What is the term used to describe a dollar amount that combines salary, benefits, overhead, and profit, serving as the basis for charging clients?

The term that encompasses salary, benefits, overhead, and profit is known as the billing rate. This is a crucial concept in the professional practice of interior design, as it informs how designers set their charges to clients. The billing rate reflects the total cost of providing services, ensuring that all operational expenses are covered while also allowing for profit.

In practice, the billing rate is calculated by taking the total of all these factors and dividing it based on the time or services provided, thus giving clients a clear view of what they are paying for. It ensures that designers can sustain their business while delivering quality services to clients. This rate is typically programmable in agency or studio settings where multiple factors contribute to the overall cost of labor.

While hourly rate, daily rate, and fixed fee might be related concepts in how designers charge their clients, they do not encompass all the components like overhead and profit in the same comprehensive manner as billing rate does. The hourly and daily rates focus on the time spent, and fixed fees are an agreed amount for a particular project, neither of which account for all the internal costs involved.