 uncompensated hrs

$1,000

Comm overhead cost

5 extra comm hrs

$500

Late payment fee

30 days at 1.5%/mo

$45
Total cost of this client$1,545
Emotional TaxLow

If You Keep Them

Break-even rate next time$225/hr
Minimum next project fee$4,500
1

Contract value

what the client agreed to pay

= $3,000

2

Total hours actually spent

actual deliverable hours + communication hours

30 hrs + 5 hrs

= 35 hrs

3

Effective hourly rate

contract value ÷ total hours

$3,000 ÷ 35 hrs

= $86/hr

Your target rate is $100/hr

4

Scope creep cost

extra deliverable hours × target rate

10 hrs × $100/hr

= $1,000

Hours beyond your original estimate that were not compensated

5

Communication overhead cost

extra comm hours × target rate

5 hrs × $100/hr

= $500

Hours spent on emails, calls, and check-ins beyond normal

6

Late payment fee owed

contract × (rate% ÷ 30 days) × delay days

$3,000 × (1.5% ÷ 30) × 30 days

= $45

7

True cost of this client

scope creep + communication overhead + late fees

$1,000 + $500 + $45

= $1,545

Money you lost relative to working at your target rate

8

Break-even rate for future work

(contract value + opportunity cost) ÷ estimated hours

($3,000 + $1,500) ÷ 20 hrs

= $225/hr

Minimum rate to charge this client next time to make the original estimate profitable

Key insight

The visible cost is the hours. The invisible cost is the next client you could not take because you were stuck in scope-creep hell. Both numbers belong in this calculation.

Use this result in →

Estimate project ratesCheck true hourly rate

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