For this assignment, you will need to turn in 2 files:

A PDF file including screenshots of your spreadsheet

A SEPARATE PDF File containing your 4+ page analysis

How Much Should You Bill for Your Work?

In the Unit 3 assignment, you were asked to create a proposal including an hourly rate for projects you would be completing for the Sun Devil Cafe. In this assignment, you will look closely at the cost of doing business, and create an hourly rate that allows you to cover those costs and achieve a full time salary of your choosing. You will then compare that rate to your Unit 3 rate(s) for the same work, and write an analysis.

For this assignment, you will ACT AS IF you are embarking on a freelance-only career, working full time, and you are the sole financial provider for yourself - income, insurance, taxes, housing, etc. You should not do this from an Agency or In-House perspective, nor should you approach this as if you are freelancing on the side.

Assignment Details:

I have created a Google Sheet ACCESS HERE Links to an external site. for this assignment. Please COPY AND PASTE it into your own Google Sheet. Before you do anything else, look for the 4 spots on the spreadsheet where you are to change the text that is there to your name, and make that change. If you do not change these areas of the spreadsheet to show your name, you will not receive credit for your screenshots.

Use the information found in the Hourly Rate Generation section in this week's textbook readings to estimate your MONTHLY expenses, and fill them in on the spreadsheet (the left columns of the Google Sheet). There is additional information on these expenses in your textbook, and in the far right area of the spreadsheet.

Once you have filled in the monthly expenses - Follow the instructions in the box in the middle of the Google Sheet to finish generating your hourly rate. Please follow my instructions on the sheet, not the ones in the textbook, to generate your hourly rate on the spreadsheet! There are several expenses and calculations in your textbook that you will not see in the Google Sheet. These are, for the most part, related to Agencies or larger businesses, and you are doing this assignment as a Freelancer.

Once you have generated your hourly rate, refer to the proposal you wrote for the Sun Devil Cafe assignment in Unit 3. Review the rates you charged for the projects, and the number of hours of work for each of the projects. Use this information to fill out the BLUE FIELDS in the Rate Comparison Chart at the bottom of the Google Sheet. This chart will automatically generate some numbers that you can use in your Analysis in the green fields of this chart.

Please review your numbers before you move on to the analysis. Here are some common errors to watch for:

Verify that all of your expenses listed are monthly and not annual/yearly expenses. The spreadsheet will give you a very high hourly rate if you use annual expenses

The most common expense mistake students make is the federal income tax amount. If you calculated your federal income tax on your full annual salary, you need to divide that number by 12 to get an approximate monthly federal income tax expense.

State income tax should not be higher than Federal income tax. State tax rates are lower than Fed in all states that collect state income tax.

You should not use your full car payment, full car insurance payment, full mobile phone payment, or the full rent on your apartment or mortgage amount on your home. Unless you are using your car, phone, or apt/house 100% for business (and you almost never would as a typical freelancer in this industry), then you have to calculate the percentage you use for business. Please review the notes on the right side of the Google Sheet to find the percentages/formula you should use for these expenses

You should not enter the full cost of a computer, the cost of all of your office furniture, or the cost to attend a convention as a monthly expense. You're working on a budget, not actual already-paid expenses, so you're essentially setting aside a certain amount of your revenue each month so that when these expenses happen, you have the money. SO, if the cost of the computer you would need is $2400, then you should put $200 in as your computer expense - $2400/12 months = $200 - not the full $2400. Adding this in as a $2400 monthly expense will throw off your hourly rate (and your grade).

Analyze your findings in a minimum four-page, 12pt SINGLE SPACED paper summarizing your thoughts and explaining your overhead costs. In your paper, you MUST include HOW you came to the numbers you used in your Expense spreadsheet. Once you have justified ALL OF YOUR EXPENSES, discuss the following topics:

Are you surprised at how low/high your rate is? (or were you pretty close with your Unit 3 estimate)

How do your new rates compare to the cost of the services quoted in your proposal?

Would you be inclined to adjust your rate, either higher or lower, if you had the opportunity to redo your proposal to the Sun Devil Cafe? Why or why not?

Minimum of 4 pages means you should fill that fourth page at a minimum, not just get to the fourth page at a minimum.

Finally, you will need to take screenshots of your spreadsheet when you are all finished with your entries and calculations. Compile your screenshots into a different PDF document to turn in. Check that you have put your name into the colored boxes on the Google Sheet where it says to change the text to your name before taking screenshots! Do not zoom out and take a huge screenshot of the whole spreadsheet... take at least 3 separate screenshots:

At least one screenshot showing the expense column. ALL expenses, the monthly total, and the annual total, should appear in a screenshot. If you need to use more than one to show all of these expenses, that's fine.

One screenshot showing the Box in the center of the spreadsheet titled "Generate Your Hourly Rate"

One screenshot showing the Rate Comparison Chart

IMPORTANT NOTES ABOUT EXPENSES

A large amount of the grade for this assignment is tied to listing and justifying the expenses on this spreadsheet. Expect to fill out at least 90% of the expenses. Any zeros on your spreadsheet need to be backed by a legitimate reason, and some research. There will be VERY FEW legitimate "0.00" on the spreadsheet, and they will need to be justified in your analysis. For instance, if you live in a state that does not have income tax, your state income tax expense would be 0, and you would write something like "I checked the department of revenue website for the State of _____, and I plan to do all of my business in this state so I am not responsible for paying state income tax."

Keep in mind that this is a classroom assignment, and the purpose of this is to learn what expenses you would encounter as a full time freelancer using your freelancing income to support yourself. "I live with my parents, so I don't have rent, or utilities, and I'm on their insurance so I don't pay for that" - NOT ACCEPTABLE for this assignment. Neither is, "I'm on my spouse's insurance plan through work, and so I don't have health or dental expenses." You will need to put time into finding out what rent would cost, how much utilities are, and what you'd pay for health insurance if you were supporting yourself, and all of your income comes from freelance work. No exceptions.

Also "I don't need to market, I will get business through word of mouth, and I'll just learn through free content online." Perhaps that will be true for you in practice, but for this assignment, act as if it isn't, and figure out what it will cost you to advertise, woo potential clients at lunch, and to continue your education at conferences, or by taking courses or reading books that are not free.

Additional notes:

You will need to be signed into your ASU Google account to access the spreadsheet, as it is only available to ASU Google accounts. Access will not be granted to non-ASU accounts.

A link to your spreadsheet is not acceptable in lieu of screenshots. ONLY screenshots of your spreadsheet are accepted.

Screenshots MUST BE CLEAR, READABLE, AND LARGE. If I can't read it, you won't get credit for it.

Please put each screenshot on its own page, and compile your screenshots into a single PDF file separate from your analysis. When I grade these, I want to be able to open your analysis on one side of my screen and your screenshot PDF on the other. This is why I need the screenshots in a separate PDF file :)

If numbers aren't calculating correctly, particularly on the Rate Comparison Chart, make sure that you did not overwrite the formulas. On the rate comparison chart at the bottom of the spreadsheet, you should only have filled in the BLUE boxes. Yellow and Green will automatically fill in, based on either the numbers you enter in the blue box, or what you entered in the expenses and rate sections at the top of the spreadsheet. If you are having difficulty with any formulas, recopy the spreadsheet and start over.