Retainer: consulting tools

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Free tools for consultants: stakeholder maps, rates, capacity, client profitability, follow-ups.

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calculate_consulting_rate Read-only

Work out what an independent consultant should charge: minimum and recommended hourly rate, day rate, monthly equivalent, and a suggested monthly retainer or project day rate. Use when someone asks what to charge, how to price a retainer, or whether their rate is too low. Ask for their income goal if you don't know it; the other inputs have sensible defaults. Returns a link that opens Retainer's free rate calculator with these numbers.

target_incomenumber, required

Take-home income the consultant wants per year, in dollars.

expensesnumber

Yearly business expenses (software, insurance, travel...). Default 12000.

pricing_modelstring

'retainer' for a monthly retainer price, 'project' for a fixed-project day rate.

working_weeksnumber

Weeks worked per year after vacation and holidays. Default 46.

margin_percentnumber

Profit margin on top of income and expenses, as a percent. Default 20.

billable_hours_per_weeknumber

Hours per week actually billed to clients, not total hours worked. Default 25.

Tools (5)

calculate_consulting_rate

read-only

Argument	Type	Description
expenses	number	Yearly business expenses (software, insurance, travel...). Default 12000.
pricing_model	string	'retainer' for a monthly retainer price, 'project' for a fixed-project day rate.
target_income*	number	Take-home income the consultant wants per year, in dollars.
working_weeks	number	Weeks worked per year after vacation and holidays. Default 46.
margin_percent	number	Profit margin on top of income and expenses, as a percent. Default 20.
billable_hours_per_week	number	Hours per week actually billed to clients, not total hours worked. Default 25.

Input schema (JSON)

{
  "type": "object",
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "required": [
    "target_income"
  ],
  "properties": {
    "expenses": {
      "type": "number",
      "default": 12000,
      "maximum": 100000000,
      "minimum": 0,
      "description": "Yearly business expenses (software, insurance, travel...). Default 12000."
    },
    "pricing_model": {
      "enum": [
        "retainer",
        "project"
      ],
      "type": "string",
      "default": "retainer",
      "description": "'retainer' for a monthly retainer price, 'project' for a fixed-project day rate."
    },
    "target_income": {
      "type": "number",
      "maximum": 100000000,
      "minimum": 0,
      "description": "Take-home income the consultant wants per year, in dollars."
    },
    "working_weeks": {
      "type": "number",
      "default": 46,
      "maximum": 52,
      "minimum": 1,
      "description": "Weeks worked per year after vacation and holidays. Default 46."
    },
    "margin_percent": {
      "type": "number",
      "default": 20,
      "maximum": 80,
      "minimum": 0,
      "description": "Profit margin on top of income and expenses, as a percent. Default 20."
    },
    "billable_hours_per_week": {
      "type": "number",
      "default": 25,
      "maximum": 80,
      "minimum": 1,
      "description": "Hours per week actually billed to clients, not total hours worked. Default 25."
    }
  }
}

check_capacity

Check whether an independent consultant has room for another client: available billable hours, current utilization, and whether they are under target, over target, or overcommitted. Use when someone asks if they can take on new work or feels stretched. Returns a link that opens Retainer's free capacity calculator with these numbers.

read-only

Argument	Type	Description
total_hours_per_week	number	Total hours the consultant works per week. Default 45.
committed_hours_per_week*	number	Client hours per week already committed across all current engagements.
target_utilization_percent	number	Share of billable hours they want filled, leaving a buffer for overruns. Default 80.
non_billable_hours_per_week	number	Weekly hours on admin, sales, and business development that nobody pays for. Default 15.

Input schema (JSON)

{
  "type": "object",
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "required": [
    "committed_hours_per_week"
  ],
  "properties": {
    "total_hours_per_week": {
      "type": "number",
      "default": 45,
      "maximum": 100,
      "minimum": 1,
      "description": "Total hours the consultant works per week. Default 45."
    },
    "committed_hours_per_week": {
      "type": "number",
      "maximum": 100,
      "minimum": 0,
      "description": "Client hours per week already committed across all current engagements."
    },
    "target_utilization_percent": {
      "type": "number",
      "default": 80,
      "maximum": 100,
      "minimum": 10,
      "description": "Share of billable hours they want filled, leaving a buffer for overruns. Default 80."
    },
    "non_billable_hours_per_week": {
      "type": "number",
      "default": 15,
      "maximum": 100,
      "minimum": 0,
      "description": "Weekly hours on admin, sales, and business development that nobody pays for. Default 15."
    }
  }
}

find_neglected_relationships

Check which clients, past clients, or referral sources a consultant has gone too long without talking to. Sorts contacts by days of silence into healthy (<30 days), cooling (30+), neglected (60+), and urgent (90+), with a suggested next step for each and an overall network health score. Use when someone asks who to follow up with or worries their pipeline is drying up. Returns a link that opens Retainer's free BD neglect detector with these contacts.

read-only

Argument	Type	Description
contacts*	array

Input schema (JSON)

{
  "type": "object",
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "required": [
    "contacts"
  ],
  "properties": {
    "contacts": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "object",
        "required": [
          "name",
          "last_contact"
        ],
        "properties": {
          "name": {
            "type": "string",
            "maxLength": 80,
            "minLength": 1,
            "description": "Contact name, optionally with company, e.g. \"Sarah Chen (Aldgate Finance)\"."
          },
          "last_contact": {
            "type": "string",
            "pattern": "^\\d{4}-\\d{2}-\\d{2}$",
            "description": "Date of the last real conversation, YYYY-MM-DD."
          }
        }
      },
      "maxItems": 50,
      "minItems": 1
    }
  }
}

map_stakeholders

Sort stakeholders on a power/interest grid (Mendelow's matrix) into Manage Closely, Keep Satisfied, Keep Informed, and Monitor, with what to do for each group. Returns a link that opens the finished map in Retainer's free stakeholder mapping tool. Scores are relative: what matters is where people sit compared to each other, not the exact number.

read-only

Argument	Type	Description
title	string	Optional map title, e.g. the client or project name.
stakeholders*	array

Input schema (JSON)

{
  "type": "object",
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "required": [
    "stakeholders"
  ],
  "properties": {
    "title": {
      "type": "string",
      "maxLength": 120,
      "description": "Optional map title, e.g. the client or project name."
    },
    "stakeholders": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "object",
        "required": [
          "name",
          "power",
          "interest"
        ],
        "properties": {
          "name": {
            "type": "string",
            "maxLength": 80,
            "minLength": 1,
            "description": "Person's name and/or role, e.g. \"Dana Lee (CFO)\"."
          },
          "note": {
            "type": "string",
            "maxLength": 200,
            "description": "Optional short note, e.g. what they care about."
          },
          "power": {
            "type": "number",
            "maximum": 100,
            "minimum": 0,
            "description": "0-100. Ability to help or block the outcome: budget authority, veto power, organizational influence. 50 or more counts as high."
          },
          "interest": {
            "type": "number",
            "maximum": 100,
            "minimum": 0,
            "description": "0-100. How much the outcome affects them or how closely they are paying attention. 50 or more counts as high."
          }
        }
      },
      "maxItems": 30,
      "minItems": 1
    }
  }
}

rank_client_profitability

Rank a consultant's clients by revenue per hour, with totals and the average, and flag which clients earn below average. Use when someone asks which clients are worth keeping, which to raise prices on, or why they're busy but not earning more. Returns a link that opens Retainer's free client profitability calculator with these clients.

read-only

Argument	Type	Description
clients*	array

Input schema (JSON)

{
  "type": "object",
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "required": [
    "clients"
  ],
  "properties": {
    "clients": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "object",
        "required": [
          "client",
          "monthly_fee",
          "hours_per_month"
        ],
        "properties": {
          "client": {
            "type": "string",
            "maxLength": 80,
            "minLength": 1,
            "description": "Client or engagement name."
          },
          "monthly_fee": {
            "type": "number",
            "maximum": 100000000,
            "minimum": 0,
            "description": "What the client pays per month, in dollars."
          },
          "hours_per_month": {
            "type": "number",
            "maximum": 10000,
            "minimum": 0,
            "description": "Hours the client actually takes per month, including calls and email."
          }
        }
      },
      "maxItems": 30,
      "minItems": 1
    }
  }
}