A consulting rate card is a single page that says who you can buy, at what rate, on what terms. Large firms have them and refuse to share them. Independents mostly do not have them and improvise a number on every call. Both are mistakes, for different reasons.
This guide gives you the template, a worked example with every figure anchored to a published benchmark, and, because most readers of this page are buyers rather than sellers, a short guide to reading the rate card a supplier sends you.
Rate cards at a glance
What a consulting rate card is for
A rate card does three jobs. It stops you re-pricing every engagement from scratch. It lets a buyer compare you with the next supplier on the same basis. And it makes the negotiation about scope and grade mix, which you can control, rather than about the rate, which becomes a fixed reference.
It is not a proposal and it is not a price list for projects. Project prices come from the rate card multiplied by an estimate; the rate card is the input.
The seven sections
Section 7 is the one nobody includes and every buyer wants. A rate card that says “our consultant grade is priced at the UK contract median for management consultants, £554 in the six months to September 2026” is a rate card that gets accepted. One that just says “£650” gets negotiated.
A worked example
This is an illustrative rate card for a small UK management consultancy: three partners, a handful of consultants, working mostly with mid-market clients. Every anchor is a published figure; the grade spread around the anchors is a common structure, not a benchmark.
Grades and rates
| Grade | Definition | Day rate | Hourly (÷7.5) | Anchor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Partner | Leads the engagement, owns the relationship, 15+ years | £1,100 | £147 | Between the UK contract 90th percentile for senior roles and Deloitte’s top Test and Trace rate, £2,360 a day (2020) |
| Principal | Runs the workstream, 8–15 years | £800 | £107 | UK freelance strategy consultant at 8–15 years, £749 (Malt, Sep 2026), plus firm overhead |
| Senior consultant | Delivers analysis, manages an analyst, 4–8 years | £620 | £83 | UK contract 75th percentile for management consultants, £623 |
| Consultant | Delivers analysis, 2–4 years | £550 | £73 | UK contract median for management consultants, £554 |
| Analyst | Research and modelling, 0–2 years | £425 | £57 | UK freelance strategy consultant at 0–2 years, £423 (Malt) |
Retainers (monthly, in advance, three-month initial term then 30 days’ notice)
| Retainer | Hours a month | Fee | Effective rate | Discount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advisory (partner access) | 8 | £1,300 | £163/hour | None; availability premium |
| Standard (principal-led) | 20 | £1,900 | £95/hour | 11% off principal hourly |
| Delivery (senior consultant) | 40 | £2,900 | £73/hour | 12% off senior hourly |
Project bands (fixed fee, defined scope, 50% on start and 50% on delivery)
| Engagement | Band | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Diagnostic review, 3 weeks | £18,000–£28,000 | Interviews, data review, findings report, one workshop |
| Operating model design, 8 weeks | £55,000–£90,000 | Diagnostic, options, design, implementation plan |
| Implementation support, per month | £22,000–£40,000 | Principal one day a week plus consultant three days a week |
Expenses: travel and accommodation at cost, pre-approved above £250 per trip; travel time not billed within 50 miles, billed at half day rate beyond; no mark-up on disbursements.
Terms: GBP, excluding VAT; 30 days from invoice; rates reviewed each January; card valid to 31 March 2027.
Basis: consultant and senior consultant grades anchored to IT Jobs Watch UK contract medians and percentiles for management consultants, six months to 18 September 2026; principal and analyst grades anchored to Malt UK freelance strategy consultant rates by experience, retrieved the same day; project bands built from the grade rates and typical staffing.
Check the arithmetic on the project bands. The 8-week operating model design at the bottom of the band, £55,000, is a principal at two days a week (16 days, £12,800) plus a consultant full time (40 days, £22,000) plus an analyst full time (40 days, £17,000), which comes to £51,800, with a margin for a partner’s review days. If a supplier’s project band cannot be rebuilt from their grade rates and a plausible staffing plan, ask why.
A US version
The same structure works in dollars, priced hourly. The public US anchors are federal rate schedules. The middle half of federal ceiling rates for management and strategy runs $129 to $212 an hour, with a median of $166 (GSA CALC+, September 2026, in our consulting fees by industry guide). A ceiling rate is the most a contractor may charge a federal agency. For a grade ladder, Kearney’s federal schedule, current to August 2023, runs from $233.20 an hour for a junior consultant to $624.00 for an executive strategy project leader. McKinsey’s 2024 schedule lists $327.41 to $498.23 for analysts and associates and $1,193.57 for a senior partner. Boutiques publish no rate cards, so there is no public boutique ladder to copy. Anchor your middle grade to a figure you can cite, spread the others around it, and price a 20-hour monthly retainer 10% to 15% off the standard rate. The consultant hourly rates guide has more hourly figures to check each grade against.
A one-person consultancy does not need five grades. It needs one day rate, one hourly rate, one retainer and two or three project bands, on one page, with the basis stated. The mistake is not having too few grades; it is having no card at all, and quoting a different number to every prospect depending on how the call is going.
Reading a supplier’s rate card
Most readers of this page are on the buying side, holding a card someone sent them. Five things to do with it.
Rebuild the project price. Take the staffing plan and the grade rates and multiply. If the project quote is much higher than the rebuild, the difference is either risk margin or unstated scope; ask which.
Ask what the grades mean. “Senior consultant” at one firm is “consultant” at another. Ask for years’ experience and what each grade leads. Then ask who, by name, will be on your engagement at each grade.
Check the hourly conversion. A £550 day at 7.5 hours is £73 an hour; at 8 hours it is £69. Firms that quote both should state the divisor. Firms that bill hourly at a rate above the day-rate equivalent are charging a premium for short engagements, which is fair, but should be visible.
Look for the expenses line. Travel time at full rate and a 10% mark-up on disbursements can add 15% to an invoice. If the card is silent, the contract should not be.
Compare the basis. A card that cites its benchmarks can be checked against them. A card that does not can be checked against ours: the UK day rate benchmark for individual grades and the Big Four and MBB fees guide for the large firms.
When a supplier will not show you a rate card, they are telling you that the price depends on what they think you will pay. That is a negotiation, not a quote. Ask for the card, and if there is none, ask for rates by grade in writing before the proposal.
Copy this template
The plain-text version below is the seven sections with placeholders. Paste it into a document, fill in the grades that apply to you, and replace every bracket.
[FIRM NAME] · CONSULTING RATE CARD · valid [DATE] to [DATE]
1. GRADES
Partner [definition, years]
Principal [definition, years]
Senior consultant [definition, years]
Consultant [definition, years]
Analyst [definition, years]
2. RATES (excl. VAT / sales tax)
Grade Day rate Hourly (÷[7.5/8]) Minimum unit
Partner [ ] [ ] [half day / hour]
Principal [ ] [ ]
Senior consultant [ ] [ ]
Consultant [ ] [ ]
Analyst [ ] [ ]
3. RETAINERS (monthly in advance; [3]-month initial term; [30] days' notice)
Name Hours/month Fee Effective rate Rollover
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [yes, 1 month / no]
4. PROJECT BANDS (fixed fee, defined scope, [50/50] payment)
Engagement Band Includes
[ ] [ ] [ ]
5. EXPENSES
Travel and accommodation at cost; pre-approval above [ ].
Travel time: [not billed within X miles / half rate beyond].
No mark-up on disbursements.
6. TERMS
Currency [ ]; payment [30] days from invoice; rates reviewed [month];
overage on retainers at [grade] hourly rate; notice [ ].
7. BASIS
[Grade] anchored to [benchmark, source, date].
[Grade] anchored to [benchmark, source, date].If you need the numbers to put in it, start with the consulting fee calculator for your own day rate, then check it against the medians in the UK day rate benchmark or the US bands in the fees by industry guide. For how to structure the retainer section, see our consulting retainers guide.
- A consulting rate card is one page with seven sections: grades, day and hourly rates, retainers, project bands, expenses, terms, and the basis the rates were set on
- Anchor each grade to a published benchmark and say so: the UK contract median for a management consultant was £554 in the six months to September 2026, the 75th percentile £623
- Project bands must reconcile to grade rates times a plausible staffing plan; if they do not, one of the numbers is invented
- Retainers should show the effective hourly rate and the discount off standard, except access retainers, which carry an availability premium
- Independents need one rate, one retainer and two or three project bands, not five grades, but they do need a card
- Buyers: rebuild the project price, define the grades by name, check the hourly divisor, read the expenses line, and compare the basis to a public benchmark
Frequently asked questions
What is a consulting rate card?
A one-page schedule of a consultancy’s grades, day and hourly rates, retainer and project bands, expense policy and commercial terms. It is the input to a proposal, not the proposal itself; project prices are built from it.
What should a consulting rate card include?
Seven things: grade definitions, day and hourly rates per grade with the divisor stated, retainer options with hours and effective rates, indicative fixed-fee bands for common engagements, an expenses policy, commercial terms including validity and review dates, and the benchmarks the rates are anchored to.
How do I set the rates on my rate card?
Work out the day rate you need from your income target, costs and realistic billable days (the consulting fee calculator does this), then check it against published medians for your role and market. Set the middle grade at or near the market median, spread the other grades around it, and state the anchors on the card.
Should independent consultants have a rate card?
Yes, a short one: a day rate, an hourly rate, one retainer and two or three project bands, with the basis stated. It stops you improvising a number on every call and gives buyers something to compare.
What is the difference between a rate card and a fee structure?
A fee structure is the model (hourly, daily, project, retainer, value-based). A rate card is the specific numbers for each model your firm offers. Consulting Success’s study of nearly 1,000 consultants found 30% price by project, 29% hourly, 16% by retainer, 15% on value and 10% daily; a complete rate card covers the models you actually use.
Last updated: 28 September 2026