Quill Academy | The Freelance Finance Cohort with Helen Marsh

Cohort 07 starts Monday 2 November · 11 of 40 seats left

Charge what your work is worth.

Six weeks with Helen Marsh, a former agency finance director, to price projects with confidence, put tax aside without panic and raise your rates before the next invoice goes out.

Join the November cohort Get lesson one free

★★★★★ 4.9 from 612 reviews

2,314 freelancers have taken Helen's course

A freelancer smiling as she works on a laptop at a wooden desk in a bright home studio

THIS WEEK · WEEK 3

Pricing a project, not an hour

3 of 6 lessons done · Live Q&A Thursday 18:30

+38%

average rate rise within 90 days of finishing

Helen and her students have been featured in

The Freelance Weekly

Solo Magazine

Monday Ledger

Indie Work Journal

Creative Fortnight

What you walk away with

Four things that change how you get paid.

Not theory: every week ends with a document you use on a real client that same week.

A woman recording a lesson on a tripod camera from her sofa at home

A pricing formula you trust

Cost your time, your overheads and your risk once, then quote any project in under ten minutes.

A tax pot that fills itself

A simple split of every payment, so January's bill is already sitting in a separate account.

Scopes clients sign

Proposal and retainer templates that say what is included, what is extra and when you are paid.

A rate rise, sent by week six

Write the email, choose the date and send it to your three lowest-paying clients with Helen's feedback.

Helen Marsh, former agency finance director and instructor at Quill Academy, looking calmly at the camera

ACCA qualified · 14 years in agency finance

Your instructor

Helen Marsh spent 14 years pricing other people's work.

As finance director of a 60-person creative agency, Helen sat across the table while designers and writers undercharged by a third, every month, for years. She watched talented people burn out on work that never paid properly.

In 2019 she left to teach the part nobody teaches. Her Monday Ledger newsletter now reaches 31,000 freelancers, and every cohort is still taught live by Helen herself, never by a recording alone.

14 yrs

pricing work for 200+ agency clients

2,314

freelancers taught since 2019

£31m

invoiced by her students last year

The curriculum

Six weeks. One finished money system.

Three hours a week, plus a live session. Each week is one short block of lessons and one task you do on your real business.

Know your numbers

Work out what a billable hour really costs you after tax, software, downtime and the unpaid admin nobody mentions.

YOU LEAVE WITH

Your true hourly floor

Price the project, not the hour

Move from hourly quotes to fixed fees and three-tier options, using Helen's value-pricing worksheet.

YOU LEAVE WITH

A three-option price list

Write scopes that hold

Draft proposals with clear inclusions, a change-request clause and payment dates clients actually keep.

YOU LEAVE WITH

One reusable proposal

Tax without the dread

Set up a tax pot, understand quarterly payments and VAT thresholds for the UK, US and EU.

YOU LEAVE WITH

A tax-pot standing order

Cash flow and retainers

Smooth lumpy income with deposits, retainers and a three-month buffer you build in small steps.

YOU LEAVE WITH

A 12-month cash forecast

The rate-rise conversation

Pick the clients, set the date, send the email and rehearse the call with your cohort.

YOU LEAVE WITH

A sent rate-rise email

Weekly live Q&A

Every Thursday, 18:30 UK, with replays

11 working templates

Spreadsheets and documents, ready to edit

A private community

600+ freelancers, with Helen in it daily

Lifetime access

Every recording and every future update

Student results

2,314 freelancers. Here are six.

Real students, real rates. Every figure was shared by the student and checked against an invoice.

+38%

average rate rise within 90 days

11 days

average time to the first higher invoice

94%

finish all six weeks

Day rate £240 to £420

“I sent the week-six email to three clients with my hands shaking. All three said yes, and one asked why I had waited.”

Imani Okoye

Illustrator, Manchester

£9,800 in unpaid invoices chased

“The scope template alone paid for the course. I finally had a clause for late payment, and clients respected it.”

Marcus Bell

Copywriter, Leeds

Three-month buffer in 11 weeks

“The tax pot felt boring until January arrived and I had the money. First year I have not panicked.”

Priya Raman

Brand designer, London

Moved 4 clients to retainers

“Helen's retainer script gave me words I did not have. My income finally looks the same month to month.”

Tom Whitaker

Video editor, Bristol

Hourly rate £38 to £61

“I stopped quoting by the hour in week two. The three-option price list changed every conversation I have.”

Sophie Lindgren

UX writer, Glasgow

Fewer clients, 31% more revenue

“I let go of the two clients who paid least and earned more in a quieter, calmer quarter.”

Daniel Osei

Photographer, Birmingham

Pricing

Pay once. Keep it for good.

Pay in full or in three monthly instalments at checkout. Cohort 07 closes on Friday 30 October.

Self-study

£149

one payment

Every lesson, at your own pace.

Six weeks of video lessons (4h 20m)

11 working templates

Lifetime access and updates

Read-only community access

Start self-study

MOST CHOSEN

Cohort

£449

one payment

Learn live with 39 other freelancers.

Everything in Self-study

Six live sessions with Helen, Thursdays 18:30 UK

An accountability partner from your cohort

Full community access for 12 months

Feedback on your price list and proposal

Join the November cohort

Studio

£849

one payment

The cohort, plus Helen one to one.

Everything in Cohort

Two 45-minute one-to-ones with Helen

Your rate-rise email edited by Helen

90 days of email support

Priority seat in the next cohort if you defer

Apply for Studio

The Rate-Rise Guarantee

Finish weeks one to three. If you have not repriced a project or sent a rate-rise email by day 30, reply to any course email and we refund every penny. No forms, no questions, no awkward call.

FAQ

Questions before you enrol

Helen reads every message, so if yours is missing, just ask.

Ask Helen a question

Do I need an accounting background?

None at all. Helen teaches from a blank page, and every spreadsheet comes pre-built. If you can use a calculator, you can finish the course.

How much time does it take each week?

About three hours: roughly 40 minutes of lessons, one task on your real business and the 90-minute live session on Thursday evenings. Replays arrive within the hour.

I work outside the UK. Will it still apply?

Yes. The pricing, scoping and cash-flow weeks are universal, and the tax week has separate tracks for the UK, the US and EU VAT. Around 40% of each cohort lives outside Britain.

What if I miss a live session?

Every session is recorded and posted with a written summary. You can also send questions ahead and Helen will answer them live.

Can I pay in instalments?

Yes. Cohort and Studio can be split into three monthly payments at checkout, with no extra fee.

How does the guarantee work?

Finish weeks one to three. If you have not repriced a project or sent a rate-rise email by day 30, email us and we refund the full price within five working days.

Start here

Your next invoice could be the first at the new rate.

Reserve a seat in the November cohort, or start with lesson one: a 22-minute video on pricing your next project, free, with the worksheet.

Lesson one arrives in your inbox within a minute

Seats are confirmed the same day, with a joining guide

Helen replies to every question herself, usually within a day

Get lesson one free

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