"Rob, I've got a pair of XYX channel strips how much will it cost to rack 'em up?"

First up. I rarely, if ever, work to a fixed quote. It's not good for you or me. There are many unknowns in racking channel strips or modules. A simple thing unaccounted for such as a fault in the unit or discovering that all the capacitors are bad can easily throw a couple of hundred dollars into the equation. If I was to work to fixed quotes, I'd have to cover myself for any eventuality and this would result, in most cases, you paying too much.

I run a log of time and parts used in each job. This log is kept accurately and from it I generate an invoice. So, on a typical invoice you'll see a breakdown of where the time was spent and what parts went into the completed unit.

My current hourly rate is $85 / hour

Parts are charged at normal retail or better prices

I don't usually want a deposit, things are kept simple: You send the modules, I rack them, test them, send you an invoice, you pay, i send the finished product back ..... easy!

However, you do need an estimate of what your job may cost....I understand that. In some cases you may have some modules to rack that I've racked before, in this case, based on that past job, I'll know pretty accurately what the likely cost will be.
Also, having been in this racking caper for quite a few years now I have a pretty good feel for the estimated cost for most jobs. Thus, it is fair to say that to rack a pair of modules or channel strips in a standard two unit case with PSU, XLR inputs and outputs the cost will be in the region of $700 to $900 AUD.

But ..... all jobs are unique and are dealt with on this basis