Kill fee

Why it matters in a negotiation

A kill fee protects the time you reserved: if the brand cancels after approving the script, the slot in your calendar is gone for good, and so are the campaigns you turned down to make room for it.

How it is used

Agree 25% to 50% if they cancel before production and 100% if the piece is already delivered. Write it into the quote, not into a stray email nobody will find.

A case with figures

You hold a week, turn down another campaign and the brand cancels three days before: without a kill fee that week is unpaid; with 50% the gap you can no longer fill is covered.

Where it gets confused with other terms

A kill fee is neither a penalty nor a deposit: it compensates for time you reserved and can no longer sell. It differs from a deliverable in that no piece exists, and from a brief in that the work had already been accepted. The costly mix-up is with the deposit — taking 50 % upfront protects your cash flow, but if the brand cancels you still have to return it or justify it. The kill fee stays because it covers a concrete loss, which is why it belongs in the quote with two tiers: before and after production.

Figures from the 2026 report

You hold the first week of the month for a $540 campaign and turn down another one of the same value. If the brand cancels three days before the shoot, with no clause you collect nothing and lose $1,080 between the cancelled campaign and the one you declined. With a 50 % kill fee you collect $270 and the loss falls to $810; at 100 % — piece already delivered — the only loss is the campaign you declined. The percentage is negotiated while little is at stake, not after the brand has cancelled.

Where the figure comes from

The 25–50 % before production and 100 % after delivery tiers are the ones the sponsorship contract clauses guide recommends, with the wording to paste into the quote. The quote template includes the cancellation line and the deadline at which it applies.

How to check it in your account

1. Check whether the contract calls it a cancellation clause or a 'production commitment'. The name changes the tax treatment and nothing about what you charge.
2. Look at the percentage and its base: the whole project or only the part not delivered. 30% of everything can be more than the work left.
3. Check whether the notice period is calendar or business days. Two weeks is ten working days, and that difference decides whether you can refill the slot.
4. Review whether material delivered before cancellation is invoiced separately. The kill fee covers the dates you held, not what you already shot.
5. Check whether the clause separates cancellation by the brand from cancellation for reasons outside both parties. The second should return the deposit without a penalty.
6. Check whether the clause covers prep time: script, locations, prop purchases. None of that comes back with four days' notice, and it rarely appears in the cancellation percentage. If the job needed two weeks of prep, that part is invoiced as work done, not as a penalty.

The line in the quote

A kill fee is calculated on the rate you reserved: if the piece is 540 and the brand cancels ten days before the shoot, 50% leaves 270 and covers a slot you can no longer fill. If notice arrives with three days to go, the percentage rises because the calendar cannot be rearranged. On a three-piece project where only one is cancelled, apply the penalty to that piece, not the total. Charging 50% of the package while the brand keeps two deliveries is the fast route to a broken relationship and two late payments. A small fee in writing beats a large one agreed on a call. The figure you can claim is the one in the signed proposal, and that figure also lets the client plan: they know what changing their mind costs. With a repeat brand, the kill fee can drop in exchange for a committed annual minimum. Write that minimum with a number of pieces and dates, because 'we'll call you' does not compensate a reserved calendar. The fee protects the date; the minimum protects the year.

A case that went wrong

A creator held two weeks for a launch and the brand cancelled four days out. With no clause, she collected only half the deposit already invoiced; both slots stayed empty and the next campaign caught her with no room to negotiate. The clause was not there to charge more: it was there to give cancelling a visible cost.

Red flags in the proposal

Lines that show up in a sponsorship proposal and how to answer them when they concern this term.

• "If we cancel, we'll return the deposit"

  Returning the deposit does not cover the hole: you already declined other campaigns to hold that week. The deposit covers work started; the kill fee covers work you cannot sell. If the brand only offers to return the deposit, there is no cancellation clause.

• "If we cancel, we'll make it up with another campaign"

  A future campaign is not compensation: no date, no budget, no obligation. Put the kill fee in the quote with two tiers, before and after production, and have it signed before you hold the week.

• "The deposit already covers a cancellation"

  The deposit covers work you are going to do; the kill fee covers work you can no longer sell. Different items: if the brand cancels after approving the script, the deposit does not pay for the hole in your calendar.

In the calculator

Every clause in this glossary has a multiplier in the rate engine, so you can see how much it adds to the price before you accept it. The PDF quote records those terms so they do not stay in an email.

How your rate is calculated

The engine starts from the estimated impressions, applies the CPM of the platform and the niche, adjusts for engagement and for audience location, and adds the multipliers for usage rights, exclusivity and number of deliverables. The result is three figures —floor, suggested and premium— with the full breakdown before you export the quote.