Consulting Plan: Can the Fixed Fee Absorb Revisions and the Deadline?

A fixed fee is meaningful only beside the delivery hours, revision limits and approval terms it buys. Test cost and deadline separately: a project can remain contribution-positive while becoming impossible for the assigned specialist to finish on time.

More hours reduce contribution and increase early funding

Original assumptions, $ for one engagement. The fee is $6,000, with 30% actually collected upfront and 70% on day 30 after approval. Fully loaded delivery time costs $35 per hour and project travel $400. All project costs are paid before the final balance; firm overhead is additional. The assigned specialist has 100 usable hours in the delivery window.

Forty extra hours halve the original contribution and double the selected pre-balance gap. The 120-hour stress also exceeds available time by 20 hours; it is a financial sensitivity, not a feasible delivery promise.

Repricing and capacity solve different problems

To preserve the original $2,800 contribution at 120 hours, the fee would need to be $7,400: 120 ×35 +400 +2,800. That arithmetic does not establish client acceptance or produce the missing specialist hours. A revised scope, confirmed additional capacity or agreed later deadline is still necessary.

At 80 hours the fee averages $75 per delivery hour; at 120 it is $50 before travel or firm overhead. Compare other accepted work that uses the same specialist, without treating an unbooked pipeline as certain opportunity cost.

Set the change trigger before approval becomes delayed

Specify deliverables, revision rounds, dependencies and what triggers a revised fee or schedule. Use actual time records and collection history to date subcontractor and payroll obligations. Retainers, hourly work and fixed-fee projects need their own bases.

The selected Consulting Financial Model is the seller's Small Business Consulting model, with service-hour pricing, staffing and investment in the broader firm forecast.