As progressive and futuristic as our business may seem, one thing doesn't seem to change: billing.

Most agencies rely on hourly billing. This is not workable long-term nor is it fair to either party.

Reason is simple and contrary to the old adage: Time is not money.

I've run Drupal companies since 2007 (co-founded NodeOne) and I've seen the ins and outs of billing, be it fixed or hourly. My conclusion is: they don't work. Leancept, my newest agency, is a result-based digital innovation agency that relies on value based billing.

Value based billing methods base your fees on the value you help create for your customer. Not how much it cost you to produce your deliverables plus a margin (as is the common way to calculate hourly fees).

Value based fees mean

• True collaboration and partnership between you and the customer.
• Your firm awareness of your own value and worth of your contribution.
• Full transparency.
• More money than you're making now since you create more value this way.
• Amazing projects born out of having truly shared goals.

In this talk, I'll explain what value based billing is, examples of value based projects, why you as an agency want it, why your customers really want it, and how to get started changing from hourly to value-based billing.