💼 Consulting Pricing Calculator
Consulting is the highest-margin revenue stream most agencies never price properly, and this calculator from Dee's How To Charge workbook fixes that. Section A prices YOUR expertise three ways: hourly (with your honest effective rate after unpaid prep), monthly retainer, and project-based. Section B prices consultant placement, which is contract staffing at a premium markup, side by side with a standard contract worker. Section C builds the comp plan for a delivery principal plus a W2 or 1099 account executive and checks the company still profits. Run your numbers once free; the $27 one-time unlock keeps every section live forever and includes the Excel workbook.
A1 · Hourly consulting
Section A is where YOU are the consultant: workforce planning, retention strategy, compliance audits, staffing optimization.
Entry (0-2 yrs): $50-$100/hr. Mid-level (3-7 yrs): $100-$200/hr. Senior (8-15 yrs): $200-$350/hr. Never go below the $150/hr HR advisory floor.
The sheet's Quick Pick dropdown. Routine advisory: 0.5 (30 min prep). New clients, audits, or strategic planning: 0.75 to 1.0.
Gas, parking, mileage. Enter 0 for virtual.
Reports, templates, handouts you provide.
A2 · Monthly retainer consulting
Boutique: $2,000-$8,000/month. Mid-size firm: $5,000-$15,000/month. Fractional CHRO advisory (SMB): $1,500-$7,000/month.
Hours included in the retainer fee.
Rate charged for hours exceeding the retainer. Reference input; quote it in your agreement.
A3 · Project-based consulting
General HR / ops projects: $5,000-$15,000. Org design: $15,000-$50,000. HIPAA risk assessment: $5,000-$40,000 depending on org size.
If you bring in a specialist for part of the project.
B2 · Your consultant placement pricing
Section B is contract staffing at a premium: placing advisory-level IT, HR, HIT, compliance, and operations consultants. Benchmarks: pay $65-$150/hr, bill $100-$400/hr, markups 40%-70% by specialty.
Mid-tier generalist: $85-$120/hr. Senior specialist (HIT, compliance, clinical informatics): $120-$150/hr.
Payroll taxes, workers comp, and benefits on W2 wages. Pick a state below to load a planning default.
Consultant markup validated range: 40%-65%, vs 30%-40% for standard contract. The premium earns 15-25% more margin per hour.
Typical consulting engagements run 8 to 26 weeks.
Picking a state loads that state's planning default into the employer burden % above.
B3 · Standard contract comparison
Side by side: what a standard contract worker earns you vs a placed consultant.
The comparison line assumes the sheet's 22% burden on both sides.
B4 · Multi-consultant deployment
Consultants are rarely 100% billable. 80% is a healthy operational target (32 billable hrs/week).
C · Role 1: Consulting Delivery Principal (W2)
Runs engagements, produces deliverables, and manages retainer relationships. At startup this is often the owner; price the role for when you hire it.
For a delivery-focused principal at 70/30 delivery/sales: $80,000-$100,000.
Flat bonus per project delivered and invoiced. Range: $500-$1,500.
Range: $100-$400 per client. Rewards keeping clients renewing, the most valuable outcome in consulting.
Range: $300-$750. Set to $0 if not applicable.
C · Role 2: Consulting Account Executive (W2)
Sells new advisory engagements, retainer contracts, and projects. New business pays a higher rate than renewals.
Market range: $60,000-$84,500 for AE level.
Range: 5-10% on new consulting business. 8% is validated mid-market.
Hourly + project revenue the AE closes per month.
Range: 3-6% on renewals. The renewal base pulls live from Section A2.
Flat bonus per new retainer signed. Range: $750-$2,000.
0.5 = roughly one new retainer every two months. Model conservatively.
Projects are irregular; enter a realistic monthly average.
C · Role 2B: 1099 Account Executive (commission-only)
No base salary; all inputs are independent from the W2 section. Rates run higher to compensate for self-employment tax and no benefits.
Range: 10-18% for a 1099 consulting AE, higher than the W2 8%.
Range: 5-8% on renewals.
Total retainer revenue this rep manages; set independently from the W2 section.
Range: $1,000-$2,500. With no base, one-time bonuses carry more weight.
Estimates for planning, not financial advice. Rates, markups, and commission ranges are the workbook's guidance; your market and your contracts decide the real ones.
Does this resonate?
Your expertise is the product. The platform builds the business around it.
If selling your expertise as advisory work, retainers, and placed consultants sounds like your kind of business, the platform can turn it into a real plan: positioning, launch checklist, and the week-by-week path from first engagement to full practice.
Build my launch plan free →Good questions about this math
How much should I charge for consulting?
The workbook's guidance: entry level (0 to 2 years) $50 to $100/hr, mid-level (3 to 7 years) $100 to $200/hr, senior (8 to 15 years) $200 to $350/hr, and never below the $150/hr HR advisory floor. Healthcare compliance and HIT specialists anchor at $275 to $350/hr. The calculator also shows your effective rate once unpaid prep time is counted, which is the honest number to manage.
Hourly vs retainer vs project pricing: which consulting model is best?
Run all three in the calculator and compare effective hourly rates. Hourly is simplest for spot advisory work. Retainers ($2,000 to $8,000/month boutique, $5,000 to $15,000 mid-size) are the crown jewel because they compound into predictable annual revenue. Project pricing ($5,000 to $15,000 for focused HR and ops engagements) rewards efficiency: finish faster and your effective rate climbs.
What markup should I charge for consultant placement?
The validated consultant markup range is 40% to 65% on the fully loaded cost (pay rate plus employer burden), versus 30% to 40% for standard contract staffing. The calculator shows the side-by-side: at the defaults, a placed consultant earns several times the weekly gross margin of a standard contract worker.
Should my consulting account executive be W2 or 1099?
The model prices both. A W2 AE (base plus roughly 8% new business and 4% renewal commission) fits an established practice that needs daily pipeline work. A 1099 commission-only AE (roughly 10% to 18% new business) keeps fixed cost near zero while you build your retainer base. The comparison table shows the annual cost difference and both profit checks.
Do I get the Excel version?
Yes. The $27 unlock includes the standalone Consulting Pricing workbook (the exact sheet from Dee's How To Charge master, with every formula live) plus the START HERE guide tab, yours to download and keep.
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