Kill fee · Consulting
Kill fee in consulting: what is normal
Consulting cancellations turn on notice: a notice period paid out, plus any work already done and the current retainer.
Typical range
A notice period (often 2-4 weeks) paid in full on termination, plus fees for work already performed. Retainers are typically non-refundable for the current period.
Off-market
A clause letting the client terminate immediately with no notice pay, so a consultant who cleared their calendar for the engagement is left with a sudden gap and no compensation.
One-line fix
"Either party may terminate on [30 days'] written notice. The notice period and all work performed to date are payable. The current retainer period is non-refundable."
What we see
Consultants sell availability as much as output, often reserving capacity for an ongoing engagement and turning away other clients to do so. The kill-fee equivalent in consulting is therefore a notice period: enough paid runway to fill the gap a sudden termination creates.
The healthy structure pays out the notice period in full, covers all work performed up to termination, and treats the current retainer period as non-refundable, since the consultant held that time. This mirrors how the consultant would give the client notice in return.
The clause to watch is immediate termination with no notice pay, which shifts the entire cost of a cancelled engagement onto the consultant. A mutual notice period is standard in professional services and rarely contested once written.
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