Consulting Proposals and Pricing for Psychologists

The project that runs late, expands beyond its fee and ends with a client who is not quite satisfied was almost always mis-scoped in the first conversation. Not underpriced. Mis-scoped: nobody agreed what finished looked like.

So this is mostly about that first conversation, because everything after it is easier when it went well and nothing after it can rescue it when it did not. Six scoping questions to answer before quoting, including the one that identifies the client you should walk away from.

Then a seven-part proposal structure, short enough to be read, with the section almost everybody omits and which is the reason the document is worth writing: what this does not cover. Naming the boundary before the work starts turns a future argument into a future change order.

Pricing follows: why an hourly rate caps your income, punishes efficiency and invites the client to audit your speed rather than your result; three tiers each doing a different job; and payment terms that protect you when a project goes quiet.

Plus the sentence that stops scope creep without sounding defensive, the contract terms that matter in plain words including the right to describe your own work anonymously, and fill-in templates for the scoping call and the proposal.

What it is not: legal advice. Contract law and data obligations differ by jurisdiction; have your agreement reviewed where you work.

8 pages, A4, formatted for printing. Delivered as a PDF immediately after payment.