← Glossary Business glossary

What is Kill fee?

An agreed payment if a client cancels a project part-way through.

A kill fee is what you are owed when work is cancelled through no fault of yours. Usually it is everything completed to date plus a percentage of the remaining fee, or a non-refundable deposit.

Without one, a cancellation halfway through is a negotiation held at the worst possible moment. With one, it is a calculation, and both sides already agreed to it when nobody was upset.

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