Free photography pricing template (Excel / Numbers)

A small, free pricing spreadsheet for photographers and other session-based creatives. Enter the salary you want to pay yourself, your working weeks and sessions per week, the hours one session takes, and up to 10 yearly or monthly business costs. It works out your cost of doing business (CODB) per session and per hour, and the session price that leaves your target margin after payment processing fees.

Download the free template (.xlsx)

One sheet, no macros, no sign-up. Excel format (.xlsx). We checked its formulas in Apple Numbers 14.2 and LibreOffice Calc against hand-worked test cases, including the example in the file. It has not been tested in Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets. It does not include sales tax, VAT or income tax.

What's in it

• Your year: target salary, working weeks, sessions per week, hours per session (shooting, editing and travel), direct costs per session, target margin and payment fees.
• 10 business cost lines: amount per month or per year (enter gear as purchase price ÷ years of use, per year), with a status that names any input to fix.
• Results: annual costs, annual amount to cover, sessions per year, CODB per session and per hour, total cost per session, price for your target margin, fees, profit and price per hour.

How it works

CODB per session = (yearly business costs + salary) ÷ (working weeks × sessions per week). Total cost per session = CODB + direct costs. Price = (total cost + fixed payment fees) ÷ (1 − target margin − processing %). Profit = price − cost − fees, on top of your salary, which is already inside the cost.

Worked example in the file

The example is fictional, not a suggested price: seven business costs add up to $7,200 a year and the target salary is $40,000, so $47,200 has to be covered. 46 weeks × 3 sessions is 138 sessions, a CODB of $342.03 per session or $57.00 per hour over 6 hours. With $25 of direct costs a session costs $367.03. For a 20% margin after 3% processing and $0.60 of fixed fees, the price is $477.44: fees are $14.92 and profit $95.49, which is $79.57 per hour of the session.

What the full version adds

The full Photography Pricing & Booking Tracker ($12) uses the same formulas and adds:

• A gear table (purchase price ÷ years of use) and 20 lines of other business costs, per month or per year.
• Three package tiers priced from the same cost of doing business, each with its own hours, costs and margin.
• Break-even price, and the profit and margin at your own rounded price.
• A bookings list (200 rows) with deposits and balances due, and a 12-month summary of booked revenue, deposits and balances. A worked example and a 2-page PDF guide are included.

Get the full Photography Pricing & Booking Tracker

Want to try the numbers first? Use the photography pricing calculator. See also all calculators.