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Compare staged writing-project payments received with cumulative labor and outside costs at a selected milestone.
Choose one milestone cutoff
Use payments received collected and work performed through the same point in the project. An invoice sent is not collected cash. Keep later work and later payments received outside the selected milestone.
How the calculation works
Milestone payments received = total project fee × collected fee fraction. Cumulative cost including the value of staff time = labor hours × hourly labor cost + outside costs. Coverage = payments received − cost including the value of staff time. Fee percentage needed = cost including the value of staff time ÷ positive total fee × 100.
A worked example
A 6,000 project with 40% collected produces 2,400 payments received. Sixty hours at 45 plus 400 outside costs gives 3,100 cost including the value of staff time. Coverage is negative 700; covering that cost requires 51.67% of the project fee.
Review the payment sequence early
If an early milestone has negative coverage, compare a larger advance or smaller initial work package within a negotiated agreement. Separate earnings after costs and the value of staff time from bank cash: owner time still has value even when no payroll payment occurs.
What the result leaves out
This is a selected-milestone comparison, not a full dated cash-flow schedule. Owner labor value can differ from actual cash paid. Payment rights and delivery obligations must come from the contract; no contract is created.
Open the calculator with your own figures →
The defaults are constructed examples, not market benchmarks. Choose one currency for every monetary input; the currency selector formats values and does not convert exchange rates. Keep a copy of the records and assumptions behind your result so you can repeat the comparison after the next reporting period.
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Prepared by ProWorkstack. Our editorial standards explain how we handle examples, limitations and corrections.