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Price a retainer that survives a busy month.
Price a monthly retainer, with a buffer for the busy months.
The retainer
- Same hours ad hoc
- €900.00
- Client pays per hour
- €89.10
- Rate beyond the allowance
- €108.00
- Annual value
- €10,692.00
- Monthly retainer
- €891.00
Price overage above the retainer rate, not below it. A retainer that makes extra hours the cheapest hours is one that quietly turns into unpaid work.
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What a retainer trades
The client buys certainty and a lower effective rate. You buy predictable revenue and a booked calendar. Both sides give something up, and the discount is the visible half of it — 10 to 15% is common, and much more usually means you have sold availability at the price of ad-hoc work.
Why a buffer
Retainer months are never the same size. The buffer prices in the ones that run over so an average month is profitable rather than break-even. Without it, every quiet month subsidises a busy one and the arrangement slowly stops working.
Overage has to cost more
If hours beyond the allowance are cheaper than the retainer rate, the retainer becomes the cheapest way to buy your time and the allowance stops meaning anything. Price overage above your normal rate, not below it, and say so in writing before the first busy month.
Questions, answered
Is it free?
Yes, and nothing is stored.
Should unused hours roll over?
Usually not — rollover turns a retainer back into a bank of hours and removes the predictability you are being paid for. If you allow it, cap it at one month.
When do I raise it?
Review at a fixed interval, and always when the effective rate has drifted below what you charge new clients.
Can I bill it automatically?
That is what weBiller subscriptions do — the retainer invoice goes out on the same day each month on its own.
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