billable.dev
How to Raise Your Rates Without Losing Clients
Raise freelance rates the proof-first way: test the new rate on new leads, then give existing clients 60 days notice. Copy-paste email and checklist included.
2026-09-17 · 8 min read
Blog
Practical notes on invoicing, billing models, and getting paid, written for developers who'd rather be shipping.
ACH, Cards, or Wire: How Devs Should Accept Payment
What each payment method actually costs a freelance developer, with net-received math on one $4,000 invoice and the payment instructions to put on it.
2026-09-16 · 10 min read
Tax Deductions Freelance Developers Often Miss
Freelance developer tax deductions sorted by risk: dev-stack subscriptions, hardware, the home office, and a scorecard of the record to keep for each expense.
2026-09-15 · 15 min read
Quarterly Estimated Taxes for Freelance Developers
Quarterly taxes for freelance developers: who has to pay, the 2026 due dates, safe harbor in plain English, and a per-invoice set-aside habit with a worked quarter.
2026-09-14 · 12 min read
W-9 and 1099 for Freelance Developers, Explained
A developer's guide to the W-9 and the 1099-NEC: what to write on the form, when a client should ask, the 2026 reporting threshold, and what to do in January.
2026-09-11 · 12 min read
Invoicing EU Clients: VAT and the Reverse Charge
How to issue a reverse charge invoice to EU business clients: when VAT applies, the four things the invoice must show, and what to collect before you bill.
2026-09-10 · 11 min read
Tracking Billable Hours as a Dev (Without Hating It)
Track billable hours as a developer without surveillance software: a plain-text log convention, git history as a timesheet, and hours turned into line items.
2026-09-09 · 11 min read
2/10 Net 30: Should Freelancers Offer Early-Pay Discounts?
2/10 net 30 discounts cost freelancers roughly 37% annualized once you run the math. See the worked example on a $4,000 invoice and when it pays off for you.
2026-09-08 · 9 min read
Client Won't Pay Your Invoice? The Escalation Ladder
What to do when a client won't pay an invoice: the full escalation ladder in order, an evidence checklist, a copyable demand letter, and small claims vs collections.
2026-09-07 · 15 min read
Website Maintenance Retainers: Pricing and Invoicing
Build a website maintenance retainer from your own hourly rate: three tiers costed by task hours, what to exclude, and how to invoice the plan every month.
2026-09-04 · 12 min read
Paid Discovery: How Developers Charge for Scoping
How an agency-of-one runs a one-week paid discovery: what it delivers, what to charge, how to pitch it, and a worked three-line discovery invoice.
2026-09-03 · 13 min read
How to Send an Invoice Email (Subject Lines + Body)
Three copy-paste invoice emails for freelance developers, a subject-line format that survives a finance inbox, and when to send, attach, or link the PDF.
2026-09-02 · 12 min read
Invoicing Upwork Clients: On-Platform and Direct
How to invoice Upwork clients in all three cases: marketplace contracts where Upwork invoices for you, Direct Contracts, and billing a client off-platform.
2026-09-01 · 12 min read
Freelance Developer Hourly Rates: What to Charge
Your freelance developer hourly rate should come from your own numbers, not a published average. Here is the bottom-up math, worked from a $120,000 target.
2026-08-31 · 15 min read
Statement of Work for Freelance Devs: A Working Guide
A freelance statement of work written section by section for a Next.js rebuild: deliverables, exclusions, revision rounds, and payment triggers that bill.
2026-08-28 · 12 min read
Wise vs PayPal for Freelancers: Fees Compared
Wise vs PayPal for freelancers, with every fee pulled from the providers' own August 2026 pages and a worked example on one $5,000 international invoice.
2026-08-27 · 13 min read
How to Invoice Retainer Clients as a Developer
How to invoice a retainer client: bill at the start or the end of the month, show used and unused hours, handle rollover, and two worked invoice examples.
2026-08-26 · 13 min read
Freelance Contract Payment Terms: 9 Clauses for Devs
Nine payment clauses for a freelance developer contract, in plain English you can paste, plus the invoice field that makes each one enforceable.
2026-08-25 · 11 min read
Scope Creep: Change Orders That Get You Paid
Turn scope creep into billable work: the reply script for 'quick change' requests, a copy-paste change order template, and how to invoice approved extras.
2026-08-24 · 15 min read
How to Invoice Without a Company (Sole Proprietor)
You can invoice without a company. What to put where the business name goes, what a first invoice needs at minimum, and when forming an LLC starts to matter.
2026-08-21 · 11 min read
How to Invoice International Clients as a Developer
How to invoice international clients without losing money: which currency to bill in, the 9 extra fields a foreign invoice needs, withholding tax, and payment rails.
2026-08-20 · 12 min read
Web Development Invoice: Line Items That Get Approved
Web development invoice line items that survive a finance review: copyable wording for builds, API work, migrations and fixes, plus before-and-after rewrites.
2026-08-19 · 12 min read
Invoice Numbering for Freelancers: Pick a System
A working spec for freelance invoice numbers: use 2026-0001, never reuse a number, and here is how to handle voids, yearly resets and migrating a mess.
2026-08-18 · 11 min read
Milestone Billing for Developers: Setup and Invoicing
How to run milestone billing on a software project: which dev phases make good payment triggers, how to split a $12,000 build, and the four invoices to send.
2026-08-17 · 13 min read
How Much Deposit to Charge for Freelance Dev Work
The freelance deposit percentage that fits your project: a decision tree by client history and project size, the exposure math, and how to invoice it.
2026-08-14 · 13 min read
Late Payment Email Templates for Freelance Developers
Six copy-paste payment reminder emails for freelance developers, each under 120 words, on a clear escalation timeline from pre-due nudge to final notice.
2026-08-13 · 13 min read
Kill Fees for Freelance Developers: Clause and Amounts
What a kill fee is, how much to charge when a client cancels mid-project, a copy-paste cancellation clause for dev contracts, and how to invoice the fee.
2026-08-12 · 12 min read
Getting Paid on Time as a Freelancer
A freelancer's playbook for on-time payment: choosing net terms, taking deposits without awkwardness, late-fee clauses that work, and follow-ups that stay professional.
2026-08-08 · 6 min read
Hourly vs Fixed-Price for Developers
The real trade-offs between hourly and fixed-price billing for developers — who carries the risk, what each model does to your incentives, and a practical way to choose.
2026-08-08 · 5 min read
How to Invoice as a Freelance Developer
A practical walkthrough of invoicing as a freelance dev: what to agree on before the work, what goes on the invoice, when to send it, and how to follow up.
2026-08-08 · 5 min read
Turn Your Git Log Into an Invoice
Your commit history is already a timestamped work record. How to turn git log output into honest, client-readable invoice line items — manually or automatically.
2026-08-08 · 5 min read
What Belongs on a Software Development Invoice
Every field a software development invoice needs — and the handful of details that decide whether it gets paid in days or weeks.
2026-08-08 · 6 min read
