What Can I Do If the Final Bill Exceeds the Original Estimate?

Question: What Can I Do If the Final Bill Exceeds the Original Estimate?

I was working on a series of brochures for a new client. The job began taking a lot more time than I originally expected because the client kept asking for more and more changes each time I presented them with my interim layouts. Plus some of the changes meant using a more expensive paper than originally planned. Now the client is not wanting to pay the full bill because the brochures ended up costing a lot more than I originally projected. What can I do?

Answer: What does your contract say? Did your contract spell out how many revisions you would provide before you started charging extra? Did it spell out what types of changes to the project specs would incur additional expenses? Did you notify the client that the project costs were exceeding what was originally discussed as soon as you knew about it?

Your contract is your first line of defense when a client questions the finished product or the invoice. If the additional charges are addressed in the contract, simply pointing this out to the client may be enough to bring them around. It will also provide you with protection if your payment dispute has to be resolved by other means -- mediation or court. If your contract doesn't spell out how to handle changes in the project or if you were working without a contract, you'll have a more difficult time protecting yourself if a client wants to dispute your charges.

If you don't have a contract, I hope you kept a paper trail of all discussions and all changes. If you can show the client where you discussed how certain changes would make the project cost substantially more (such as more expensive paper or a more expensive printing technique) then you might be able to persuade the client to pay up. This documentation will also be helpful if you decide to use a third-party mediator or if the dispute lands you in court.

It's possible that you may end up having to take a loss on this particular project. If so, before you do another job for this or any other client -- get a contract. And make sure that contract addresses such common situations as revisions and substantial changes to the scope of the project.