I first heard of a kill fee from an illustrator friend whose project came to a sudden end. She was frustrated but took consolation in recently adding a kill fee to her contract. Her kill fee looked a bit like this:
If the Client cancels the project after work has commenced, the Client agrees to pay a fee of 50% of the project value.
I was a freelance photographer at the time. I had been on the end of jobs that had fallen through after scouting locations so I wanted to learn more. How can one sentence ensure I won’t be out of pocket on the occasions the client pulls the project?
Enter the kill fee. What is it and why should you have one?
Photography, illustration, design… whatever you do, most freelancers invest time before the actual work kicks off. I mentioned location scouting as a photographer which involved driving long distances, but this could include discovery calls, research and any resources invested at the start of a project.
If the project is cancelled prematurely, a kill fee means the client is contractually required to pay you partial compensation.
The size of the kill fee can depend on the stage the contract is terminated, but how you structure the kill fee is up to you. Isn’t that the beauty of freelancing?
Common approaches to charging a kill fee
A percentage of the project fee depending on stage of work
When I was a photographer I’d receive payment in full before the shoot was underway. This meant there wasn’t much room to be under-compensated.
The vulnerable moments were the early stages of location scouting and mood board prep. This made my approach to a kill fee straightforward. If the project was cancelled before the shoot, I asked for a 25% kill fee.
For other professions like illustrators who often work in stages, you can base your kill fee on a % depending on the phase of the project. I have used this post from illustrator, Maria Sann, as inspiration.
- 25% during first revision
- 50% during second revision
- 75% during finalisation
- 100% after receiving the final files
Whatever you charge, this must be documented in your contract and highlighted with the client during onboarding.
Billing by hourly rate
Another approach to charging a kill fee is billable hours. Work out how many hours you have invested into the project to date and charge this to the client.
Billable hours are easier for the client to contest as opposed to a flat fee. If you take this approach I’d suggest using a time tracking app like Toggl to itemise your work. This would show the client what you’ve spent time on and need to be compensated for, minimising the potential for pushback.
The difference between a deposit and kill fee
If you already collect a deposit at the point of booking, you might be wondering what the point in a kill fee is.
For me there’s a clear distinction between the deposit and kill fee. A deposit is taken to reserve the date. The kill fee is taken to compensate me for any work I’ve done.
However, there are no hard and fast rules with risk management. That’s the beauty of freelancing. You get to decide what risk management techniques to implement and how to make them work for you.
What to do if the client refuses to pay your kill fee
Assuming the kill fee was included in your contract and the client signed off on this, refusing to pay the fee leaves the client in breach of contract.
You should treat this in the same vein as a standard unpaid invoice and follow the formal late payment process. Your first port of call, however, could be to highlight the contractual terms and assume the client isn’t being malicious—they may have just forgotten what was agreed.
There are so many reasons why a project may end prematurely:
- the client’s financial position changes
- there’s a change of direction
- the client brings work in-house
- someone else is hired instead
We can’t account for every single thing that can go wrong or change when freelancing, but a kill fee is a simple way to ensure that—in the event any of the above scenarios play out—you’re not completely out of pocket.
