Fee-for-Service Pricing Guide for CBOs

What a good one includes

• A clearly defined directory of your services mapped directly to measurable units, such as per-encounter, per-member-per-month, or flat project rates.
• A detailed breakdown of direct costs for each service, including staff salaries, benefits, mileage, and program-specific materials.
• An explicit indirect cost rate calculation that ensures administrative overhead, IT, and facility costs are proportionally factored into every rate.
• A clean, client-facing rate card formatted for easy attachment to proposals, contracts, and Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs).
• A tiered pricing matrix that adjusts rates depending on volume commitments, contract length, or the complexity of the population served.
• A narrative section translating your community trust, language capacity, and cultural competency into tangible financial value for health systems.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Many organizations make the mistake of leaving out indirect costs, like rent and insurance, which slowly drains operational reserves over the course of a contract.
• A common error is pricing services based on what grants used to cover rather than the actual, fully loaded cost of delivering the service in the current market.
• CBOs often fail to build a margin for unexpected staff turnover or overtime, leaving them financially vulnerable when facing capacity constraints during a contract.
• Some organizations present complex internal budget sheets to external corporate partners instead of a polished, easy-to-digest commercial rate card.

Frequently asked questions