Most creatives price the shoot and leave out the rest: the editing days, the admin, the kit that wears out, the tax, and the client's use of the work. This workbook builds each of them into the price, with the arithmetic shown. It gives you a method, not a rate card: every figure comes from your own costs and choices, and nothing tells you what the market will pay.
- Cost of doing business: every overhead, monthly or yearly; the pay you want before tax; and your survival number, checked against your pay after a tax reserve.
- Kit: each item's cost to replace, useful life and resale value give a yearly replacement allowance, with a straight-line value now for your records.
- Day rate: the days you can actually sell after holidays, slack weeks and unpaid admin; break-even, your margin and rounding; rates for half days, edit days, pre-production and travel.
- Quote: pre-production, shoot days, photo editing (photographs × minutes) or video editing (shoot days × your own edit ratio), extra versions, admin and revisions; crew and hire with a markup; contingency, discount, VAT if registered, deposit; a check against your cost floor.
- Usage licensing: up to four licence lines per job, each priced as base fee × media × territory × duration × exclusivity. SEV's starting factors are labelled adjustable assumptions, not industry rates. Exclusivity is priced as the use you give up, your own included.
- Client documents: a printable Estimate and a Licence Schedule with end dates, filled in from the quote; and two Word templates (Estimate; Licence Schedule) in A4 and US Letter.
- Tax as a planning reserve: for sole traders and partners in Self Assessment (UK) and self-employed people (US): UK income tax (rest of UK or Scotland) and Class 4 National Insurance for 2026–27, or US self-employment tax for 2026, as a share to set aside from your fees; the UK Self Assessment dates; and a VAT watch on a rolling 12 months against the £90,000 threshold. Trading through a limited company or a US corporation? The reserve takes your own percentage.
Two worked examples follow Fernhollow Studio, a fictional photographer and film-maker in England. Its costs of £46,630.19 a year over 132 billable days give a break-even of £353.26 and, with a 15% margin, a day rate of £410. A brand photography job for a restaurant group comes to £2,722.00: £1,681.00 of time, £385.00 of bought-in costs and £656.00 of usage across three licence lines. A 90-second brand film with three cut-downs comes to £7,567.48, with an edit ratio of 2.5.
Who it is for
- Freelance photographers and film-makers pricing commercial, brand, portrait and wedding work.
- Creatives who price on shooting time and want editing, admin, kit and usage counted properly.
- UK sole traders and partners who want VAT, Self Assessment and National Insurance planned for; self-employed US creatives who want self-employment tax set aside. (A limited company or US corporation can use the pricing method in full, with its own tax percentage.)
Contents
Workbook (12 sheets):
Sheet — What it does
Start Here — How it works, privacy, scope and your licence
Your Business — Details, tax region, VAT status, pay, survival number, overheads
Kit — Replacement allowance and value now
Day Rate — Billable days, break-even, margin, day and hourly rates
Usage Factors — Media, territory, duration and exclusivity factors
Quote — One job, line by line, with the checks
Packages — Three standard packages, with floors
Estimate — The client's estimate
Licence Schedule — The client's record of the licence
Tax Reserve — UK or US planning reserve; UK payment dates
VAT Watch — UK rolling 12-month turnover
Rates and Sources — Official figures, sources and dates
Method guide (18 pages): how the method works; the cost of doing business; billable days and the day rate; kit; pre- and post-production; the four usage factors; the licence schedule; from day rate to quote; UK VAT, tax and National Insurance; US self-employment tax; two worked examples; the workbook sheet by sheet; eight messages about price and usage; the Word templates and where the kit sits.
