This is the part most creative and tech freelancers wish someone had told them about earlier. Not because it’s complicated — but because getting it wrong is expensive, stressful, and almost always avoidable.
The good news: a few simple habits and documents, set up from the start, will protect you from the vast majority of freelance horror stories. You don’t need a lawyer. You don’t need a complicated system. You just need to be clear, get things in writing, and stick to your process.
Quotes vs estimates: know the difference
Before you send any numbers to a client, understand what you’re actually committing to.
A quote is a fixed price. You’ve told the client exactly what they’ll pay — and if the job takes longer than expected, that’s your problem, not theirs. Quotes can work well for clearly defined, familiar projects where you know exactly what’s involved. Be careful giving quotes for anything with an unclear scope or a client who’s likely to change their mind.
An estimate is an approximate guide. You’re giving the client a realistic sense of cost, but you’re not locked into that number if the scope changes. Estimates are generally safer for complex or evolving projects, and most clients understand them — as long as you communicate clearly if things shift.
When in doubt, give an estimate rather than a quote. And always build in a contingency of 10–20% for things you haven’t thought of — unexpected problems, extra rounds of communication, scope that turns out to be bigger than it looked.
Pricing your work
Figuring out what to charge is one of the hardest parts of freelancing — and most people undercharge, especially at the start.
Work out your minimum rate first
Before you decide what to charge, work out what you need to earn to cover your costs. Add up everything you spend to do your freelance work:
- A portion of rent, power, and internet (if you work from home)
- Software subscriptions and tools
- Hardware costs and depreciation
- Travel, phone, stationery, printing
- Insurance and ACC levies
- Any other ongoing business expenses
This gives you your cost of doing business — the minimum you need to cover just to keep operating. That’s your floor. Everything above it is profit.
Factor in your actual working hours
You’re not billing 40 hours a week, even if you’re working 40 hours a week. Admin, client communication, marketing, chasing invoices, doing your tax — these things take time. For most freelancers, billable hours work out to around 60–75% of total working time.
Factor in annual leave (four weeks), public holidays (around ten days), and sick days too. Over a year, you’re probably looking at around 1,350–1,500 billable hours — not 2,000.
When you divide your income target by your actual billable hours, you’ll often find your rate needs to be higher than you thought.
NZ market rates in 2026
These are rough guides — rates vary by experience, client type, and project complexity:
| Role | Typical hourly rate (NZ) |
|---|---|
| Junior graphic designer | $35–$60/hr |
| Junior web developer | $45–$75/hr |
| UX/UI designer | $60–$100/hr |
| Senior designer / developer | $90–$150/hr |
| Digital marketer | $50–$80/hr |
| Copywriter | $50–$90/hr |
| Business analyst | $70–$110/hr |
| Motion designer / animator | $60–$100/hr |
Corporate and agency clients typically pay more than small businesses. Project rates — a fixed price for the whole job — are often better for clients and more profitable for you once you can estimate your time accurately.
A note on undercharging:
Charging too little can actually put clients off — it signals inexperience or lack of confidence. It also undercuts other people in your industry and contributes to a race to the bottom that’s bad for everyone. Charge what feels slightly uncomfortable. You can always negotiate; it’s much harder to raise your rates with an existing client than to set them right from the start.
Starting out: aim for at least $25–$35/hr minimum, and increase as you build experience and a track record. Remember that minimum wage in NZ is now over $23/hr — your freelance rate needs to account for all the unbillable time around your paid hours, your expenses, and the fact that you have no employer covering your sick leave, holiday pay, or KiwiSaver.
Hourly vs project rates
Hourly is simpler when you’re starting out — you track your time and bill for what you’ve done. It’s transparent for clients and protects you if a project runs over.
Project rates work better for defined scopes once you know how long things take. They’re often preferred by clients because they know the total cost upfront. The risk is yours if you underestimate — so always build in a buffer.
Retainers — an ongoing monthly fee for a set amount of work — are the holy grail for freelancers. Predictable income, ongoing relationship, less time spent finding new clients. Work toward retainer arrangements with clients you enjoy working with.
When a client pushes back on your rate
If a client says your rate is too high, you have options — but dropping your rate without adjusting what you offer isn’t one of them. Instead:
- Reduce the scope — fewer deliverables, fewer revisions, a smaller project
- Adjust the timeline — more time for you means less intensive work
- Offer a payment plan — spreading payments can make a larger project feel more accessible
Never drop your rate just because someone asked. It devalues your work, sets a precedent for the relationship, and rarely results in a better client experience. If their budget genuinely can’t meet your minimum rate, it’s okay to say so and wish them well.
Getting the scope right
Before you write a quote or an estimate, make sure you actually understand what the client wants. Ask questions. A lot of them.
- What are you trying to achieve with this project?
- Who is the audience?
- What does success look like?
- What do you already have, and what do you need created?
- Who is responsible for providing content — copy, images, data?
- What are the key deadlines?
- Have you done a project like this before? What happened?
- What’s your budget?
“Ask questions — make sure you understand the details and goals behind the job before taking it on” is one of the most consistent pieces of advice from experienced freelancers. Projects go wrong most often not because of skill gaps, but because of misaligned expectations that were never clarified upfront.
Once you understand the scope, write it down before you start.
Contracts: the basics
A contract doesn’t need to be a formal legal document to be effective. At minimum, you need something in writing that both parties have agreed to — even a clear email exchange counts.
The simplest version that actually protects you is sometimes called a 3-piece email contract: a written message to the client that clearly states:
- What work you’re doing
- What you’ll deliver and by when
- How much it costs and when payment is due
Ask them to confirm in reply before you start anything. That confirmation, in writing, is your agreement.
For anything more substantial — a bigger project, a corporate client, an ongoing relationship — use a proper contract document. Tools like AND.CO, Hello Bonsai, and the AIGA Standard Agreement have templates you can adapt.
What every contract should cover
Scope of work
Describe exactly what you’re delivering. Be specific. “A website” is not a scope. “A five-page WordPress website including home, about, services, portfolio, and contact pages, built to a provided design” is a scope. Anything not listed is out of scope.
Deliverables
What files, formats, or outputs are you handing over? Source files or final files only? Deployed code or code plus documentation? Spell it out. Charge extra for open/source files if that’s your policy — it’s standard practice.
Revisions
How many rounds of changes are included? Two rounds is standard for most design work. After that, additional revisions are charged at your hourly rate. Without this clause, “can you just tweak it a bit more?” can go on indefinitely.
Timeline
When will you deliver? What does the client need to provide, and by when? If they’re late with their content or feedback, your deadline shifts accordingly — include this explicitly. Clients who hold up their own projects sometimes forget that their delays affect your timeline.
Payment terms
Be specific about amounts, dates, and methods.
Standard practice:
- Deposit of 25–50% upfront, before work begins — non-negotiable. Never start work without at least a deposit. This protects you if the client disappears or changes their mind
- Remainder on completion, or broken into milestone payments for longer projects
- Payment due date — “net 7” (7 days from invoice) or “net 14” is reasonable for most freelance work. Net 30 is standard in corporate environments
Late payment clause
Include a late payment penalty. A typical clause: “Invoices not paid within [X] days of the invoice date will accrue interest at 1.5% per month.” You may never need to enforce it, but having it in writing changes the dynamic.
Intellectual property
Until you’ve been paid in full, you own the work. Ownership transfers to the client on final payment. Include this explicitly — it’s the single most important clause for protecting yourself if a client refuses to pay.
Kill fee
If the client cancels the project partway through, what do you keep? A kill fee of 25–50% of the remaining project value is reasonable and protects you from losing significant time on a project that gets pulled with no notice.
Scope creep clause
Any work outside the agreed scope will be quoted and agreed before it begins. This is how you protect yourself from the “can you just…” requests that can double the time a project takes.
Managing the client relationship
Getting the contract signed is just the beginning. How you manage the relationship from there determines whether the project goes smoothly, whether the client comes back, and whether they refer you to others.
Set expectations upfront — about everything
- Your working hours and response times (e.g. Monday–Friday, 9am–5pm, replies within one business day)
- How you’ll communicate — email, Slack, scheduled calls
- What you need from them, and by when
- What happens if they’re late with content or feedback
- What’s included in the price and what isn’t
Add your hours and response times to your email signature, your contract, and mention them in your first client meeting. It sounds formal, but clients genuinely appreciate knowing what to expect — and it protects you from the client who emails at 10pm and expects a reply by morning.
Know whose job is whose
You are responsible for:
- Setting and communicating your process
- Giving an accurate estimate of time and cost
- Delivering what was agreed, by the deadline
- Flagging problems early — not at the last minute
- Invoicing accurately and on time
The client is responsible for:
- Providing all content needed — copy, images, data, branding assets
- Giving clear, consolidated feedback within agreed timeframes
- Defining what success looks like
- Making decisions in a reasonable timeframe
- Paying on time
A common mistake is assuming the client knows all of this. They often don’t — especially if they haven’t worked with a freelancer before. Over-communicate your process. Put it in your contract, your proposal, your welcome email, and mention it verbally too. “People don’t read” is a freelancing truth — so say the important things in multiple places.
Scope creep: how to handle it
Scope creep is when a project gradually expands beyond what was originally agreed — usually through small, seemingly reasonable requests that add up over time.
“Can you just add one more page?”
“Actually, can we change the whole colour scheme?”
“I know we agreed on three screens but I need five now.”
These requests aren’t always malicious — clients often genuinely don’t realise they’re asking for extra work. The key is catching it early and responding clearly:
“Happy to do that — that’s outside our original scope, so I’ll send you a quick estimate for the additional work before I start. Should only take X hours.”
Said calmly and professionally, most clients accept this without issue. The ones who don’t are showing you a red flag worth paying attention to.
Dealing with difficult clients
If a client is being unreasonable, rude, or demanding more than was agreed — address it directly and professionally as early as possible. The longer you let it go, the harder it gets.
If a project has genuinely gone wrong and you can’t resolve it, it’s sometimes better to negotiate an exit than to keep going. Agree on what’s been completed, what payment covers that work, and part ways professionally. In NZ’s small market, how you handle a difficult situation matters as much as the situation itself.
A note on saying no
Saying no to the wrong client is one of the most valuable skills in freelancing. Every bad client you take on costs you time, energy, and often money — and takes the place of a better client you could have worked with instead.
You don’t need a reason. You don’t need to apologise. A professional decline:
“Thank you so much for getting in touch. After consideration, I don’t think I’m the right fit for this project — but I wish you all the best with it.”
Short, warm, final. No explanation required.
Contract tools and templates
- AND.CO / Bonsai — freelance contract and invoice tools with templates built in
- Hello Bonsai — popular with designers and developers, NZ-friendly
- AIGA Standard Agreement — aiga.org/standard-agreement — designed for creative freelancers, plain English
- Wave — free invoicing with basic contract features
- A clear email — for small jobs, a written email confirmed by both parties is a legitimate agreement
For anything over a few hundred dollars or with a complex scope, use a proper document rather than just an email.
Next in the series: [Money, Tax & Invoicing — pricing your work, putting tax aside, IRD basics, tracking time, and keeping records.]