Hours already happened. The percent did not.
A kill-fee post will tell you to paste “50% of remaining” into the SOW and call it a day. That number is not a law, not a tax table, and not what this card computes. The hours already left the calendar. Those hours have a floor — the same hourly floor you already set on the hub.
Keep = hours already worked × hourly floor, compared to the deposit they already paid. If the deposit covers those hours, the deposit is the keep. If the hours already beat the deposit, the gap is unpaid work. That gap is why this page exists.
Deposit covers the hours? That’s the keep.
Preset: they cancelled after 8 hours. Floor $90. Deposit already paid $1,000. 8 × $90 = $720. The deposit covers it. Keep $1,000. Unpaid gap $0.
You do not invent a bonus 50% on top of a deposit that already covers the week. Remaining work on the original quote — if you typed it — is released in the sentence. This is not a refund engine and not a collections tool. It is the comparison: hours vs cash already in the account.
Hours already beat the deposit? That’s the gap.
Preset: you already overshot. 16 hours × $90 = $1,440. Deposit $1,000. Keep is the hours at the floor: $1,440. Unpaid gap $440. That $440 already left Tuesday and Wednesday. It is not a “kill percent.” It is unpaid work.
Paste the sentence. If they still sit on that gap, stop writing kill-fee essays and use late invoice follow-up — amount, due date, one line. If this client never paid a deposit in the first place, the gap is the whole hours × floor, and the next job takes a deposit before you block the week.
They walked with $0 on the account
The “No deposit — they walked” preset is the ugly case. 8 hours × $90 = $720 keep, and $720 unpaid, because nothing landed first. A kill clause in a PDF does not cash that. A deposit would have. Price the next start on the deposit guide so kickoff and cash show up in the same week. Rebuild the next number on quote a project from the same floor.
If the “look” was never even a job — free kickoff, unpaid audit — that time is unpaid discovery, not a cancel. Different week, different card.
The 50% box is a planning example. You can clear it.
Some people want to see “50% of remaining quote” next to the hours math. Fine. Type a remaining quote and a percent. The card will show that product and label it a planning example. It does not replace keep. It does not become the sentence. There is no official 25% or 50% freelance kill fee on this page.
Example: remaining quote $2,000, you type 50% → $1,000 planning example. Hours still 8 × $90 vs a $1,000 deposit. Keep is still the deposit. The 50% line is a comparison you asked for, not a rule we invented.
Send the sentence tonight
Do not write a speech about respect. Name the keep. Name the gap if hours already overshot. Release the remaining quote if you typed one. Copy from the card so the dollars match.
- Deposit covers. The deposit of $1,000.00 covers 8 hours already worked at my $90.00/hr floor ($720.00). I keep that deposit. Remaining work on the original quote is released.
- Hours overshot. Hours already worked: 16 hours at $90.00/hr = $1,440.00. The $1,000.00 deposit covers part of that. The unpaid gap is $440.00 for hours already on the calendar. Please send $440.00.
Skip guilt, fake scarcity, and “kill fee as industry standard.” Those lines turn a calendar fact into a fight. If they re-scope instead of walking, extra hours × this floor is the add-on on the change-order card — not a percent of this keep. If they did not cancel — they squeezed the same hours into Friday — that is the rush-job card, not a keep/gap. If they vanish after you already invoiced the gap, that is late-invoice copy, not this card again.
This is planning math, not a contract
Educational only — not legal, tax, or collections advice. We do not invent a required kill percent, a statutory cancel fee, or a 50-state tax engine. Confirm live terms in whatever agreement you already use. If you need an enforceable cancel clause, a lawyer in your jurisdiction writes it before kickoff. Typing numbers here does not create one.
The math is: hours you type, hourly floor, deposit already paid, optional remaining quote, optional planning % of remaining, keep, unpaid gap, one email-sized sentence.
Rate calculator Take a deposit next time Quote a project Late invoice follow-up Unpaid discovery They asked for more, not a cancel They need it Friday, not a cancel
Rebuild the floor on the hub if billable weeks moved. Next start: deposit before you block days. If they only wanted a look, price paid discovery instead of another free teardown.
FAQ
What do I keep if a freelance client cancels mid-project?
Keep is hours already worked × your hourly floor, compared to the deposit already paid. If the deposit covers those hours, the deposit is the keep. If hours already exceed the deposit, the gap is unpaid work. Planning math, not a contract.
Is a freelance kill fee 50% of the remaining quote?
Not on this page. There is no official 25% or 50% kill fee here. A 50% figure can appear only as an optional planning example you type against the remaining quote, labeled as an example, not a rule. The keep/gap number is still hours × floor vs the deposit.
What if the deposit already covers the hours I worked?
Then the deposit is the keep and the unpaid gap is $0. Remaining work on the original quote is released in the sentence. This page does not invent a refund rule or a bonus kill percent on top.
What if I already worked more hours than the deposit covers?
The gap is (hours × floor) minus the deposit. That is unpaid work already on the calendar. Paste the sentence. If they still do not pay, use late invoice follow-up — not another kill-fee essay.
Is this kill-fee math a contract or legal advice?
No. Educational planning only — not legal, tax, or collections advice. A lawyer in your jurisdiction writes an enforceable cancel clause before kickoff. Typing numbers here does not create one.