The Billable Hour: Ready for Reinvention

For decades, the billable hour has been the backbone of how we price creative work. It’s familiar, tangible, and often the only way to approach large, detailed projects. But let’s be honest—it’s outdated.

As the Wall Street Journal recently pointed out, AI is transforming the way agencies work. Tasks that used to take hours can now be completed in minutes. For production work, this is a game-changer. But it also raises a big question: If the work takes less time, how do we justify charging for it?

The answer lies in value-based pricing—charging for results, not hours.

This isn’t just about staying relevant in an AI-driven world. It’s about recognising the value of what AI can’t replace: original thought, strategy, and human creativity. As businesses turn to AI for creative work, the differentiator in a sea of sameness will be ideas that only humans can bring to the table.

Yet many agencies are still giving this work away for free. Strategy—the foundation of successful creative projects—is often baked into hourly rates or forgotten altogether.

At Scopey, we’re helping agencies shift how they think about pricing. Whether you’re billing by hours or value, the first step is building a service library to understand where you’re spending your time and delivering value.

Here’s how to start:
👉 Build your service library. You could be giving away your most valuable service—like strategy—for free.
👉 Track your most impactful services. Which deliver the greatest ROI for your clients?
👉 Experiment with pricing models that reward outcomes and value, not just effort.

The billable hour may still have its place, but the future lies in valuing creativity, originality, and strategic thinking—the things that make your agency truly irreplaceable.

What do you think? Is it time to start shifting away from the billable hour?

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