Companies That Bill by the Project, Not by the Hour

Real firms that price by project or value, and how they answer the clients who push back.

When a client asks how many hours the work will take, point to the firms that stopped counting them. Here are 13 architects, consultants, law firms, advertisers and design studios that price by the job or the result. Each entry names its public source. Five answers to push-back, which you can reuse, close the list.

These 13 value-based pricing examples come from architecture, consulting, law, advertising, design and exhibitions. Each firm or framework prices by project, package, subscription or outcome, not by the hour. Each entry names its public source. Use them when a client or a buying team asks how many hours the work will take. Then you can answer with precedent instead of theory.

Why a list, and what qualifies

This is the companion to Stop Charging Billable Hours for Your Event, which makes the argument. This list supplies the evidence.

An entry counts when it prices by project, package, subscription or result. The firm, its head or a trusted news source must also say so. Summaries and list sites do not count. The table at the end lists each source. Every source was checked on 9 October 2026.

Architects, the oldest alternative

RIBA's three fee methods

The Royal Institute of British Architects describes three ways an architect may charge. One is a percentage of the construction cost. Another is a lump sum, and the third is a time charge. RIBA keeps the time charge for work whose scope is less well-defined, such as feasibility studies. Even then, the hours are capped.

The AIA B101 agreement

B101 is the American Institute of Architects' standard agreement between owner and architect. Its official summary names two popular ways to pay the architect. These are a stipulated sum and a percentage of the construction budget. The form leaves room for other methods, such as hourly rates.

US federal design contracts

The Federal Acquisition Regulation, at 15.404-4, caps fees for architect-engineer work on public works. The cap covers designs, plans, drawings and specs. It is 6 percent of the estimated construction cost. The project sets the ceiling, not the hours.

The shift is still under way. In May 2026, AIA Architect reported that clients of AECOM, a large design firm, want something different. Its chief executive, Troy Rudd, described a move "away from something like cost plus to something that looks more like a fixed fee." The report links that move to AI shortening production.

Consultancies that price the result

Bain & Company

Bain backs its work "with tied economics arrangements that link our fees to the outcomes we deliver together" (bain.com). The fee follows the result.

Summit Consulting Group (Alan Weiss)

Alan Weiss wrote Value-Based Fees, now in its third edition (Wiley, 2021). He argues that a consultant's fee should rest on the value the buyer sees, not on time spent.

Jonathan Stark

Jonathan Stark wrote Hourly Billing Is Nuts. His site says he helps freelancers, consultants and other independent professionals make more and work less. His point is that money comes from the value you create for clients, not from hours.

Win Without Pitching (Blair Enns)

Blair Enns wrote Pricing Creativity (2018). He teaches creative firms to price by value. He also tells them to put three options in every proposal instead of a single quote.

Law and advertising, paying for results

Valorem Law Group

Valorem launched in January 2008. Patrick Lamb, Hugh Totten and Mark Sayre founded it to handle commercial disputes. It billed by fixed fees, contingency fees and other arrangements. Each invoice carried a line where the client could adjust the charge (ABA Journal, 14 January 2008). Hourly rates stayed open to clients who wanted them.

Riverview Law

Riverview Law sold managed legal services at fixed fees. EY bought it in August 2018. In December 2023, EY said it would no longer run it as a separate business (Law Gazette). It belongs here as a warning. A pricing model is not, by itself, a business model.

Coca-Cola's agency pay

Coca-Cola announced value-based pay for its agencies in April 2009. The base fee was set by the value of the work, not by agency hours. On top of that, agencies could earn up to a 30 percent markup when the work hit its targets (Chief Marketer). WARC names Coca-Cola and P&G as pioneers of the model.

Design studios and exhibitions

Designjoy

Designjoy is a one-person subscription studio. Its promise is plain. "Pay the same fixed price each month." The site listed $4,995 a month on 9 October 2026 (designjoy.co).

Havenly

Havenly sells online interior design at a flat fee per room, from $159 to $499 (havenly.com, updated July 2026).

GES Show Ready

GES sells modular exhibition stand packages priced per square meter. The price includes graphics, lighting, flooring, power and project management. It also covers putting the stand up and taking it down. Rates start at £355 per square meter, or £650 for the design-led package (ges.com, checked 9 October 2026).

We could not find a published fee model for any event design studio. Peers who price by project and agree to be named will be added in their own words.

How they answer the push-back

Five answers you can reuse come out of the list.

1. Name the deliverable, fix the fee. RIBA's lump sum, Designjoy and Havenly all sell a defined scope at a known price.
2. Price changes before the work. RIBA notes that big changes to a lump-sum project may mean renegotiating the fee. So say up front what counts as a change.
3. Offer three options. Enns tells firms to let the client choose a level of value instead of arguing about hours.
4. Tie the fee to the outcome. Bain and Coca-Cola's agencies earn more when the results arrive.
5. Sell expertise, not time. Paula Scher said it of the Citi logo. "But it IS done in a second and 34 years" (The Marginalian). Paul Rand's version is that good design is goodwill.

Time still shows up in several of these models. RIBA keeps a time charge for undefined work, the AIA form allows hourly rates, and Valorem kept an hourly option. Saying so makes the case easier to trust. The same logic holds when a client asks for free concepts. So win the pitch without giving away the design.

Value-based pricing examples at a glance

Sources checked on 9 October 2026.

• RIBA fee guidance. Sector: Architecture. Pricing model: Percentage, lump sum; time charge for undefined scope. Supporting quote or fact: Time charge for feasibility studies, hours capped. Source: riba.org.
• AIA B101. Sector: Architecture. Pricing model: Stipulated sum or percentage. Supporting quote or fact: Standard owner-architect agreement. Source: AIA Contract Documents.
• FAR 15.404-4. Sector: US public works. Pricing model: Fee capped by construction cost. Supporting quote or fact: 6 percent of estimated construction cost. Source: acquisition.gov.
• Bain & Company. Sector: Consulting. Pricing model: Fees tied to outcomes. Supporting quote or fact: "tied economics arrangements". Source: bain.com.
• Summit Consulting Group. Sector: Consulting. Pricing model: Value-based fees. Supporting quote or fact: Fee on the buyer's perceived value. Source: Value-Based Fees (Wiley, 2021).
• Jonathan Stark. Sector: Consulting. Pricing model: Value pricing, no hourly billing. Supporting quote or fact: Hourly Billing Is Nuts. Source: jonathanstark.com.
• Win Without Pitching. Sector: Creative consulting. Pricing model: Value pricing with three options. Supporting quote or fact: Pricing Creativity (2018). Source: Book.
• Valorem Law Group. Sector: Law. Pricing model: Fixed fees, contingency, client adjustment. Supporting quote or fact: Launched January 2008. Source: ABA Journal.
• Riverview Law. Sector: Law. Pricing model: Fixed-fee managed legal services. Supporting quote or fact: Bought by EY 2018, folded into EY UK 2023. Source: Law Gazette.
• Coca-Cola. Sector: Advertising. Pricing model: Value-based agency pay. Supporting quote or fact: Base fee by value, up to 30 percent markup on targets. Source: Chief Marketer, WARC.
• Designjoy. Sector: Design. Pricing model: Fixed monthly subscription. Supporting quote or fact: "Pay the same fixed price each month". Source: designjoy.co.
• Havenly. Sector: Interior design. Pricing model: Flat fee per room. Supporting quote or fact: $159 to $499. Source: havenly.com.
• GES Show Ready. Sector: Exhibitions. Pricing model: Price per square meter, all-in. Supporting quote or fact: From £355 and £650 per sqm. Source: ges.com.

Use the list

Meet the hourly question with precedent. Name the deliverable, price the deliverable, and keep a clock only for work nobody can scope. Worked numbers for event design are in how to price event design work.

Frequently asked questions

What is value-based pricing?

It means setting a fee by what the work is worth to the client, such as revenue earned or risk avoided. It does not count the hours the work takes. It usually starts with a talk about the outcome and ends with options at different levels of value.

Is a fixed fee the same as value-based pricing?

No. A fixed fee prices a defined scope, often built up from cost. Value pricing sets the fee against the outcome. Both remove the clock. Many firms use a fixed scope for small jobs and value options for large ones.

Do architects charge by the hour?

Sometimes. RIBA lists time charges alongside percentage and lump-sum fees, and advises them for loosely defined work such as feasibility studies. In the US, federal design fees for public works are capped at 6 percent of the estimated construction cost.

What happens if a fixed-fee project takes longer than planned?

The firm absorbs the extra time unless the scope changed. That is why fixed-fee firms write the scope as deliverables and price changes before doing them. RIBA notes that big changes to a lump-sum project may mean renegotiating the fee.

A fixed fee only works if changes stay cheap for you. In Monet, one change to an event layout regenerates the plan, the 3D renders and the drawings, so a priced change order does not mean redrawing everything by hand.