What actually counts as one revision round?

“Two rounds included” only helps when you and the client mean the same thing by a round.

Here is one workable definition to discuss before the first cut: one round begins when the designated feedback owner sends a consolidated list of notes on a named version. You make the agreed changes, check the export, and return the next version. That closes the round.

This is a proposed workflow, not a universal industry rule. Your existing agreement takes precedence. A missed correction you were already asked to make is different from a new creative request; don’t automatically label your own error as a billable round.

Separate a note from a new assignment

Changing the spelling of a title is a note. Replacing the opening sequence with new footage can be a larger change. A request to turn one interview edit into six standalone social videos is a new deliverable set, even if it arrives in the same feedback document.

Classify each item before estimating it:

• Correction: something that fails the agreed brief or repeats a change you missed.
• Within-scope revision: an adjustment covered by the agreed review process.
• Proposed addition: new runtime, footage, outputs, or direction that needs a scope conversation.

Classification is a conversation with the client. The list is not automatic permission to charge.

The real cost of “one more pass”

Suppose a hypothetical $1,800 project was estimated at 24 hours with no direct project expenses. That plan leaves $75 per hour before tax and overhead. Another eight hours of edits, calls, exports, and quality checks brings the total to 32 hours. The same fee now leaves $56.25 per hour—a 25% reduction.

Those numbers do not prove that the client owes $600. They show why an extra eight-hour block deserves a conversation. A proposed add-on of eight hours at an agreed $75 rate would be $600 before any separately agreed expenses or applicable taxes.

Make feedback easier to finish

Name one feedback owner. Ask them to combine stakeholder comments, resolve contradictions, and flag priorities. Attach notes to a specific version and agree a response date. If a late stakeholder changes the direction after that date, pause long enough to assess the impact instead of silently absorbing it.

“I’ve completed the changes from the consolidated notes on v03. The new opening is a separate direction from that pass. I’ll outline the extra work and timing so we can choose how to proceed.”

Try this on your next review

Send the free feedback sheet with your cut. It asks the client to distinguish required changes, preferences, and new requests. Then use the revision calculator before drafting an additional-work proposal.