Can I charge a kill fee without a contract clause?

Realistically no. A kill fee is a contract term, not a custom. Without the clause you can invoice completed work and negotiate the rest. Add the clause to every future contract; it takes one sentence.

What kill fee percentage is standard?

25-50% of the unfinished portion, higher when you reserved significant calendar time or turned other work away. Editorial work historically used 25-50% of the full fee; custom services lean toward the remaining-portion model this tool uses.

The client ghosted instead of cancelling. Same treatment?

Send a project-status note with a response deadline; state that silence past the date triggers the cancellation terms. Ghosting is cancellation without the courtesy, and your contract should say so.

Calculators

Kill fee calculator

Projects die: budgets vanish, priorities shift, companies reorganize. A kill fee clause decides whether that costs you or just disappoints you. This computes the cancellation invoice: finished work in full, plus compensation for the calendar you reserved.

Your numbers

Agreed project total

The full price in the contract.

Work completed

Honest estimate of delivered progress when the project died.

Kill fee on the unfinished portion

25-50% is the common contractual range. It compensates reserved time you cannot resell on short notice.

What the ledger says

Cancellation invoice$5,800

Completed work (owed in full): $4,000
Kill fee: +$1,800
Share of the original project: 58%

Estimate, not advice

The formula

Completed value = total × percent complete, owed in full. Kill fee = remaining value × fee percent. Invoice = both. Only enforceable if the clause was in the signed contract.

What this ignores

Non-refundable deposits already paid (subtract them from the invoice), expenses incurred (bill them separately), and rights: cancelled work stays yours until paid for.

Field notes

Can I charge a kill fee without a contract clause?: Realistically no. A kill fee is a contract term, not a custom. Without the clause you can invoice completed work and negotiate the rest. Add the clause to every future contract; it takes one sentence.
What kill fee percentage is standard?: 25-50% of the unfinished portion, higher when you reserved significant calendar time or turned other work away. Editorial work historically used 25-50% of the full fee; custom services lean toward the remaining-portion model this tool uses.
The client ghosted instead of cancelling. Same treatment?: Send a project-status note with a response deadline; state that silence past the date triggers the cancellation terms. Ghosting is cancellation without the courtesy, and your contract should say so.