I’m looking to hear from freelancers, solopreneurs, or independent contractors who have experience using kill fees in their contracts. I’d love to learn from your real-life stories: 1. Have you ever included a kill fee in your freelance contracts? If yes, how did it work out in practice? 2. If you used to include kill fees but stopped, why did you move away from them? 3. What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced when explaining a kill fee to a client? 4. Do you think kill fees are fair for both sides, or do they create tension in negotiations? 5. What advice would you give to a freelancer who’s considering adding a kill fee clause for the first time? Please include a 1–2 sentence bio in the first person (e.g., “I’m a copywriter from Canada")

I'm Warren Davies, founder of BeyondCRM, a Microsoft Dynamics CRM consultancy in Australia. Over 30 years in the industry, I've handled $12+ million in project sales and learned hard lessons about contract structures. I used kill fees early in my career but moved away from them completely. The biggest issue was explaining to clients why they'd pay for "nothing"--it created immediate tension before projects even started. I found clients would question our commitment and assume we were planning to bail. Instead, I switched to milestone-based contracts with clear deliverables at each stage. If a client cancels mid-project, they pay for completed milestones plus any work-in-progress at cost. This approach feels fairer to both sides because clients get tangible value for every dollar spent. My advice: skip kill fees entirely. Structure your contracts so clients receive value at regular intervals--weekly demos, documented processes, or working prototypes. When clients can see progress, they rarely want to cancel. In my experience, transparent milestones eliminate the need for kill fees while building stronger client relationships.

The biggest challenge is explaining it to clients upfront without sounding defensive, but framing it as standard business practice usually helps. My advice to freelancers is to be transparent and position a kill fee as mutual protection, not punishment.