Pricing a voiceover business quote: template and examples

What to take away

This article covers business operations for independent narrators. It is not legal, tax or union advice. Usage terms, work-for-hire language and buyout clauses belong with an entertainment or intellectual-property attorney in your jurisdiction. Filing positions and deductions belong with a CPA.

What the quote template has to capture

A quote is a one-page document. Every field on it exists to prevent a specific argument later.

Bonsai, HoneyBook, FreshBooks and Wave all hold a quote template and a version history. A Google Doc you duplicate for each client does the same job for nothing. None of these tools knows voiceover usage, so the fields below are yours to write and yours to defend.

Keep a signature line and a line for the authorized approver. A quote approved by email is still an approval; save the message with the file.

Worked pricing examples: radio, e-learning, union commercial

These are worked structures built on published typical ranges, not quotes pulled from client files. Substitute your own per-finished-minute or per-word figure for the variable and the arithmetic holds.

Example 1: regional radio spot, non-union. Script runs 150 words, finished length about 60 seconds. Media is one regional radio campaign on a single station group, term six months.

Non-union regional radio spots commonly quote $300 to $750 for a one-year regional license. A six-month term usually lands at 60% to 75% of the annual figure. On a $500 base with a 25% term uplift the fee is $625.

One revision round is included; extra pickups bill at your hourly studio rate. Deposit 50%, or $312.50, and the balance is net 30.

Example 2: e-learning module, non-union. Script runs 4,200 words for internal corporate use. It is not for broadcast, and the client has not stated a term limit.

At a 150 words a minute narration pace, 4,200 words is about 27 finished minutes. A module that size typically quotes between $1,200 and $4,000 in the non-union market, which works out near $45 to $150 per finished minute.

Priced per word instead, many narrators use $0.15 to $0.30 a word. On 4,200 words that is $630 to $1,260, which is why long modules usually quote per finished minute and short copy quotes per word.

Internal corporate use prices below broadcast because the audience is closed. Ask for the pronunciation guide and the slide deck before you quote; both change the read time.

Example 3: union commercial, SAG-AFTRA signatory. Session fee, usage and holding fees come from the union's rate sheet, not your card. On the SAG-AFTRA commercials contract the session fee is in the low hundreds of dollars per spot, and usage is paid every 13 weeks based on the market size and how many weeks the spot runs. Producers also pay pension and health contributions on top.

Quote the session separately from the usage cycle, and write the term and media exactly as the client's buy reads. Confirm signatory status and filing obligations with the union's contracts department before you commit.

How to set the number

Start from the outcome the client is buying. A regional radio spot that runs for six months is not priced like an internal training module that never leaves the company intranet.

Work in named variables and fill them with your own figures:

Multiply the base by the uplifts that apply, then check the result against your effective hourly target. If the arithmetic lands below your floor, the quote is wrong, not the floor.

Marketplaces set a different floor. Fiverr keeps 20% of every order, and Upwork charges a 10% freelancer service fee, so a $200 order pays you $160 to $180 before processing costs.

Voices.com and Voice123 bring mostly web, corporate and explainer jobs, where the usage block stays short. Audiobook work prices on another axis: ACX, the Audiobook Creation Exchange run by Audible, typically pays $150 to $400 per finished hour, or a 50/50 royalty split with the rights holder instead of a flat fee.

Track the quote against the finished job: quoted fee, studio hours, edit hours, revision rounds, and the invoice date. That record is what feeds voiceover profit margins and break-even points, and it is the only benchmark worth trusting.

Where the outside rules sit

Recordkeeping is your problem to solve, and the IRS publishes what a small business should keep: records that show income and expenses, plus the documents behind purchases, sales and assets. Read What kind of records should I keep? before you design the filing system.

Anything you say about your own service in the quote is advertising. The FTC's Advertising FAQs: A Guide for Small Business covers truthful claims and endorsements, which matters if you list client logos or testimonials.

The SAG-AFTRA rate sheets for commercials, audiobooks, animation and interactive work are published, and the union's contracts department can confirm which one covers a given job. They set the floor for signatory work.

For a sense of how the wider audio-production field is described and paid, the BLS entry on Broadcast, Sound, and Video Technicians covers studio and live work, and notes that schedules vary by production. It is context, not a rate card.

Common questions

Should the quote include the script?

Yes. Quote the script version you were sent, and note the word count on the quote. If the client sends a revised script, the quote is revised too.

What happens if the client wants a buyout instead of a term?

A buyout is a usage term like any other, just a long one. Price it as such, and have an attorney review the language before you sign it.

How often should the rate card change?

Once a year against your own booking data, and immediately when a client's usage expands beyond what you quoted.

Do union and non-union versions of one spot need two quotes?

Yes. The union version prices from the SAG-AFTRA rate sheet with 13-week usage cycles; the non-union version prices from your card. Keep them as two documents and never blend the numbers.