Translation Quote Calculator
Build a translation quote from source words and CAT leverage, then check delivery pressure, project fees and gross margin before setting tax or deposit.{{ summaryTitle }}
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A translation quote is both a price and a workload forecast. Source word count establishes the initial scope, but the effort can change with translation-memory matches, language availability, service type, file preparation, review, certification, and the time left before delivery.
Computer-assisted translation (CAT) analysis separates source words into match categories. New words carry the full workload. Fuzzy matches, repetitions, machine-translation post-editing, and confirmed context matches receive lower weights because some usable linguistic material already exists. Those discounts are commercial assumptions, not universal industry rates. A quote should use the weights agreed with the client and linguists.
Language direction matters as well. Translating into a language with fewer available specialists can cost more than a common pair, and a project between two non-English languages may need a relay workflow. Scanned documents, designed layouts, application strings, and timed subtitles also require work beyond sentence translation. Ignoring that preparation can turn a profitable word-rate quote into a loss.
- Weighted words convert the CAT analysis into a comparable workload.
- Delivery pressure compares weighted words per working day with the entered daily capacity.
- Customer price adds service, language, format, rush, minimum, tax, and rounding assumptions in a fixed order.
- Gross margin compares the pre-tax subtotal with the internal translator, review, layout, certification, and project-management costs entered for the job.
The final quote still needs professional judgment. Subject expertise, terminology research, minimum billable time, procurement rules, local tax, currency risk, and client-specific quality requirements may not be represented by a preset. Confirm the source files and delivery scope before treating an estimate as an offer.
How to Use This Tool:
Use a preset as a starting point, then replace every commercial assumption that differs from the actual project.
- Select Project preset, Service type, and the source-to-target Language pair. Enter the analyzed Source word count, not an estimated target-language count.
- Choose CAT leverage. Use Custom CAT bucket counts when a CAT report supplies exact perfect, exact, fuzzy, repetition, and post-editing volumes.
- Enter Quote and requested delivery dates, then choose the File format and layout. Count only pages or slides that need handling when a page-based charge applies.
- Set the Base rate, project minimum, daily capacity, and internal cost assumptions. Currency is a denomination only; no exchange-rate conversion occurs.
- Review Quote build for the customer total and CAT & margin for workload, rush, and margin cues. Add discount, tax, deposit, or upward rounding only when they belong in the commercial offer.
Interpreting Results:
Quote total is the rounded pre-tax subtotal plus the entered tax percentage. Deposit is the requested upfront share of that total; it does not increase the price. The Weighted scope explains the linguistic workload used for pricing and scheduling.
Read Gross margin as a check on the cost assumptions entered for this scenario, not as an accounting statement. A healthy-looking percentage can still be misleading when review time, vendor minimums, engineering, project management, or currency exposure are missing. When the rush percentage is nonzero, compare the modeled daily need with actual team availability before promising the date.
Technical Details:
This is a configurable planning model rather than a published market tariff. It applies declared weights and multipliers in a fixed sequence so the quote can be audited and adjusted without hiding commercial assumptions.
Formula Core
Weighted words are the sum of each CAT bucket count multiplied by its weight. The customer word rate then applies service, target-language, relay, and document-format factors.
W is weighted words; ni and wi are a bucket's count and weight; rbase is the entered price per weighted word; and each f term is the selected multiplier. The relay factor is 1.12 when neither source nor target is English and 1 otherwise.
| CAT bucket | Weight |
|---|---|
| New words | 1.00 |
| MT post-edit words | 0.62 |
| 75–84% fuzzy matches | 0.80 |
| 85–94% fuzzy matches | 0.60 |
| Exact / 95–99% matches | 0.30 |
| Repetitions | 0.25 |
| Perfect / context matches | 0.05 |
| Profile | Declared source-word shares |
|---|---|
| No CAT leverage | All words remain new. |
| Light TM | 7% exact, 8% high fuzzy, 7% medium fuzzy, 5% repetitions, 1% perfect. |
| Strong translation memory | 16% exact, 13% high fuzzy, 9% medium fuzzy, 12% repetitions, 5% perfect. |
| MT post-edit analysis | 58% MT post-edit, 6% exact, 8% high fuzzy, 6% repetitions. |
| Custom | Uses the entered bucket counts. |
When preset or custom matched counts would exceed the source word count, all matched counts are scaled down proportionally and floored to whole words. The remainder becomes new words.
Pricing and capacity factors
| Service | Customer rate | Internal cost | Daily capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard translation and revision | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Certified translation packet | 1.38 | 1.18 | 0.82 |
| Machine translation post-editing | 0.68 | 0.72 | 1.28 |
| Bilingual proofreading or review | 0.48 | 0.55 | 1.55 |
| Transcreation or marketing adaptation | 1.75 | 1.42 | 0.48 |
| Subtitle or timed text translation | 1.24 | 1.18 | 0.72 |
| Target language | Customer rate | Internal cost |
|---|---|---|
| English or Spanish | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| French | 1.10 | 1.05 |
| Portuguese | 1.08 | 1.04 |
| German | 1.16 | 1.08 |
| Malay | 1.12 | 1.06 |
| Arabic | 1.32 | 1.14 |
| Chinese Simplified | 1.30 | 1.12 |
| Japanese | 1.48 | 1.20 |
| Korean | 1.42 | 1.18 |
| Other / low-supply pair | 1.62 | 1.30 |
Editable text has a 1.00 format multiplier and no format fee. Scanned PDF uses 1.08 plus 24 per page and 20 fixed; slides use 1.14 plus 30 per slide and 25 fixed; designed files use 1.20 plus 42 per page and 40 fixed; strings use 1.12 plus 55 fixed; and timed text uses 1.16 plus 45 fixed. These amounts use the selected denomination without conversion. Certified translation also charges 18 per certified page, where certified pages are the greater of entered layout pages or source words divided by 250 and rounded up; internal certification cost is 7 per certified page.
Rush Rule Core
Working days include both the quote date and delivery date when they are weekdays; weekends are excluded and public holidays are not. Daily need equals weighted words divided by working days. Daily capacity equals the entered translator capacity multiplied by the service factor.
| Adjusted daily-need ratio | Rush surcharge |
|---|---|
| Ratio ≤ 0.90 | 0% |
| 0.90 < ratio ≤ 1.10 | 12% |
| 1.10 < ratio ≤ 1.50 | 28% |
| 1.50 < ratio ≤ 2.00 | 45% |
| Ratio > 2.00 | 65% |
Transcreation multiplies the ratio by 1.18 before the band is selected. The rush fee applies to translation, certification, and format fees. Discount is subtracted next, the project minimum lifts the result when needed, and a positive rounding increment rounds the subtotal upward before tax. Tax is then added, and the deposit is calculated from the tax-inclusive total.
Internal cost uses weighted words × internal word cost × service cost factor × target-language cost factor × relay factor, then adds review as a percentage of translator cost, layout cost per page, certification cost, and the fixed project-management cost. Full precision is retained through the model; displayed money is formatted afterward.
Limitations:
The result is a commercial planning estimate, not a published rate card, tax determination, staffing guarantee, or binding quote.
- Preset CAT shares, service multipliers, language factors, format fees, and certification assumptions are editable house assumptions. Replace them when a client agreement or vendor schedule differs.
- The schedule counts weekdays only. It does not remove public holidays, team leave, handoff time, review queues, or client approval delays.
- The date range must contain at least one weekday. A weekend-only range has no working-day denominator and cannot produce a finite quote.
- Currency changes the denomination label but does not convert exchange rates. Tax is the percentage entered by the user; no jurisdiction is inferred.
- Gross margin excludes any cost not represented by the entered translator, reviewer, layout, certification, and project-management assumptions.