Day Rate Quote Builder for Freelance Journalists — Itemised Client Quote
A single fee quoted for a whole job hides the work inside it, which is exactly what makes it easy for a client to negotiate down. Itemising the days and hours changes the conversation, but only if the arithmetic and the payment terms are already written out.
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Day Rate Quote Calculator
Build a detailed quote with line-item breakdown and rights multiplier — then copy or print for your client.
Your Rates
Scope of Work
Multiplier: ×1 applied to subtotal
Tip: Always quote in writing. If a client agrees verbally, follow up with an email confirming scope, fee, and payment terms within 24 hours. This creates a paper trail and protects you if the commission is later disputed or killed.
How it works
- You set two rates — a day rate (prefilled at £350) and an hourly rate (prefilled at £50) — then enter on-site/interview days, research hours, number of interviews, hours per interview, writing hours and editing/revision hours.
- The subtotal is days x day rate, plus (research + interviews x hours per interview + writing + editing) x hourly rate. That subtotal is then multiplied by a rights multiplier, and your expenses estimate is added afterwards, so expenses are never marked up.
- The rights multipliers are hardcoded: web only x1.0, print only x1.1, web + print x1.25, all rights including syndication x1.5, and exclusive for 30 days then web x1.15.
- Output is a line-item breakdown table plus a complete plain-text quote you can copy or print to A4. The quote carries fixed payment terms — 50% on commissioning, 50% on delivery, payment due within 30 days — a 14-day validity date, a reference to the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, and a footer saying VAT is not included and to add the standard VAT rate if you are VAT-registered. That rate is read from the same shared, dated rates file the rest of the site uses, currently 20%, rather than typed into this component.
- Both the quote date and the validity date are read from your browser after the page loads, so a printed quote is dated the day you produce it rather than the day the site was built.
When to use it
- Quoting a multi-day job — a travel feature, an investigation, a video shoot — where a flat fee would swallow the travel and transcription time.
- When a client asks what a piece will cost and you want the answer to show the work rather than just the number.
- Pricing the same work at two different rights positions, to show a client what all-rights actually costs them.
- Creating a paper trail before you start, so a later dispute has a written scope to point at.
What it does not do
- The rights multipliers are illustrative figures hardcoded in the component, not a published rate schedule. Nothing in the industry obliges a client to pay x1.5 for all rights — it is a negotiating position, not a tariff.
- The payment terms (50/50, 30 days) and the 14-day quote validity are baked into the generated text and cannot be changed in the tool — edit the copied text if your terms differ. The VAT footnote at least moves with the site’s shared rate figure rather than being typed in here, but double-check the current standard rate before sending if you have any doubt.
- There is no kill fee input. Use the Kill Fee Calculator separately.
- Expenses are added flat after the multiplier and are shown as an estimate only. Nothing here handles VAT on recharged expenses, mileage or currency.
- A quote is not a contract and this is not legal or tax advice. Get the commission confirmed in writing before you start work.
More tools
This is one of the free tools on UK JournoHub. See the full tools index for the rest.