Before you can price a product or service, you need to know your costs to provide it. This CDB calculator is one tool to help you get a handle on those costs. It lists annual expenses independent photojournalists need to account for. But it's only as accurate as your inputs, which can be hard to estimate. Err on the high side, since unexpected things can catch up with you, and as you bill more, your expenses almost surely will increase. As high as totals from this calculator may look, experience will probably prove them low.
Click on the 
icon beside an expense category, and a window filled with information pops up to help you. There's also a set of answers to Frequently Asked Questions to help you make the most of the calculator and the data it generates.
This calculator takes a step beyond just computing your costs. You can input your desired salary, along with your estimated income from other sales (such as prints, reprints and stock photo sales), and the calculator will predict the minimum you must earn - in addition to assignment expenses - every day you shoot, in order to meet your goals. If your clients won't cover this minimum, plus your billable expenses, you need different clients or you need to make adjustments to your budget.
Introduction, FAQ's and category pop-up information © 2003 Greg Smith
