01 / Free agency template
Build from the delivery plan
List the work required to produce the agreed deliverables, including coordination, reviews, revisions and quality checks. Assign estimated hours and a delivery cost rate to each work package. Different roles may require different rates; a single average is a planning simplification that should be labeled.
Estimate the work before choosing a comfortable margin. A budget that begins with the desired answer and backfills implausible hours may look tidy while giving the team no workable plan. Ask the delivery lead to explain the largest assumptions and dependencies.
02 / Free agency template
State what each cost includes
Define whether cost rates contain wages alone or additional employment and operating costs. Add separately identified direct expenses such as a specialist contractor or purchased asset only when those costs are not already included. Double-counting creates the same confusion as leaving a cost out.
The download separates labour, other direct expenses and optional planning contingency. It does not prescribe an accounting treatment. When comparing projects, use consistent definitions so a change in the reported margin is not merely a change in the way costs were classified.
03 / Free agency template
Work through an illustrative budget
Assume a $12,000 fee, 160 delivery hours at an average $50 cost rate and $1,000 of other direct expense. Estimated direct cost is $9,000, leaving $3,000 of direct profit and a 25% direct margin. These figures are a teaching example, not recommended pricing or a customer result.
If the same work grows by 40 hours, labour rises by $2,000. With no fee change, direct profit falls to $1,000. That comparison makes the scope decision concrete. It does not include overhead or tax beyond whatever was explicitly included in the selected cost rate.
04 / Free agency template
Choose a review trigger before delivery
Decide when the lead should revisit the plan. It may be completion of a stage, a material scope request or a significant difference between estimated and recorded effort. The template includes a review log so changes are connected to decisions rather than silently overwriting the initial estimate.
Keep original estimate, approved revisions and actuals distinguishable. If the team updates the estimate each week, retain enough history to explain what changed. Otherwise the final budget will always appear accurate because it has been rewritten to match the outcome.
05 / Free agency template
Use the number to make a decision
When the remaining work no longer fits the planned effort, identify the cause. It could be a missed assumption, an additional deliverable, fragmented feedback or a task that was harder than expected. Each cause suggests a different response. Do not treat every overrun as a billing opportunity or every client request as included work.
Compare practical choices: reduce an optional deliverable, agree a change, adjust sequencing or absorb a defined amount of effort. Record who approved the choice and its effect on cost and timing. This creates a useful record for the next estimate.
06 / Free agency template
Keep planning and accounting distinct
This Markdown worksheet is editable and intentionally transparent. You can move the table into a spreadsheet, use the free calculator for scenarios or maintain actual project records in Flowboard. The download itself does not automatically recalculate formulas.
Direct margin measures delivery economics. Cash flow and overall business profit also depend on when you collect payment and the costs outside the project. Payment timing, overhead, tax and other obligations still matter. Use the template to clarify project assumptions, while keeping the agency's bookkeeping and financial reporting processes separate.
THE PRACTICAL DETAILS
Questions, answered.
Does the download calculate automatically?+
No. It is an editable Markdown worksheet with explicit formulas. Use the linked calculator for interactive arithmetic or adapt the table in a spreadsheet.
Should I include project management time?+
Include effort required to deliver the agreement, including coordination and reviews. Its billable classification is a separate question.
Is margin the same as markup?+
No. Margin divides profit by price; markup divides profit by cost. The project-price calculator uses target margin explicitly.
Can I change the estimate during delivery?+
Yes, but distinguish the original baseline, approved changes and current forecast. Keep a record of why the plan changed.
