The Project I Repriced Too Late

I knew the rate was wrong by week two.

The client was fine. The work was interesting. But I'd priced it based on a gut feeling, and my gut had been optimistic. I was putting in 15 hours a week on a project I'd quoted for 8.

I didn't reprice it. I told myself I'd finish strong and do better next time.

That was a $4,200 mistake.

How I Got There

I took the project in a slow month. A slow month makes you say yes to things you'd normally push back on. The client sent a scope document. I skimmed it. I gave a number. We started.

I wasn't tracking my time at that point, not properly. I had a spreadsheet I filled in at the end of each day, from memory, rounding to the nearest hour. You already know how accurate that is.

By week three I had a vague sense something was off. The work kept expanding in small ways. A round of feedback became two. A section I thought was done got reopened. None of it was dramatic. None of it was billable under the way I'd structured the deal.

I kept going.

The Number I Didn't Want to See

When I finished the project, I added up my hours properly for the first time. Not from memory. I went back through my calendar, my files, my email threads, and reconstructed what I'd actually done.

I'd worked 67 hours on a project I'd quoted at 30.

At my rate, that gap was worth $2,775. Money I'd earned and not billed. Money that was gone because I'd waited too long to say anything.

If I'd caught it at week two, I had options. I could have flagged the scope drift. I could have had a conversation. Clients don't always push back when you come to them early with real numbers. They push back when you surprise them at the end.

I never gave that client the chance to do the right thing.

What Tracking Would Have Changed

I use Time-Trak now. The thing I notice most is that I can't lie to myself anymore.

The timer is running or it isn't. The hours are there. I don't reconstruct them from memory at the end of the week and magically arrive at a number that feels reasonable. I see the actual number, every day.

On my next fixed project, I hit 60% of my quoted hours by the halfway point. That's a problem. I knew it was a problem because the data was right in front of me. I sent the client a short note, shared what I was seeing, and we adjusted the scope before it got worse.

That conversation took 20 minutes. The client appreciated the heads up. We kept working together.

The Part Nobody Talks About

Repricing mid-project feels awkward. I understand why people avoid it. But finishing a project you know is underpaid is its own kind of damage.

You start resenting the work. You rush the final stages. You deliver something that's fine but not good. The client can feel that, even if they can't name it.

And you walk away from the whole thing with less money and less confidence than you started with.

The better move is to have the conversation early. Early means you still have information on your side. Early means the client can see the problem is real, not just an excuse at invoice time.

But none of that works if you don't actually know what your hours look like.

That's the part I had to learn the hard way. The awkward conversation isn't the problem. Not knowing when to have it is.

Track your hours from day one. Check them against your quote at the midpoint. If the numbers are drifting, say something. That's it. That's the whole lesson.

I just wish it hadn't cost me a few thousand dollars to figure it out.

Track your time, bill every minute.

Time-Trak is a native Mac and Windows time tracker with a floating timer, automatic screenshots, and one-click invoicing.

Free during beta.

macOS + Windows · Floating widget · Auto screenshots