Press release distribution cost guide: clearance work

Cost one press release's factual approval, rights and asset clearance, accessible formats, contact and suppression checks, and correction or withdrawal work as separate tasks. Use work units and illustrative amounts to identify what to cost and what evidence to retain. Supplier transmission charges remain outside this estimate, which is not a complete campaign budget.

Define the work being costed

A clearance estimate should give each task its own unit, quantity and supporting record. A task may be measured in role-hours, assets, document versions, eligible contact records or a defined correction action. These units make clear what the amount covers and give the buyer a basis for reviewing the estimate.

Do not combine unlike tasks into a single, unexplained "PR time" amount, because that would conceal what the estimate covers. Keep each task visible as its own cost item, with the unit and quantity stated alongside the amount, rather than grouping different kinds of work together.

Keep buyer-team time distinct from charges for bought-in work or a licence. The same work should not appear in both a supplier charge and an internal labour row. The quote-field illustration below helps show where supplier terms sit outside the work-package estimate, so the estimate remains clear about what it includes.

For work done by the team, record who performed it, the task and the time basis used. For a bought-in service or licence, retain the relevant invoice, rights schedule or other record. These records explain what each amount covers, without treating a supplier charge as a measure of the buyer's own time or combining it with team labour.

Choose a basis for valuing team time

Choose a valuation basis that answers the decision at hand, and state it on the estimate. A freelance day rate, recorded payroll cost, internal recharge and opportunity cost measure different things. State which basis applies to each amount so the estimate shows how team time has been valued.

Combining these bases as if they were interchangeable can make the total misleading, so identify the basis used for each amount. Keep the chosen basis with the cost row, rather than applying one figure across different kinds of time or presenting a non-cash measure as a cash charge.

For small, sporadic work, a freelance invoice can record bought-in time. For regular, routine work, recording in-house time may fit better where payroll records already exist. These are ways to choose a measure, not claims that either arrangement is always cheaper. Use the buyer's own records to set the rate used.

Cost approval and clearance packages separately

Cost each work package below as a separate row because the packages have different units and evidence. The figures are illustrative, not live quotes; use the buyer's records to establish the amount for the actual work.

Keep each unit, supporting record and estimate together for review, so the basis for each figure remains clear.

For factual and sector approval, record role-hours against the approval log rather than estimating a single undivided block of time. If several roles contribute, the team roles guide provides context for assigning responsibilities. Use the buyer's chosen hourly basis for the estimate; the example amount in the table is not a standard rate.

Rights and asset clearance need a separate record because commissioning a work does not, by itself, settle ownership. The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act states that the creator is the first legal owner of a commissioned work unless otherwise agreed in writing. Record the ownership or licence decision and the asset or licence unit being costed.

Accessible formats are a distinct work package: match the requested format and version to an acceptance record. Government guidance on accessible communication formats notes that producing accessible formats can be resource-heavy for government communicators. Tie the table's £100 to £400 per-document illustration to the format and version, rather than treating it as a general charge for every possible output. The accessibility guidance is a standards reference for this work.

Contact and suppression review needs a clear unit: the eligible records checked. Keep the provenance record with the estimate, and keep this work distinct from writing or approving the announcement. The data protection workflow covers the list-handling context. The record helps explain the unit and amount used in the estimate, without merging it with other work.

Treat correction, withdrawal and exit as defined actions rather than assuming they are included in the original approval work. Record the action covered by the estimate and retain the relevant contract or test. If more than one action is in scope, describe them separately so the amount can be understood against the work required.

Revisit the estimate when the work changes

Revisit the affected package when the work required changes. This includes changes to the number of versions, assets or eligible records, or to the rights, accessibility, correction or withdrawal work required. Update the relevant units and evidence rather than hiding a new task in a general allowance.

Keep an unknown amount unresolved instead of presenting it as an approved figure. An invoice can support bought-in time, while an approval log or time record can support work done by the buyer's team. For the wider budget, the blank announcement budget shows where labour sits alongside other budget components, without replacing the task-level records.

The diagram places labour within the wider announcement budget, while the work-package figures above cover only labour and clearance tasks. This is a budgeting method, not tax, legal or procurement advice. Review the estimate against the actual work and the buyer's records, keeping wider budget components separate from these task figures and retaining evidence for each amount.