PUBLISHED
TWO HUNDRED
AN HOUR.
One rate, published. No retainer tiers, no percentage of your budget, and no separate consulting rate that turns out to be a different number when the invoice arrives.
THE RATE SHEET
Rate sheet
| TERM | VALUE | NOTE |
|---|---|---|
| RATE | $200.00 / HR | Flat. Same rate for a phone call, a site walk, and a bid review. |
| INCREMENT | 0.25 HR | Billed to the quarter hour. A twelve-minute call is 0.25, not 1.0. |
| TERMS | NET 30 | Invoice dated the day it is sent, due 30 days later. The due date is printed on the invoice. |
| EXPENSES | AT COST + MARKUP | Receipts pass through at what they cost, with the markup shown as its own line, never buried in an hourly total. |
WHAT A LINE ITEM LOOKS LIKE
WHAT A LINE ITEM
LOOKS LIKE.
Every hour on your invoice is a line: a date, the engagement name, the hours, the rate, and a sentence saying what I did. Not consulting services, 40 hours. If you cannot tell what you paid for, it is not an invoice, it is a bill.
EXAMPLE LINES - ILLUSTRATION ONLY
| # | DATE | SERVICE | DESCRIPTION | QTY | RATE | AMOUNT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 08/06/2026 | Reimbursable Expenses | County permit and plan-review fee paid on the owner's behalf. Receipt attached. | 1 | $412.00 | $412.00 |
| 2 | 08/07/2026 | Reimbursable Expenses | Third-party moisture testing on the north wall, ordered at the owner's direction. Receipt attached. | 1 | $275.00 | $275.00 |
| Subtotal / Reimbursable Expenses | $687.00 | |||||
| 3 | 08/07/2026 | Consultation | Leveled three bids to one written scope. Two excluded the electrical panel; flagged before comparison. | 2.5 | $200.00 | $500.00 |
| 4 | 08/04/2026 | Owner's Rep | Site walk at framing inspection. Punched three open items, photographed each, wrote the field report same day. | 1.75 | $200.00 | $350.00 |
| 5 | 08/06/2026 | Owner's Rep | Reviewed draw 3 against work in place. Two line items billed but not installed; recommended holding that portion pending. | 1.25 | $200.00 | $250.00 |
| Subtotal / Owner's Rep | $600.00 | |||||
| EXAMPLE TOTAL | $1,787.00 | |||||
Illustration of the format, not a real engagement. These rows come out of the same code that builds your invoice: reimbursable receipts are grouped and subtotalled on their own, and when your engagement letter sets a markup it lands as its own line under that subtotal, never buried in an hourly total.
EXPENSES
AT COST. ON ITS OWN LINE.
WHAT TRIGGERS AN EXPENSE
- County or city permit and plan-review fees paid on your behalf
- Printing, plan reproduction, and recording fees
- Third-party reports you ask me to order: inspection, testing, survey
- Travel outside the Richmond metro service area
- Anything else you approve in writing before I spend it
WHAT IS NEVER AN EXPENSE
- My phone, my truck inside the Richmond metro, my software, my insurance. Overhead is in the rate.
- Anything I did not clear with you first.
- A markup on my own time. The markup applies to receipts, never to hours.
Markup on reimbursable expenses is set in your engagement letter and shown as its own line on every invoice.
THE TERMS THAT BIND
The terms that bind
Everything on this page is how I work by default. The terms that bind are the ones in your signed engagement letter. That is the document that governs, and you get it before anyone starts a clock.
QUESTIONS
ON THE MONEY.
- Do you take a percentage of the project instead?
- No. Hourly only. A percentage fee pays your representative more the more your project costs, and you should not have to wonder whether that is why the number went up.
- What if the hours run over the estimate?
- You hear about it before they do, not after. If we agreed on eight hours and hour seven says it needs twelve, you find out at hour seven and you decide.
- Do I pay before you start?
- You will know the estimated hours before I start, and nothing bills until we have agreed there is an engagement. Payment timing is set in the engagement letter.
- How do I pay?
- Bank transfer or check. Every invoice carries its own due date and payment instructions.
Know the number before you start.
First response inside one business day. You see the estimated block of hours before anything bills.
Rather talk it through? Call or text (804) 720-1286.