(MONEY Magazine) – The Job Took Longer Than Expected. Can I Charge More?

Q I'm an interpreter for the deaf, and I also work as an independent consultant helping companies integrate hearing-impaired employees into their work force. I expected a recent project to take about three days, so I said I'd charge $3,600. But the company held so many rounds of consensus-building meetings that the project took almost twice as long. I asked for more money but was told no. Isn't that unfair?

ANSWER If the company argued that "a deal's a deal," they have a point. As a professional, when you propose a project, the burden is on you to determine what's involved, define the scope of your work and set the fee. Unless your client withheld important information, misrepresented something or made significant additional demands after the project began, you're stuck with the fee you quoted and that was signed off on.

You'd be stuck as well if something neither you nor they had anticipated arose--for example, if extra meetings were required to cover newly issued state regulations. Stuck, that is, unless your proposal addressed the issue of unforeseen circumstances. After all, you put forward a bid for the project, not an hourly rate. Had the project taken only two days to complete, were you prepared to reduce your bill by $1,200?

Whether your client behaved unethically or simply held you to the deal, nothing says you have to work for these folks again. But in the future you should add language to your bid letters that protects you in this kind of situation.

Questions about money and ethics? Our ethicists are consultants who advise attorneys on people's ethical beliefs. E-mail them at right_thing@moneymail.com.