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Start from your own hourly rate, then apply the conventions that actually move the number: a booking minimum, a team-interpreting surcharge on long high-stakes work, and a late-cancellation fee schedule. The rest of this page works through each on real numbers, not rounded examples.
A 1.5-hour request at $65/hour, standard business hours, one interpreter:
| Figure | Arithmetic | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Raw hourly math (what it looks like at a glance) | 1.5 hrs × $65 | $97.50 |
| Billable hours under a 2-hour minimum | max(1.5, 2) | 2 hrs |
| Actual interpreting fee | 2 hrs × $65 | $130.00 |
A $32.50 gap between the number a quick mental calculation gives and the number the commonly cited freelance booking minimum actually bills -- the interpreter has reserved two hours of unsellable time, not 90 minutes.
A 3-hour legal deposition at $65/hour -- past the length and in a setting RID's own guidance names for team-interpreting consideration:
| Staffing | Arithmetic | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Single interpreter | 3 hrs × $65 | $195.00 |
| Two-interpreter team | $195.00 × 2 | $390.00 |
Both interpreters bill the same three-hour block, so the fee reflects two professionals working the assignment, not a higher hourly rate for one. This calculator flags the recommendation on a booking like this rather than pricing it automatically -- the actual staffing decision depends on the venue, the funder, and the interpreters involved.
A $200.00 scheduled booking, cancelled with two different amounts of notice, under a commonly cited three-tier schedule (full fee inside 24 hours, half fee 24-48 hours, no fee beyond 48 hours):
| Notice given | Tier | Fee owed |
|---|---|---|
| 18 hours | Under 24 hours notice | $200.00 (100%) |
| 30 hours | 24-47.9 hours notice | $100.00 (50%) |
A twelve-hour difference in notice given is a $100.00 difference in what is owed -- the schedule rewards earlier notice without waiving the fee outright.
The sign language interpreter rate calculator runs this same arithmetic on your own hours, rate, setting, differential, travel, and cancellation notice. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
Start from your own hourly rate, then apply the conventions that actually move the number. A 1.5-hour request at $65/hour is not a $97.50 invoice -- the commonly cited two-hour freelance booking minimum applies, so the assignment bills as 2 hours at $65 for a $130.00 total, a $32.50 difference the raw hourly math never shows.
A freelance interpreter who accepts a 45-minute booking has turned away any other work that could have filled that same block, including the travel time on either side of it. A minimum-booking policy is the industry's commonly cited answer to that: the interpreter is paid for the time reserved, not only the time actually interpreting.
It doubles the interpreting fee, because both interpreters are billing the same block. A 3-hour legal assignment at $65/hour prices at $195.00 for a single interpreter; the same booking staffed as a recommended two-interpreter team prices at $390.00 -- the fee reflects two professionals working the assignment, not one at a higher rate.