Fees, markups & cancellation · Working
Cost-plus
Also called: cost plus fee
ELI5
A pricing structure charging qualifying actual costs plus an agreed fee or markup.
Used in conversation
“The cost-plus needs to be explicit in the treatment, not left for production to guess.”
Pitch context
You may hear this during a commercial brief, treatment, bid, award or pre-production process.
Why it matters: Helps interpret the brief, director treatment, bid, award, production process and campaign deliverables.
Connected terms
- Firm bidA firm bid prices a defined scope; cost-plus charges qualifying actual costs plus an agreed fee structure.
- Fixed feeCost-plus reimburses qualifying costs plus an agreed fee; fixed fee sets compensation independently of actual cost movement within the agreed scope.
- Cost-plus fixed feeComputed from definition language and shared taxonomy. This indicates proximity, not synonymy.
Sources & evidence · 6
Direct term-level sources and supporting source families.
- AICP — AICP Bid FormDirect source · primary · checked 2026-08-14
- AICP — Suggested Best Practices for Bidding and Bidding Reference GuideDirect source · primary · checked 2026-08-14
- IPA / APA / ISBA — Production Pitch Process Initiative and Best PracticeDirect source · institutional · checked 2026-08-14
- pitch.dog — Pitch Dictionary Deep Research SynthesisDirect source · practitioner · checked 2026-08-14
- World Intellectual Property Organization — Rights Clearance: A Guide for Independent FilmmakersDirect source · primary · checked 2026-08-14
- Association of Independent Commercial Producers — AICP Guidelines and Best PracticesSupporting source family · institutional · checked 2026-08-14