Optimizing for T&Ms: Hourly retainers can be made nonrefundable. The shorter the engagement, the more you should insist on these terms....

Moving on from pricing tools to T&Ms (hourly contracts)... Optimizing for T&Ms: If you're going to charge by the hour, at least bill for...

I recently mentioned conditional formatting as perhaps the Excel functionality I've most increased my use of it in pricing tools. The...

Here are some of the most common VBA/macro coding problems I find in Excel pricing tools: direct cell references (e.g., cell "E5") that...

Despite the drawbacks of macros in Excel pricing tools, what are some of the navigation improvements they work well for? for complex...

I view Excel VBA macros in pricing tools as the last-ditch option for functionality that simply cannot be programmed through normal Excel...

Here's how I typically structure the Excel VBA code for client exports: turn off screen flickering so the user doesn't see the screen fly...

Excel based pricing tools also suffer from lack of workflow automation, data analytics, and continuous integration with other company...

Excel based pricing tools certainly have their disadvantages compared to web based tools, chief among those information security. Any...

Excel based pricing tools are particularly well suited for companies with complex offerings involving numerous interdependencies. In such...

One of the great benefits of an Excel based pricing tool versus web or cloud based is its cost effectiveness on multiple levels: No...

Client exports from Excel pricing tools need to be easy to export, easy to copy and paste, and easy to read. The exporting piece should...

Quick tips to instantly improve the look and feel of your Excel based pricing tool: remove background gridlines replace hard black...

When I look at how I build pricing tools now versus 2+ years ago, conditional formatting stands out as the functionality where I've most...

A client won't award you a new project based on your color scheme, but they will notice when you've thrown loads of on-brand marketing at...

Pricing tools should reflect the branding of the organization. You don't need to be a graphic designer to make it look good, you just...

Sometimes making one thing more efficient makes something else less efficient. That's life. In the world of project finance, we often...

During a brief foray into computer programming years ago, a term that stuck with me is to keep your code "DRY", i.e. "Don't Repeat...

Subsidizing unprofitable business lines from profitable ones becomes a very slippery slope. I once briefly worked at an organization with...

Tips on responding to / making decisions based on anecdotal customer feedback on pricing. Consider the source and their motives. Consider...

"Price discovery" is one of my favorite terms, but I don't use it in the technical economics sense. The technical sense is buyers and...

I don't view as T&Ms as evil or unethical, but their optimal use cases are few and far between. The common reasons T&Ms are used (unclear...

I've had zero clients complain about the number of hours I've spent on a project, or how they're categorized, or whether they should have...

Be careful basing your cost and pricing for new services, geographies, etc. on the cost profile of the first people you hire for that...