Skip to content
Note

Hourly billing screws customers

Hourly billing screws customers

Hourly billing looks harmless. But it quietly moves all the risk to the customer. - You don’t know the final price. - You only get an estimate (if you’re lucky). - And the hours add up faster than any customer expects.

It’s like buying a plane ticket… but finding out the price after you land. - Want a small change? More hours. - Hit a blocker? More hours. - Scope slightly unclear? Oh yes… more hours.

The customer carries 100% of the uncertainty. The agency carries 0%. And somehow this became “normal.”

Hourly billing says: “Here’s a guess. Good luck with your budget.”

That’s not a partnership. That’s like betting your budget on a mystery box.

So why should customers accept all the risk for work we control?

When will we admit hourly billing is just… nuts?

Earns Its Keep

Every Sunday, one post on Dataverse, .NET, and whether the tools we rely on still deserve to be there.