The ship is done. They still want pages they can read.
After a 2026 delivery the thread is often “write this up so ops is not DMing you,” “we need an SOP for whoever inherits it,” or “put it in the wiki before you disappear.” They are not booking a walkthrough. They are not asking for the native file. The site, film, or system already left. They want prose a stranger can follow when you are offline. Bill that typing clock at the hourly floor on the hub — keep target, billable weeks, and any tax buffer you chose there. This card does not clone that buffer and is not a 50-state filing table. $540 is 6 × 90 written as money. Invoice in another currency on the hub. Still guessing at $90? Start on how to set a freelance rate.
Docs extra = hours you type × hourly floor. Time the writing from outline to paste. Six hours is 6. A long wiki is 12. Include stills you will actually capture and a second format you will actually export. Annotated screenshots and a wiki-plus-PDF pass are extra hours you type — not $15 a page, not a stills SKU, not a fake wiki-seat rate. This card will not mint “docs are 20% of the project,” a free README, or a studio documentation package.
Worked USD: 6h × $90 = $540
Preset: 6 writing hours. Floor $90. Screenshot hours 0. Second-format hours 0. Docs extra: 6 × $90 = $540.
That $540 is the runbook. It stacks on a delivery they already paid for. It is not you talking through a screen share. It is not the .fig zip. It is not a discovery half-day they used as a gate before a quote. Name the dollars before you open the wiki. Do not wait for “documentation was in the original fee.” This page never put a SOP inside that fee.
Third preset: 12 hours at the same $90. Extra: 12 × $90 = $1,080. You typed the 12. This page did not. A longer wiki is still hours × floor, still billed after the ship, still not 20% of anything.
Stills and a second copy are extra hours, not a page price
Second preset: same 6 writing hours, same $90. They also want annotated screenshots. You type 2 extra hours for those stills. Billed hours: 6 + 2 = 8. Docs extra: 8 × $90 = $720. Writing labor is $540. Stills labor is $180.
Those stills did not mint a $15/page line. There is no documentation-page grid here. You typed extra hours. The card multiplied hours × floor. If they said “a 20-page SOP” and extra hours stay 0, extra hours stay 0 — this page will not invent a per-page dollar so the math looks official, and it will not invent 20% of the original quote. Type the hours those stills or that second format actually cost, or leave those boxes at 0.
Do not mix this SOP with four other products
A live session after the ship so their people can operate it while you talk lives on the training-handoff card. Worked example there: 3h × $90 = $270. Extra people become extra hours you type, not a classroom ticket. Talking on Zoom does not leave a README. A README does not replace a live walkthrough. Want both? Session hours on that card, writing hours on this one.
The native Figma / PSD / AE project after they already bought the PDF, MP4, or site lives on the source-files card. That extra is package/handoff hours × floor (worked 2h × $90 = $180). A zip is not an SOP. An SOP is not the working files. Want both? Package hours there, writing hours here.
They did not ask you to retype the work in another language. Same screens, different words — hours you type for the second language × floor — lives on the translation card. 8h × $90 = $720. Not 30% of the project, not a per-word mill. A runbook in one language is not a Spanish site. A Spanish site is not an SOP. If they want both, put writing hours here and second-language hours there.
They did not ask you to caption the film, write alt, or drop a transcript after the quote shipped the work as-is. That extra is hours you type × floor on the accessibility card. Worked 4h × $90 = $360. Not 15% of the project, not a WCAG mill, not a per-minute caption rate. A runbook is not a .vtt. A .vtt is not an SOP. If they want both, put writing hours here and caption / alt / transcript hours there.
They did not ask you to rebuild a screen quote for press. A press PDF with bleeds, crop marks, and a CMYK pack — hours you type × floor, not 20% of the project, not a per-page mill — lives on the print-ready card. 3h × $90 = $270. The shop bill they forwarded still lives on expense-markup. Writing an SOP does not draw bleeds. Drawing bleeds does not leave a wiki. If they want both, put writing hours here and press hours there.
They did not ask you to write a living do/don’t book after the mark already left. Clear space, lockups, color on dark, type pairing — hours you type × floor on the brand-guidelines card. 6h × $90 = $540. Not 20% of identity, not a per-page mill. A wiki that teaches ops to run the product is not a brand book. A brand book is not an SOP. If they want both, put product-runbook hours here and brand-book hours there.
They did not ask you to publish a public case study. A writeup, stills, and a quote they can post — hours you type × floor, 4h × $90 = $360, not free marketing, not 10% of the project — lives on the case-study card. That clock is a story their audience reads. This clock is a wiki the next operator reads. A posted case study is not an SOP. An SOP is not a public writeup. If they want both, put public-writeup hours there and runbook hours here.
A paid mapping session they demand before a project number exists lives on the kickoff-workshop card. Worked example there: 4h × $90 = $360, billed as a gate, optional later credit that starts off. That half-day maps work that has not been quoted. This SOP describes work that already shipped. Do not shave this $540 off a job they already paid, and do not call a post-ship README “kickoff notes we forgot to write.”
A repeating Monday Zoom on a live job whose hours were already the deliverable lives on the weekly-call extra. Worked example there: 1 × 0.5h × 4 weeks × $90 = $180. That invite is status while the work is happening. This card is written docs after the work left, so the next person is not pinging you. Do not turn a SOP into “we’ll just hop on every week,” and do not treat four standups as documentation.
Paste the line before you start typing
Name the writing hours. Name the floor. Name $540 (or whatever the card shows). Name that it stacks on the delivery they already paid for. If screenshot hours or second-format hours are on, name those too. Copy from this card so the dollars in the email match the dollars on screen.
- 6h × $90. Runbook extra after the ship: 6 hours × $90.00/hr = $540.00. That extra is hours × floor so the next person can operate what already shipped without me on Slack — not 20% of the project, and not buried in the fee they already paid. Please confirm $540.00 before I start the wiki.
- Same 6h, 2h of stills. Runbook extra after the ship: 6 writing hours + 2 extra hours I typed for screenshots / diagrams = 8 hours × $90.00/hr = $720.00. Stills are extra hours, not a per-page ticket. That is not 20% of the project. Please confirm $720.00 before I start the wiki.
- 12h wiki. Runbook extra after the ship: 12 hours × $90.00/hr = $1,080.00. That extra is hours × floor so the next person can operate what already shipped without me on Slack — not 20% of the project, and not buried in the fee they already paid. Please confirm $1,080.00 before I start the wiki.
Leave out guilt and “everyone knows docs are 20%.” That speech turns a README into a fight. This page has no official documentation percent. No confirmed fee, no writing hours blocked. Live walkthrough belongs on training-handoff. Native files belong on source-files. A living do/don’t book after the mark belongs on brand-guidelines. A second language belongs on translation. Captions, alt, or a transcript after the work as shipped belongs on accessibility. A paid discovery gate belongs on kickoff-workshop. A repeating Monday Zoom on a live job belongs on weekly-call. A public writeup they can post belongs on case-study. If the $90 floor moved, rebuild it on the hub, then name this runbook.
Planning math, not a documentation policy
Planning numbers only — not legal, tax, or collections advice. No mandated runbook percent, no statute that prices an SOP, no 20% slice of a shipped job, no per-page wiki grid, and no 50-state tax engine. Keep the contract you already signed. Need enforceable documentation language? Hire counsel where you work before the wiki is opened. Filling this card does not draft that language.
Inputs: writing hours, hourly floor, extra hours for screenshots / diagrams, extra hours for a second format (not a per-page dollar). Outputs: billed hours, docs extra, one pasteable sentence. USD labels here; live currency and the tax buffer stay on the hub.
Rate calculator Live session, not a README Public writeup, not a README Working files after delivery Brand book after the logo, not a README Second language, not a README Captions / alt, not a README Press PDF, not a README Paid discovery before the quote Set the hourly floor
Billable weeks moved? Recalculate the floor on the hub before you price the SOP. This page names written docs they asked for after the delivery left — hours × floor, stills as extra hours, not 20% of the job. Live session so their people can run it: training-handoff. Native files after a bought delivery: source-files. Living do/don’t book after the mark: brand-guidelines. Same work in another language: translation. Captions, alt, or a transcript after the work as shipped: accessibility. A half-day before you will quote: kickoff-workshop. Recurring Zoom on a live job: weekly-call. Public writeup, stills, and a quote they can post: case-study.
FAQ
How do I charge for a freelance runbook after the deliverable already shipped?
Docs extra is hours you type × your hourly floor. The build already left. They now want a written SOP so the next person can operate it without you. That typing clock sits on top of what they already paid. Planning numbers, not a contract.
Are freelance docs 20% of the project fee?
Not on this card. No official SOP percent, no required 20% of a shipped job, and no documentation slice sold as industry standard. 6 hours × a $90 floor is $540 because you typed 6 and 90. This page will not invent a docs percent of the project.
How do screenshots or a second format change a freelance documentation fee?
Annotated stills, diagrams, and a second copy (wiki plus PDF) become extra hours you type — not a fake per-page ticket and not a per-screenshot dollar. Type those hours. This card will not mint $15/page. If they named a page count but extra hours stay 0, extra hours stay 0.
Is a written runbook the same as a training session, source files, a second language, captions/alt/transcript, a kickoff workshop, a weekly standing call, or a public case study?
No. Training-handoff is you talking live after the ship. Source-files is the native Figma / PSD / AE zip. Translation is the same work in another language — hours you type × floor, not 30% of the project, not a per-word mill. Accessibility is captions, alt, or a transcript after the quote shipped the work as-is — hours × floor, not 15% of the project, not a WCAG mill, not a per-minute caption rate. Kickoff-workshop is paid discovery BEFORE a quote exists. Weekly-call is a repeating status invite on a live job. A living do/don’t book after the mark already left is brand-guidelines — hours × floor, not 20% of identity, not a per-page mill. A public case study is a writeup, stills, and a quote they can post — hours × floor, 4h × $90 = $360, not free marketing, not 10% of the project. This card is written docs the next person reads when you are offline.
Is this documentation math a contract, a docs statute, or a 50-state tax engine?
No. Planning arithmetic only. $540 is 6 × $90 with a dollar sign. Currency and any tax buffer stay on the hub. This page is not a 50-state tax engine and does not draft a documentation clause.