Fixed fee project tracker

About this tool

What you will see

In about five minutes, free, you will see whether a fixed fee job is on course to land its planned profit: the profit and margin at completion at today's pace, against the plan; the hours at completion; the hours left before the job starts to lose money; the hours the rest of the work can take to land the planned profit; and the fee earned an hour. Tracked by stage, it also shows which stage is running over.

How it helps

A fixed fee hides its margin until the job ends. Comparing the hours used with the work complete shows a job running over while there is still time to act: to talk to the client about scope, to plan the hours the rest of the work can take, or to get a fresh estimate from the project lead.

Who it is for

Engineering, architecture and consulting firms on fixed fees, and law firms running fixed fee matters.

What it does not do

It works only on your own figures. It gives no tax, legal or accounting advice, says nothing about how profit is shared among principals or their entities, and never suggests a fee to a client. It is not a timesheet or practice management system. Nothing you type leaves your device.

How the profit at completion is calculated

The plan. The fee is the fixed fee plus any approved variations, both excluding GST. The planned profit is the fee less the budgeted hours at the full cost of an hour, less the other costs budget, and the planned margin is that profit as a share of the fee. The fee earned an hour, planned, is the fee less the other costs budget, over the budgeted hours.

Progress so far. The hours earned so far are the budgeted hours times the share of the work complete; tracked by stage, each stage's budget times its own share complete, added up. The pace is the hours used over the hours earned, so 1.20 means 20 per cent more hours than the work done so far was budgeted for. The fee earned to date is the fee times the share complete, and the cost to date is the hours used at the full cost of an hour plus the other costs so far.

At completion. At today's pace the job takes the hours used divided by the share complete. Tracked by stage, each stage is worked on its own and added up: a finished stage counts its hours used, a stage under way its hours used divided by its share complete, and a stage with no work complete its hours used plus its whole budget, so a stage not yet started counts its budget. On your estimate, the job takes the hours used plus your estimate of the hours still needed. Other costs count at their budget, or at what they have come to so far when that is more.

The formula. Profit at completion equals the fee, less the hours at completion times the full cost of an hour, less the other costs at completion. The margin at completion is that profit as a share of the fee, and the fee earned an hour at completion is the fee less the other costs, over the hours at completion.

Break-even and the hours left. The job breaks even when its hours reach the fee less the other costs at completion, divided by the full cost of an hour. The hours left before it loses money are that point less the hours used. The hours the rest of the work can take to land the planned profit are the budgeted hours less the hours used, less any hours the other costs have taken past their budget.

Rounding. Every figure is worked unrounded and rounded only for display: money to the dollar, margins and shares to one decimal, hours at completion to the hour and the fee earned an hour to the cent. The break-even hours and the two figures for the hours left are rounded down, so the room is never overstated.

Worked example

Illustrative, modelled on a design practice project of this size, and checked in code on 29 October 2026.

In this illustrative example, a design practice wins a project for a fixed fee of $180,000 and budgets 900 hours. The full cost of an hour, counting salary, on-costs and overheads, is $155, so the planned profit is $40,500, or 22.5 per cent of the fee, and each hour earns $200 of fee.

The $155 is what the full cost of an hour helper gives on its defaults. A $120,000 salary carries $14,400 of super at 12 per cent. The firm's payroll tax on $3,800,000 of wages and super is $135,714.29, or 3.57 per cent of each dollar, so this person's $134,400 of salary and super carries $4,800. With $7,300 of other on-costs and $55,000 of overheads, the year comes to $201,500, which over 1,300 chargeable hours is $155.00 an hour.

At the halfway check the work is 50 per cent complete and 540 hours are used, 90 more than half the budget. At that pace the job takes 1,080 hours, 20 per cent over its budget. Profit falls to $12,600, or 7.0 per cent of the fee: $27,900 below plan, which is 68.9 per cent of the planned profit, and each hour now earns $166.67.

The job breaks even at 1,161 hours, so 621 hours are left before it loses money. To finish on the planned profit, the remaining half of the work must take no more than 360 hours, where today's pace says 540. The band reads Margin squeezed, while there is still time to talk to the client about scope.

Why stages matter. Tracked by stage, the same job at the same halfway check tells a sharper story. Concept design finished at 140 hours against 135 budgeted, and design development at 250 against 225. Documentation, budgeted at 360 hours, is a quarter done with 150 hours used. At its own pace it needs 600 hours, so the job heads for a loss of $1,350, with documentation alone losing $21,000. Construction phase services has not started and counts its budget of 180 hours.

How to read your result

On track. At today's pace the job makes at least 90 per cent of its planned profit. On the worked example's 22.5 per cent margin, that lets a job run about 3 per cent over its hours before the band moves: deliberately early, while there is still time to act. Keep tracking at each stage end.

Margin squeezed. The job still covers its costs, but at today's pace it makes less than 90 per cent of its planned profit, or the plan itself makes no profit. Look at the stage running over, at whether the scope has grown, and at a fresh estimate of the hours still needed.

Heading for a loss. At today's pace the hours and other costs pass what the fee covers. The cards show how many hours are left before the job starts to lose money, or that the point has passed.

Today's pace and your estimate. The band reads today's pace, which assumes the rest of the job runs the way the work so far has. Early stages often run differently from documentation, which is why tracking by stage helps, and why your own estimate of the hours still needed sits beside the pace with its own band.

What each figure means

The fixed fee. The fee agreed for the job, excluding GST. Approved variations add their own fee and hours; work the client has not yet approved stays out until it is.

Budgeted hours. The hours the fee was built on, across everyone on the job, with the hours of any approved variations.

Full cost of an hour. What an hour of your team's time costs the firm: salary, super, payroll tax where you pay it, other on-costs and a share of overheads, over the hours booked to client projects in a year. The tracker uses one figure for everyone on the job, so for a team of principals, seniors and graduates it is a blend: weight each person's full cost of an hour by the hours they are budgeted to spend on the job.

Other costs the fee must cover. Subconsultants and other project costs the fee pays for. They count at their budget, or at what they have come to so far when that is more.

Share of the work complete. Your judgement of how much of the scope is delivered. Hours used cannot stand in for it, because they are what the tracker tests progress against.

Hours earned so far. The budgeted hours the work done so far was worth: the budget times the share complete.

Pace. The hours used over the hours earned. Above 1, the work is taking more hours than it was budgeted for.

Hours at completion. The hours the whole job takes if the rest runs at today's pace, or on your estimate when you enter one.

Profit and margin at completion. The fee less the hours at completion at the full cost of an hour and the other costs at completion, and that profit as a share of the fee.

Against the plan. Profit at completion less the planned profit. While the job still makes a profit below plan, the result also shows the share of the planned profit lost.

Break-even point. The hours at which the fee, after other costs, is used up at the full cost of an hour. Past it, every hour loses money.

Hours left before it loses money. The break-even point less the hours used, rounded down.

Hours the rest of the work can take. The hours the remaining work can take and still land the planned profit, rounded down.

Fee earned an hour. The fee less other costs, over the hours: planned on the budget, and at completion on today's pace.

Super, in the helper. The rate you enter times the salary. The helper applies no cap, so for a salary above the ATO's maximum super contribution base it can overstate the super guarantee.

Payroll tax, in the helper. The firm's whole Queensland payroll tax and mental health levy on its wages and super, spread over every dollar of them, so each dollar of salary and super carries the same share. That share, rather than the headline 4.75 per cent, is the honest cost for a firm just over the threshold: at $2.6 million of wages the firm pays about 2.71 cents in each dollar, where applying 4.75 per cent to everyone would overstate it by three quarters.

Chargeable hours a year. The hours a person books to client projects in a year, after leave, public holidays, training and administration.

Common questions

How do I judge the share of the work complete?

From what has been delivered against the scope, not from the hours used: drawings issued, reports drafted, the stage's list of deliverables ticked off. Work drafted but not yet reviewed is less complete than it looks, because the review takes hours of its own. Tracking by stage makes the judgement easier, because each stage has a shorter list.

What goes into the full cost of an hour?

Salary, super, payroll tax where you pay it, other on-costs such as workers' compensation insurance, leave loading, long service leave, registration, memberships and training, and a share of the firm's overheads, all over the chargeable hours a year. The helper under the cost of an hour works it out for one person or for the team's average.

Why does the result use today's pace?

Because it is the one view of the finish built only on what has already happened. It assumes the rest of the job runs the way the work so far has, which is why the tracker also takes your own estimate of the hours still needed and shows the two side by side.

When should we raise a variation?

When the work has grown beyond the scope the fee was agreed on. The tracker cannot tell scope growth from slow progress, so start with the stage running over and the project lead's account of why; your engagement terms set how a variation is agreed with the client.

Does this replace our practice management or timesheet system?

No. It takes a few figures from them at each check, the hours used and the budget, and turns them into a view of the finish. Your systems keep the detail.

Rules this tool uses

The tracker works on your own figures alone. The full cost of an hour helper uses these rules for its payroll tax estimate and its default super rate.

• 2026 to 2027: Queensland payroll tax. Queensland payroll tax applies once Australian taxable wages pass $1.3M a year, at 4.75 per cent for employers or groups paying $6.5M or less and 4.95 per cent for those paying more. Source: Queensland Revenue Office, rates and thresholds, in force from 1 July 2026, checked 27 October 2026.
• The payroll tax deduction. The $1.3 million deduction falls by $1 for every $7 of Australian taxable wages above it and reaches nil at $10.4 million, in effect since 1 January 2023. Source: Queensland Revenue Office, payroll tax deductions, checked 29 October 2026.
• The mental health levy. The mental health levy is 0.25 per cent of Queensland taxable wages above $10 million, with a further 0.5 per cent above $100 million. Source: Queensland Revenue Office, calculating the mental health levy, checked 29 October 2026.
• Super in taxable wages. Employer super contributions count as taxable wages for Queensland payroll tax, so the helper spreads the tax over salary and super together. Source: Queensland Revenue Office, superannuation, checked 29 October 2026.
• The super guarantee. The super guarantee is 12 per cent since 1 July 2025. Source: ATO, super guarantee percentage, checked 29 October 2026.

Last reviewed 29 October 2026.