Fixed fee or time and materials: let the client choose
Put a fixed fee and an estimate in hours side by side, each with its own deposit, and the client signs the option they prefer.
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With QuoteCloud a studio can offer a fixed fee and a time-and-materials estimate in one proposal as a single-choice group: the client picks one, and the total and deposit follow. The deposit is one setting per document, a percentage of the option chosen or a fixed amount, paid on signing. You invoice later payments and hours yourself.
A sample proposal, GS-2702, from a fictional studio, Glasswing Studio, for Copper Kettle Café, with two ways to pay side by side. On the left, a fixed fee of $17,400 plus tax, the same price whatever the hours. On the right, a time and materials estimate at $150 an hour: the studio's own estimate runs from 92 hours (low) through 108 hours (likely) to 132 hours (high). An hours marker moves back and forth across both: under the fixed fee the price stays the same, under time and materials the cost follows the hours, $16,200 at the likely 108 hours. The client picks one and signs, with a 30% deposit on the option chosen.
Try it: switch between a fixed fee and hours
This estimator opens on time and materials: each line as hours at the studio's blended rate, with a 25% deposit on the estimate. Switch the basis to a fixed fee and watch the same project re-price, then send it and sign as the client.
Signed · deposit paid
From template · Website Development Proposal · Small business site
A new website for Sparrow & Pine Florist
Prepared for Ella Mancini · Valid until Fri 20 Nov 2026
Project phases launch in week 14
Estimate by phase ex tax
| Item | Qty | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery | ||
| Discovery workshop & sitemap | 11 h | $1,650.00 |
| Content & SEO plan | 6 h | $900.00 |
| Design | ||
| Design system & homepageTwo revision rounds | 16 h | $2,400.00 |
| Page templates designed | 11 h | $1,650.00 |
| Build & launch | ||
| Page build & CMS set-upResponsive, editable by your team | 23 h | $3,450.00 |
| Testing & accessibility checks | 7 h | $1,050.00 |
| LaunchDomain switch-over and redirects | 5 h | $750.00 |
| Features | ||
| Online shopUp to 60 products, cart and checkout | 32 h | $4,800.00 |
| Workshop bookingsClass calendar and online booking | 13 h | $1,950.00 |
| CMS trainingTwo hours with your team, recorded | 3 h | $450.00 |
| Add-ons you can tick Optional | ||
| 9 h | $1,350.00 | |
| 5 h | $750.00 | |
| 4 h | $600.00 | |
- Subtotal
- $19,800.00
- Tax (10%)
- $1,980.00
- Estimate inc. tax
- $21,780.00
- Deposit on signing (25%)
- $5,445.00
Hours at $150 an hour. Glasswing Studio invoices the hours actually worked; the deposit is credited against the first invoice.
Care plan · StandardEssential plus weekly backups and 2 hours of changes a month$149.00/mo + taxA repeating charge shown in the agreement, from launch. Glasswing Studio invoices it monthly; QuoteCloud doesn't bill it.
Accept and sign
Deposit on signing$5,445.00Paid via Stripe
Certificate of authenticity and audit trail attached
Activity
- Launch SEO setup tickedBy Ella
- Signed by EllaCertificate of authenticity attached
- Deposit paid$5,445.00 via Stripe, to your studio's account
- Project created in your project toolThrough Zapier or the API
A demo with a fictional studio and fictional rates: nothing is sent, stored or charged. In QuoteCloud you'd keep a fixed-fee template and an hourly template (or offer both in one proposal as a single-choice group), with your rates in the product catalogue and hours as quantities. The deposit is a percentage or a fixed amount, paid on signing through your own Stripe or PayPal account (Essentials and up). QuoteCloud doesn't track time or bill hours.
Both prices in one proposal, one choice to sign
Noah wants to know what Copper Kettle's new site will cost, but he also wants to pay only for the work done. Mia puts both in one proposal as a single-choice group: a fixed fee, or a time-and-materials estimate with the studio's likely hours.
He picks one and signs. The deposit is set to 30%, so it follows the option he chose; Glasswing invoices the rest at launch, or fortnightly for hours worked. Pick one here.
- A single-choice group: only one option can be chosen
- One deposit setting: a percentage follows the choice
- The same scope, so the comparison is fair
Price tables and payments: Essentials and up
Website proposal
A new website for Copper Kettle Café
Choose how you'd like to pay Same scope, two ways to price it
- Subtotal
- $17,400.00
- Tax (10%)
- $1,740.00
- Total
- $19,140.00
- Deposit on signing (30%)
- $5,742.00
The deposit is 30% of the option you choose, paid when you sign. Glasswing invoices the rest: at launch for the fixed fee, or fortnightly for hours worked.
When each way of pricing suits
A fixed fee suits work you've done many times: a brochure site, a small-business site from your page templates, a shop on a platform you know. The client gets certainty, you carry the risk, so the fee includes a margin for it, and anything outside the scope becomes a change request the client signs.
Time and materials suits work you can't fully see yet: integrations with someone else's system, a rebuild of a site with years of content, an app whose features will change as users try it. The client carries more of the risk and pays for the hours worked; a low, likely and high estimate shows them what to expect.
Offering both lets the client decide how they'd rather carry the risk, and puts that decision in the document they sign, before the work starts.
- Fixed fee: known scope, repeatable work, a client who needs one number
- Time & materials: unknowns, discovery-led work, a client who'll trade certainty for flexibility
- Either way: the scope and revision rounds in your locked terms (Business plan)
Price it your way, and let the client choose
Free for 14 days, no credit card required. Send us your fixed-fee and hourly proposals and we'll convert one template for you during the trial.
Hours only, with a fixed deposit up front
Northshore Rowing Club's members' area is a rebuild with unknowns, so Glasswing sends hours only: each phase with the studio's low, likely and high estimate, the likely hours as the quantity and the low and high as extra columns.
Instead of a percentage of an estimate that may move, the deposit is a fixed $3,000, paid when the club secretary signs. It comes off the first fortnightly invoice, which Glasswing sends from its own accounts with a timesheet.
- Deposit as a fixed amount, not a percentage
- Low and high hours as custom columns (formula columns: Business)
- Hours invoiced by the studio, never billed by QuoteCloud
Payments: Essentials and up
Deposits and payments on signingEstimate in hours Time & materials at $150 an hour Our estimate
| Phase | Low | Likely | High | Likely cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery & data reviewCurrent members' data and renewals | 8 h | 10 h | 14 h | $1,500 |
| Members' area designLogin, profile, renewals, crew bookings | 16 h | 20 h | 26 h | $3,000 |
| BuildRenewals and crew bookings | 60 h | 72 h | 92 h | $10,800 |
| Data migrationFrom the old site, checked twice | 10 h | 14 h | 20 h | $2,100 |
| Testing & launchPhones and desktop | 10 h | 12 h | 16 h | $1,800 |
| Hours | 104 h | 128 h | 168 h | $150/h |
- Likely estimate (range $15,600 to $25,200)
- $19,200.00
- Tax (10%)
- $1,920.00
- Likely total
- $21,120.00
- Deposit on signing (fixed amount)
- $3,000.00
Our estimate, not a cap. Glasswing invoices the hours actually worked each fortnight, with a timesheet, from its own accounts. The deposit comes off the first invoice.
Accept and sign
Alex Moreau · Club secretary
Signed online · Tue 20 Oct 2026, 7:22 pm
Signed estimate
- Deposit (fixed)
- $3,000.00 · paid via Stripe
- Likely total
- $21,120.00 inc. tax
- Hours
- Invoiced fortnightly by Glasswing
Certificate of authenticity and audit trail attached
Offer a fixed fee and hours in one proposal
Five steps to a proposal where the client chooses how to pay.
Estimate the hours
Work out the likely hours per phase, with your own low and high.
Set the fixed fee
Price the same scope as one fee, with a margin for the risk you carry.
Make it a choice
Add both as a single-choice group in the price table, with a note on what each means.
Set the deposit
A percentage follows the option chosen; a fixed amount stays the same.
Send and sign
The client picks one, signs and pays. You invoice the rest from your accounts.
Fixed fee or hourly: your questions
Can I offer a fixed fee and an hourly estimate in the same proposal?
Yes. Add both options to the price table as a single-choice group, so the client can pick only one. Give each a note that explains what it covers and how it's invoiced. The total and the deposit follow the option they choose, and the signed version records it. Price tables are on the Essentials plan and up.
Can the deposit be different for each option?
The deposit is one setting per document: a percentage of the total or a fixed amount. A percentage follows whichever option the client picks, so it's naturally smaller on a smaller total. If you want two different deposit rules, send two proposals, each with its own setting.
Can I show a low, likely and high estimate?
Yes. Use the likely hours as the quantity on each line, and add the low and high hours as extra columns in the price table (formula columns are on the Business plan). The range is your own estimate, and the note can say how you'll handle hours beyond it.
Does QuoteCloud track or bill the hours we work?
No. QuoteCloud takes the deposit, or full payment, when the client signs, through your Stripe or PayPal account. You track time and invoice the hours worked from your own tools. QuoteCloud doesn't take instalments or send payment reminders.
What happens if a fixed-fee client asks for more?
Send a change request: a revised version of the signed proposal with the extra work, its price and its effect on the launch date. The client signs it before you start, and the earlier version stays in the document's history (version history, Business plan).
More for web studios
Every page of the QuoteCloud web developers & SEO microsite.
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Website build proposalsDiscovery, design, build and launch as phases on a Gantt, pages as quantities and a deposit paid when the client signs.Explore
-
App & software development proposalsiOS, Android and web app estimates by feature and sprint, with the hours, the options and the client's sign-off in one document.Explore
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Deposits, milestones & client sign-offA deposit on signing, later milestones set out in the contract and a separate sign-off document for each milestone.Explore
- Optional features & add-onsE-commerce, bookings, a second language and integrations as optional items the client ticks, with the total and deposit following.
- Scope, revision rounds & change requestsLocked scope and revision-round terms, and every change request priced and signed as a revised version before work starts.
- Discovery questionnairesThe questions you ask before you quote, answered inside a document with the Forms block, then carried into the proposal.
- Portfolio & case studiesYour best work, team bios and process as content library blocks, dropped into every proposal and kept up to date in one place.
- SEO proposals & retainersAudit, technical fixes, content and link building as monthly charges in the agreement, with results only ever your own estimate.
- Hosting, maintenance & support plansCare plan tiers as packages, monthly or annual charges in the agreement, expiry dates and renewals bulk-sent for signing.
- Project tools, CRM & accounting connectionsSigned proposals to Jira, Asana, monday.com or Trello through Zapier or the API, Pipedrive directly, and Xero or QuickBooks.
- Web, SEO & app templatesReal QuoteCloud templates for website development, redesigns, SEO, maintenance and app projects, ready to make your own.
- QuoteCloud implementation for studiosYour proposal templates converted, your rates in the catalogue, Stripe connected and your project tools linked.
- FAQAnswers to the questions web studios, developers and SEO specialists ask most.
Price it your way, and theirs
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