The vendor invoice is not your hourly floor
In 2026 the ping is still “can you grab the stock,” “we need that font,” “run $400 in ads,” or “hire the motion person, we’ll repay you.” That is not more production. That is cash they asked you to put on a vendor. Hours for the job still live on quote a project — production + meetings × the hourly floor from the hub, plus a buffer you set there. This card does not rebuild that quote. It does not multiply hours. It multiplies a receipt. Income target, billable weeks, and the tax slice you typed sit on the hub. This page does not copy them and is not a 50-state tax engine. Figures here are labeled USD so $400 × 1.15 is easy to read. Switch currency on the hub if you invoice in something else. If the floor itself is still a guess, set it on how to set a freelance rate before you mix a receipt into a job.
Billed extras = pasted cost × (1 + markup share you type). Keep on the receipt = pasted cost × that share. The share starts at 0. Zero means pass-through at cost: they repay what you paid, you keep $0 on that line. Type 0.15 when you want a 15% example sitting next to the receipt. That 0.15 is a number you typed. It is not a law, not a procurement statute, and not “what agencies charge.” This card will not invent a 20% agency markup, a 25% handling fee, or a blog’s “everyone marks up vendors.”
Worked USD: $400 stock at 0.15 → $460 billed, $60 keep
First preset: pasted cost $400. Markup share 0.15. Billed extras: $400 × 1.15 = $460. Keep on the receipt: $400 × 0.15 = $60.
That $60 is not new screens. It is not travel. It is not a wider grant on files you already made. It is keep because they asked you to buy the stock (or the font, the ads, the contractor) and you typed 0.15 on top of the $400. You chose 0.15. This card does not treat that figure as official.
Second preset: pass-through. Same $400, markup share 0. Billed extras $400. Keep $0. They repay the receipt. The extras line is the cost. Do not paste a handling percent onto a pass-through they already agreed to pay at cost.
Third preset: you were going to eat the $400. The vendor still cashes the $400. If that line never hits the invoice, you spent $400 and billed $0 extras. Swallowing a vendor bill they named does not make you flexible. It teaches the next “just expense it.” Say the extras line out loud, or hand them the cash on purpose — do not treat the stock pack as complimentary.
This card is not the other money cards
A whole job — production hours, meetings, a risk buffer, one fixed fee — is quote a project. That math is hours × floor for the job. A stock license is not an hour. Do not bury a $400 foundry invoice inside “admin hours” and call it the same quote. Cut the job there. Put the receipt here.
They did not add screens. Extra NEW hours on a live job belong on the change-order add-on — those hours × the floor, then add that product to the quote already sent. A stock pack is not extra scope. If they want both — new pages and a font they named — price the new hours there and the receipt here. Two lines. Do not smuggle a vendor invoice into “a couple more hours.”
They did not ask you to show up. Hours in the room plus travel hours you type, with parking as dollars you already know, live on the on-site day card. A drive across town is not a font license. That garage ticket stays a dollar you paste, with no markup share on that card. If they also want you in the building and they named a contractor you should hire, keep travel on on-site-day and keep this receipt on this card.
They did not ask you to sleep there. A hotel folio they named is a receipt — paste it here, share 0 or a share you type. The extra for staying the night after a same-day quote is nights you type × an amount you type on the overnight card. 1 × $180 = $180 when those are the numbers you typed — not a GSA per diem, not $200 a night, not 50% of the day. This card is the folio. That card is the pillow. Two lines if they want both: the night extra and the room receipt. Do not launder a sleepover into “I’ll just expense the hotel.”
They did not ask to run the same files in paid social. Broader rights on hours already in the quote live on the usage-license card — those hours × floor × a multiplier you choose. Buying ad inventory they asked you to purchase is a receipt. Widening the grant on work you already priced is a license extra. Two products. Two numbers. Do not tuck a media buy inside a usage line, and do not tuck a bigger license inside a stock invoice.
You type the share. This page will not invent a 20% agency markup
Procurement posts love a tidy handling percent. This card does not ship one. Stock, a foundry license, ad spend, a subcontractor — those are names on a receipt. The dollars are the cost you paste times one plus a share you enter. This page will not mint a 20% agency markup.
If they want a “standard,” the straight answer is this page does not have one. Show $460 billed / $60 keep, or type 0 and pass the $400 through. The share is yours. Skip speeches. If they will not confirm the extras line, do not put the vendor on your card.
Send the sentence before you pay the vendor
Say the pasted cost. Say the share you typed. Say billed extras. Say keep on the receipt. Copy the sentence so the extras line you send is the extras line on screen.
- 0.15 example. The $400.00 stock/fonts/ads/contractor cost they asked me to buy, at a 0.15 markup share I typed, bills $460.00. $60.00 of that is keep. Please confirm that extras line before I pay the vendor. This is planning math, not a 20% agency markup.
- Pass-through. The $400.00 cost they asked me to buy bills $400.00 at pass-through (markup share 0). Keep on that receipt is $0.00. Please confirm that extras line before I pay the vendor.
- Eat the receipt. If I eat the $400.00 they asked me to buy, I still spend $400.00 and I invoice $0.00 extras. That is not free. Please confirm $400.00 pass-through before I pay the vendor.
If the work itself grew — more pages, more cuts, more deliverables — leave this card. Name extra NEW hours on change-order, or rebuild the job on quote a project. If they only wanted you in the room, that day (commute included) is on-site-day, not this extras line.
Planning numbers, not a reimbursable-expense clause
This card is educational planning. It is not counsel on law, tax, purchasing, or collections, and it is not a 50-state tax engine. No required markup percent, no statutory handling fee, no “20% agency markup” chart. Use the agreement you already have. If you need an enforceable reimbursable-expense line, counsel where you work drafts it before you put a vendor on your card. Filling these boxes does not write that line and does not turn a chat ping into a purchase order.
Inputs: cost you paste, markup share you type (0 = pass-through at cost; 0.15 is a 15% illustration you can change). Outputs: billed extras = cost × (1 + share), keep = cost × share, one pasteable sentence. Dollar labels on this page; live currency and the tax slice stay on the hub.
Rate calculator Hours × floor for the job Extra NEW hours, not a receipt Travel hours, not a vendor invoice Overnight extra (the night, not the folio) Set the hourly floor
If billable weeks moved, rebuild the hourly floor on the hub first. A receipt they asked you to buy is named here. The original job still starts on quote a project. Extra screens belong on change-order. A day they want you physically there belongs on on-site-day. A sleepover after that same-day quote belongs on overnight — the night itself, not this folio line.
FAQ
How do I bill stock, fonts, ads, or a contractor a client asked me to buy?
Billed extras = the cost you paste × (1 + a markup share you type). Keep on that receipt is cost × the share. Default share 0 is pass-through at cost — they repay the receipt, you keep $0 on it. Type 0.15 as a 15% example — not a rule. Planning math, not a vendor contract.
Is freelance expense markup a 20% agency markup?
No. This card does not ship an official 20% agency markup, a required handling fee, or a claim that any share is standard. You type the share. Default is 0 (pass-through). 0.15 is a 15% example you can change. This card will not invent a 20% agency markup.
Is expense markup the same as a project quote, a change order, an on-site day, or a usage license?
No. A project quote is hours × floor for the job, plus a buffer you set. A change order is extra NEW hours on a live quote. An on-site day is hours in the room plus travel hours you type. A usage license is the same hours, broader rights. This card is money they asked you to spend: stock, fonts, ads, a contractor. The receipt is the input, not hours.
What does markup share 0 mean on freelance extras?
Share 0 means billed extras equal the pasted cost. Pass-through at cost. Keep on the receipt is $0. $400 stock at 0 bills $400. Type 0.15 if you want a 15% example: $400 × 1.15 = $460 billed, $60 keep. Clear it back to 0 anytime.
Is this expense math a tax engine, vendor contract, or legal advice?
No. Planning figures only — not counsel on law, tax, purchasing, or collections. USD labels here so $400 × 1.15 is readable. Pick live currency and a tax buffer on the hub. This page is not a 50-state filing table. Entering numbers here does not create a reimbursable-expense clause.