Daily rates in consulting

Foreword

Consulting firms charge for working days and display daily rates that make it possible to value the time spent. More generally, there are three methods of invoicing generally used:

 

  • Fixed-price : consultants have a specific mission to carry out and are paid for it, regardless of the time actually needed to carry it out. The quote offered to the client will be an estimate of the number of days spent multiplied by the daily rates of each of the consultants. We will look below at the rates corresponding to this type of mission.
  • In the time actually spent. Consultants are generally seconded to the company and their mission evolves. This mode is used, for example, for computer maintenance
  • The result : all or part of the mission is paid according to the results, which can be savings made following a plan, a share of the turnover linked to the launch of a new product, etc

 

 

 

Be careful, the reading of these rates must take into account several factors to properly decipher the information:

  • These rates are charged for working days for clients, but consultants only charge 50-80% of their time. Prospecting and writing proposals, for example, are not paid. Some working days are also not billed to the customer, as a gesture of goodwill. This is the case, for example, when a small side subject to be cleared has been identified, or for certain "mass" tasks carried out by trainees.
  • These are nominal rates, often offset by volume reductions or following an ad hoc agreement. It is indeed common to grant discounts to be able to create an account: consultants charge less for the first assignment to be able to set foot in the client's premises, with the budget of amortizing the investment by reselling other assignments following the first one (for example on an implementation phase after a feasibility study). Discounts are also granted to regular customers and the largest buyers also set up framework contracts to negotiate rates.
  • The rates sometimes include expense reports (travel, external studies purchased, etc.), which are not always re-invoiced to customers.

 

Firm Daily Rates

 

We can distinguish four types of consulting firms:

 

  • Strategy : they advise the management of large companies on their strategic topics such as the purchase of other companies, the launch of new products and services or the organization of the company. The best known are BCG and McKinsey.
  • Management : their spectrum of intervention is quite broad, and ranges from operational strategy to the implementation of information systems, including the management of the activity or management assistance. CSC or Eurogroup are part of it, for example.
  • Expert consulting firms : they specialize in a field, such as the supply chain, human resources or the digital world, or in a sector, such as finance or aeronautics. Smaller than management consulting firms, their consultants are generally more senior and charge a little more. MLA Conseil and Fabernovel are among them, for example.
  • Information systems consulting firms : they develop and deploy IT solutions for clients, either from scratch or relying on third-party software (SAP, Oracle,...).  Capgemini Consulting and Accenture (which are also present on the types of advice above) are probably the best known.
  • Rates by type of advice (€)

 

Cabinet Junior Senior Partner
Strategy 1500 2500 3000
Management 1000 1300 1600
Expertise 900 1200 1500
Information Systems 600 900 1200

 

Note : these rates are very generic averages to give an idea and the rates can vary by a factor of two depending on the firm, seniority, type of assignment requested, etc.

 

Daily rates for technical developers (€)

 

Type Overall average rate
Java 453
C++ 433
Javascript 446
C# 454
Visual Basic 443
JQuery 425
Ajax 387
.NET 463
Cobol 354
Python 470

 

Note: the prices indicated are Parisian prices, there may be a slight discount of 5 to 10% for the provinces.

 

Some average rates (€)

 

Cabinet Overall average rate
Solucom (Wavestone) 713

 

 

Some rates of consulting firms (€)

 

Cabinet Junior Senior Partner
A-Vision 1000 1200 1500
A22 Logistics 1000 1150 1300
Acceliis NC 700 NC
Adameo 650 1000 1500
Advanxia 800 1200 1500
AJI Europe 700 1000 1300
Archilog 870 1260 1510
ATEOL Supply Chain Solutions 750 1200 1500
Barthel & Schunck Consulting 750 1000 1500
Bartle Business Consulting 740 980 1600
Beautiful Factories 1100 1450 1900
Cabinet Roux NC NC 1400
CFGI-Logicity 1000 1500 2500
Citwell Consultant 900 1400 1800
CLD-Council 900 1200 1600
Corporate Linx 875 1450 1700
Crystal Consultants 800 950 1000
Elite Organization NC 1200 1500
Exalion-Consultants NC NC 1000
Exeis Conseil 700 1000 1500
JBG Consultants 800 1100 1400
JLL 1000 1200 1500
KYU Associates 1200 1600 1900
LMC Logistics Management Consulting 900 1200 1500
LOJE Associates NC NC 1500
Meotec 500 700 1100
       
Murano Conseil 850 1450 1800
Mutualog 500 800 1250
Newloop Partners NC 1500 2000
Perform Log NC 850 1000
Proconseil 1000 1500 2400
Segeco Consulting 900 1200 1650
SIA Partners 800 1200 2000
Suppleo Conseil 600 750 850
NPT 800 1400 2000
Traker 850 1050 1250
XP Consulting NC NC 2000

 

Note: the prices in the table below have all been found via official and authorized sources, there is no disclosure of confidential information from Stafiz.

 

Freelancers' daily rates


Freelancers generally offer lower rates than those of law firms. They have a smaller network and can only respond to a limited number of calls for tenders, because they do not always have all the skills or simply do not have the material capacity to carry out missions with a workload requiring several consultants. Prices are therefore driven down by the offer for these assignments to which freelancers have access.

The prices listed below are those generally quoted on the market and may vary, especially depending on the freelancer's experience.

 

Rate per freelance area (€)

 

Domain Daily price
Strategy and management
Interim manager 1000    
Organization Consultant 700    
HRIS Project Manager / HRIS Functional Consultant 450    
HR Consultant Trainer 500    
Senior Consultant Banking and Finance 1300    
Electronic payment project manager 500    
Marketing
Senior Marketing Consultant 900    
Press Officer / Communications Consultant 500    
Community manager 200    
Marketing Project Manager 400    
Senior Marketing and Communication Consultant 900    
Technical and expertise
Paint process engineering 500    
Junior Purchasing Consultant 500    
Web Developer 450    
Formation
Communication training 700    
Office automation training 400    
Project management training 600    

 

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