Comments on: An Hourly Fee for Translation?

By: David McKay

David McKay — Fri, 17 Jun 2016 08:02:41 +0000

Even when giving an estimate for an entire project, I’ve usually found it necessary to use a word rate or an hourly rate rather than stating a flat fee for the project as a whole. That’s because the client’s initial estimate of the number of words and the other work involved is often far off the mark. If you agree to a flat fee for the project, then either the client has carte blanche to send you an unlimited amount of work related to that project, or, if you specify some maximum, then you have to renegotiate once that maximum is reached. At that point, there is often enormous pressure on the translator to get the extra work done quickly, before there is time to complete additional negotiations about the price. I’ve always avoided this situation by agreeing in advance with the client that the final invoice may deviate from the estimate and will actually be based on a word rate, an hourly rate, or a combination of the two.

By: Eve Hecht

Eve Hecht — Tue, 24 May 2016 22:13:11 +0000

Other than tradition, there are numerous advantages to the per-word rate. It is verifiable, and there is no temptation to “fudge” the total hours billed. Experienced translators can project their source/target word ratios and thus bill by either one if asked to do so. Per-word rates can be adjusted to account for extra research and formatting, for example.

However, there is a larger issue. Lawyers, the professionals with whom we most frequently work, don’t hesitate to bill by the hour. And while rates of $1000 per hour may be only for deep-pocketed clients, no one thinks $200 an hour is too much. Yet if I were to quote a client $150 an hour – which is in fact what I frequently earn, based on my words per hour – that would be met with incredulity and “What!?!?! Never mind…”. Of course I can quote a per-project rate, but that begs the question.

We will be respected as professionals only when we can charge the hourly rates we deserve for the highly skilled work we do. That time has not yet come, and I doubt I will see it in my lifetime.

By: Ted Wozniak

Ted Wozniak — Tue, 24 May 2016 13:28:42 +0000

An interesting concept, but I would suggest taking it to the next logical step. Instead of determining an hourly fee, use your estimated productivity (words per hour) and desired hourly income to calculate a fee for the entire project. After all, with respect to cost, the client is only concerned with the total cost to them, not the hourly or word rate.

I have begun moving to quoting on a “per project” basis, factoring in the time required for research, translation, post-editing and review. Even agency clients appreciate a “bottom line quote” as it makes it easy for them to determine their profit margin as they often (usually?) have quoted a flat fee to their end client.