Total the relationship, not the return
Pull what the client actually paid you over the last twelve months, then count every hour the relationship took. Not just preparation: review, reminders, corrections, meetings, the emails between deadlines, and the collection follow-up. Divide one by the other. That effective rate is the real price of the client, and for the clients you dread it is usually a number you would never accept for new work today.
The signals that show up before the math
You already know most of your underpriced clients by feel. The fee hasn't moved in years while the work has grown. The scope creeps and nobody bills for it. They pay slowly, or only after a reminder. Only you can serve them, because the relationship lives in your head. Any one of those means the effective rate is worse than the invoice suggests.
What to do with the answer
Not every underpriced client gets the same fix, which is why an across-the-board percentage increase usually misses. Each client earns one of five verdicts: keep, because the economics are fine. Raise, because the client is good and the price is not. Restructure, because the relationship is right and the service model is wrong. Refer, because another firm would serve them better. Or release, because the relationship costs more than it pays in any currency.
Where this fits
Doing this for one client takes an afternoon. Doing it honestly for a whole book is the first thing Review & Recommend does: every client rated on fit, price, and risk, a verdict for each, and a number on what the underpricing is costing you per year.
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Review & Recommend runs your whole list against what your firm can actually carry and gives every client a verdict.
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