Pre-proposal offer economics for client advisors
Model client offers without rebuilding the spreadsheet every time.
See what a client offer actually leaves after refunds, processing, delivery, and commission before you recommend the price or payment structure.
- Free calculator
- No account required
- Scenario data stays in this browser
Client price
$4,000.00
Contribution margin
$1,503.70
39.6% of collected revenue
- Refunds$200.00
- Processing$116.30
- Delivery$1,800.00
- Commission$380.00
- Contribution margin$1,503.70
- 1 billing transaction
- 6 delivery periods
- $200.00 modelled refunds
Every figure is produced by the same calculation engine as the free calculator. Contribution margin is not profit.
The pricing blind spot
Nobody sets out to misprice an offer. It happens because the four things that eat the price are decided at different times, by different logic, and are almost never added together until the year is over.
The headline price is not the money
A four figure program and a monthly retainer can bill similar amounts and leave completely different sums. The difference is spread across four costs that rarely get added up in the same place.
Refunds are treated as rare rather than modelled
A refund policy is a number. If a share of clients take it, that share comes off collected revenue before any cost is paid, and it lands on the payments you actually agreed to refund.
Delivery cost gets confused with billing
Being charged three times does not mean delivering three times. Costing an offer by the number of invoices rather than the number of delivery periods quietly misprices the whole thing.
Commission is decided before the margin is known
A commission rate is usually set against the price. It is only affordable against what is left after everything else, and that figure is almost never in the room when the rate is agreed.
What OfferMargin calculates
One model, applied the same way every time, with the interpretation of each term written down and tested rather than left to the spreadsheet you happen to open.
- What is committed against what is projected
- A minimum term produces a contract value. A cancel anytime plan does not, so it shows a projection at twelve months and says so. The two are never mixed.
- Refunds you actually agreed to
- Set a refund assumption and choose exactly which scheduled payments it covers: the deposit, the first payment, both, or a specific selection. A deposit is only refundable if you say it is.
- Processing on what is really processed
- A percentage on the amount processed plus a fixed fee on each billing transaction. Both start at zero, because no provider pricing is assumed for you.
- Delivery cost by delivery period
- A one time setup cost plus a cost for each period you actually deliver, counted separately from how many times the client is charged.
- Commission on a base you can see
- Percentage or fixed, once or recurring, capped or uncapped, on gross or on collected revenue. The base is stated rather than assumed, and a recurring commission cannot be modelled where no second payment exists.
- The commission ceiling
- The largest total commission the offer can carry before contribution margin reaches zero. When the offer already loses money, it says so instead of printing a negative number.
Example offer breakdown
A $4,000 program, worked all the way through. These are illustrative assumptions, not customer data and not a benchmark. Every number below is produced by the same engine the calculator runs on.
Six month program, paid up front
- Client priceOne billing transaction, charged in month one.
- $4,000.00
- Modelled refundsThe refund assumption applied to the payment it was set against.
- $200.00
- Expected collected revenue
- $3,800.00
- Processing feesPercentage on the amount processed, plus the fixed fee on one transaction.
- $116.30
- Fulfillment costSetup once, plus six delivery periods. Not driven by the number of invoices.
- $1,800.00
- CommissionPaid once, on collected revenue rather than on the headline price.
- $380.00
- Contribution margin
- $1,503.70
- Contribution margin rateContribution margin as a share of expected collected revenue.
- 39.6%
- Refunds$200.00
- Processing$116.30
- Delivery$1,800.00
- Commission$380.00
- Contribution margin$1,503.70
The assumptions behind it
- Client price $4,000.00, charged once
- Refund assumption 5.0% of the first payment
- Processing 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction
- Setup cost $300.00, then $250.00 for each of 6 delivery months
- Commission 10.0%, paid once, on collected revenue
The processing figures are an assumption for this example only. In the calculator both processing fields start at zero, because no provider pricing is filled in on your behalf.
Contribution margin is not profit
It excludes overhead, tax, acquisition cost, financing cost, chargebacks beyond the modelled refund assumption, and the value of your own time unless you enter it as a delivery cost.
Run this with your own numbersHow it works, in three steps
No account, no setup, and no scenario data leaving your browser. Most offers take a few minutes to model.
- 1
Describe how the client is charged
Choose one time, installments, monthly, or annual. Add a deposit and distinguish a commitment from cancel anytime. Billing transactions, delivery periods, and contract term remain separate.
- 2
Enter what the offer costs
Add the refund assumption and affected payments, your processor’s published pricing, setup cost, delivery cost, and commission arrangement. Nothing is guessed or prefilled.
- 3
Read what remains and compare
Follow the waterfall from billed revenue to contribution margin, see the commission ceiling the offer can carry, and compare up to three scenarios over the same twelve month window.
The same delivery, sold two ways
Scenario comparison
Both are measured across months one to twelve, so a longer term cannot make one side look bigger than it is over the same window.
Six month program, paid up front
- Billed in 12 months
- $4,000.00
- Contribution margin
- $1,503.70
- Margin rate
- 39.6%
Monthly retainer, cancel anytime
- Billed in 12 months
- $4,800.00
- Contribution margin
- $859.20
- Margin rate
- 18.0%
The retainer bills more and leaves less
- Difference in billed revenue
- +$800.00higher
- Difference in contribution margin
- −$644.50lower
- Difference in margin rate
- −21.6 pplower
The retainer collects more money and delivers for twice as long, so it carries twice the delivery cost, twelve transaction fees instead of one, and commission on every month. Neither structure is better in general. The point is that the headline number does not tell you which one you are choosing.
Compare your own two structuresFounding advisor pilot
One client offer. A $900 decision sprint.
Bring one anonymised offer before you recommend it. We model the economics together, compare the structures that matter, and turn the result into a concise decision you can use with your client.
Founding price for the first three accepted pilots: $900 plus applicable taxes. Written scope and invoice follow only after acceptance. No checkout or payment is taken on this site.
Apply for the $900 founding pilotFixed pilot scope
- 01One anonymised client offer
- 02Two to three economic scenarios
- 03A concise decision summary
- 04One 60 minute working session
- 05One revision within two business days
First deliverable within two business days after the working session.
Questions people ask
Is the calculator really free?
Yes. There is no account, trial, card, or email gate. The $900 founding advisor pilot is a separate, founder-led service for people who repeat this work across clients.
Do the numbers I type leave my browser?
Calculator scenarios stay in the memory of the browser tab and disappear when you refresh or close it. They are not sent to a server. The separate pilot form sends only the application information you choose to submit to OfferMargin’s CRM. Analytics and tracking remain switched off.
Is contribution margin the same as profit?
No. It excludes overhead, tax, acquisition cost, financing cost, chargebacks beyond your modelled refund assumption, and the value of your own time unless you enter it as a delivery cost.
Why do both processing fee fields start at zero?
Because inserting a provider’s pricing would put an assumption you did not choose into the result. Copy the percentage and fixed fee from your own processor’s published pricing.
Can I save my scenarios or come back to them?
Not yet. Nothing is saved and no workspace has been built. If repeated client work is the problem, the founding pilot tests the workflow before any subscription product is created.
Is this accounting, tax, or legal advice?
No. It is a planning model that helps compare offer structures and see what an offer can carry. It is not a substitute for a qualified professional.
How many scenarios can I compare?
Two by default and three at most, compared across the same twelve month window so a longer committed term cannot make one side look larger than it is.
What happens after I apply for the pilot?
We review fit and client volume first. If accepted, you receive a written scope and invoice for the $900 pilot. Applying creates no charge, booking, reservation, or guaranteed access.
Every equation and modelling decision is visible in the product rather than hidden. Open the free calculator.