Good points, but disagree about the fixed-fee billing or whatever he is suggesting.<p>My suggestion is that you pre-authorize half-day billing in chunks as the engagement continues. Make it clear that if it is necessary to answer a single email or even think about the project, the engagement has continued and will be billed for another half of a day. Then make sure the amount you charge per half-day period is something you can live with. Before you start work on the next change, make sure they have paid for the existing bill, then get them to authorize another X half-days of engagement. Don't let them pre-authorize any more than you are willing to lose at one time, based on the amount of evidence for trust and your risk tolerance.<p>The initial requirements analysis and discussion session is the first deliverable which you charge for, even if it is just in a chat room.