Pluralsight Assessment Management — Billing Analysis & Proposal

1. Hours Analysis: January – February 2026

Total Hours Logged

Period	Total	Non-PS	PS Total	PS Admin	PS Project
Jan 2026	21.2	1.5	19.8	11.2	8.5
Feb 2026	40.75	3.5	37.25	19.75	17.5
TOTAL	61.95	5.0	57.05	30.95	26.0

57.05 hrs

PS Hours ($2,853)

9 + 8

Complete + In Progress

3.36 hrs

Avg per Assessment (all 17)

$50/hr

Effective Rate

Note: The 3.36 hrs avg includes 8 assessments still in progress that have not yet gone through their full lifecycle (outreach, contracts, monitoring, invoicing). As these assessments complete, actual avg hours per assessment will increase — trending toward the estimated 4–7 hrs depending on workflow.

Actual Hours by Category

54.25 hrs recorded in the time tracker, broken down by work category and mapped to dashboard-involved vs. easy-to-handoff work.

Category	Hours	% of Total	Work Type
Dashboard-Involved (24.50 hrs — 45.2%)
Contract Management	10.00	18.4%	Dashboard-Involved
Invoicing & Validation	9.50	17.5%	Dashboard-Involved
Assessment Monitoring	5.00	9.2%	Dashboard-Involved
Easy-to-Handoff (29.75 hrs — 54.8%)
Admin / Meetings	11.50	21.2%	Easy-to-Handoff
Resume Screening	5.50	10.1%	Easy-to-Handoff
Candidate Outreach	4.50	8.3%	Easy-to-Handoff
Job Postings	3.75	6.9%	Easy-to-Handoff
SME Support	3.75	6.9%	Easy-to-Handoff
Other	0.75	1.4%	—
TOTAL RECORDED	54.25	100%

2. Work Breakdown Per Assessment

Each assessment involves two categories of work: tasks powered by the custom dashboard and automation, and tasks that are easy to hand off to any coordinator without specialized tooling. Hours shown are averages per assessment.

Task	Manual (avg)	w/ Dashboard (avg)
Dashboard-Involved PM Work (requires custom automation)
Generate contracts (batch of ~15)	2.50h	0.25h
Request eSignatures (batch of ~15)	1.50h	0.25h
Track contract status / follow up	1.00h	0.10h
Send assessment start emails	1.00h	0.25h
Monitor assessment completion	0.75h	0.10h
Send survey links	0.50h	0.10h
Send invoicing instructions	1.50h	0.25h
Verify completions & update tracker	1.00h	0.10h
Generate ICA expense data	1.00h	0.10h
Analytics & reporting	1.00h	0.25h
Dashboard-Involved Subtotal	11.75h	1.75h
Easy-to-Handoff PM Work (no specialized tooling needed)
Write/post job description	1.00h	0.25h
Screen resumes/candidates (batch of ~20)	2.00h	0.75h
Outreach emails to candidates	1.50h	0.25h
Follow-up emails & candidate communication	1.00h	0.50h
Client meeting / call	0.50h	0.50h
Easy-to-Handoff Subtotal	6.00h	2.25h
AVG TOTAL PER ASSESSMENT	17.75h	4.00h

Note: Theoretical manual time averages ~18 hrs. In practice, tasks overlap and batch, bringing realistic manual time to an avg of 6–8 hours (est. 7 hrs). The dashboard estimate of ~4 hrs per completed assessment is based on 9 fully completed assessments; the current 3.36 hrs avg across all 17 includes 8 assessments still in progress.

3. Billing Models — Per Assessment

Ease Learning revenue per assessment averages $960 (weighted: 8 small exams × 12 candidates + 32 large exams × 17 candidates, at $60/candidate). All costs and profits below are weighted averages based on this assessment mix.

Assumptions

Ease Learning admin fee (per candidate)	$60
Avg revenue per assessment (weighted)	$960
Avg hours per assessment (with dashboard)	4.0 hrs
Percentage split — small exams (10–15 candidates)	40%
Percentage split — large exams (15–20 candidates)	35%
Ease Learning guaranteed minimum	60–65%

Option 1: Hourly ($50/hr)

Time-based billing at $50/hr. PM bills for actual hours worked, scaling with exam size and candidate volume.

Exam Size	Candidates	Est. Avg Cost Range
Small (10–15)	10–15	$300–$450
Large (15–20)	15–20	$450–$600
Weighted Avg	—	~$495

~$495

Avg PM Cost per Assessment

~$465

Avg Ease Learning Profit

Avg Ease Learning margin

~48.4%

⚠ Risk: PM bills for all hours worked — including time spent on outreach, contracts, and coordination for candidates who ultimately do not complete their assessment. Under this model, Ease Learning bears the full non-completion risk.

Option 2: Percentage of Admin Fees (40% / 35%)

Performance-based — PM earns a share of candidate fees. Incentives aligned: more completions = more revenue for both parties. PM only earns from candidates who complete.

$343

Avg PM Cost per Assessment

$617

Avg Ease Learning Profit

Exam Size	Avg Candidates	Avg Gross Fees	PM Share	Ease Keeps
Small (10–15)	12	$720	$288 (40%)	$432 (60%)
Large (15–20)	17	$1,020	$357 (35%)	$663 (65%)
Weighted Avg	—	$960	$343	$617

Avg Ease Learning margin

64.3%

Option 3: Flat Fee ($300/assessment)

Predictable, fixed cost per assessment regardless of exam size or hours worked.

$300

PM Cost per Assessment

$660

Avg Ease Learning Profit

Avg Ease Learning margin

68.8%

⚠ Risk: The PM bears all cost overrun risk under this model. If an assessment requires additional contractor outreach, re-recruitment due to dropouts, or extra coordination for a larger candidate pool, the PM absorbs those hours at no additional cost to Ease Learning. The fixed fee does not scale with actual effort.

4. Side-by-Side Comparison (Per Assessment)

Model	Avg PM Cost	Avg Ease Profit	Avg Ease Margin
1) Hourly ($50/hr)	~$495	~$465	~48.4%
2) Percentage (40%/35%)	$343	$617	64.3%
3) Flat Fee ($300)	$300	$660	68.8%

All figures are weighted averages based on the current assessment mix (8 small @ avg 12 candidates, 32 large @ avg 17 candidates).

Avg Cost to Ease Learning Per Assessment

1) Hourly ($50/hr)

~$495

2) Percentage (40%/35%)

$343

3) Flat Fee ($300)

$300

Avg Ease Learning Profit Per Assessment

3) Flat Fee ($300)

$660 (68.8%)

2) Percentage (40%/35%)

$617 (64.3%)

1) Hourly ($50/hr)

~$465 (~48.4%)

5. Recommendation: Percentage Model (Option 2)

The Percentage Model strikes the best balance between PM compensation and Ease Learning profitability.

Why Option 2 is the Best Balance

Aligned incentives: PM is motivated to recruit more quality SMEs because compensation scales with completions — more candidates = more revenue for both parties
No non-completion risk: PM only earns from candidates who complete — unlike hourly billing, Ease Learning doesn’t pay for hours spent on candidates who drop out
No time tracking: Billing is outcome-based, eliminating hourly reporting overhead for both parties
Ease Learning keeps avg 64.3%+ of admin fees — significantly better than the hourly model (avg ~48.4%) and close to the flat fee (avg 68.8%)
PM invests in automation: The dashboard and AI tooling that reduces per-assessment time is maintained at PM’s expense, saving Ease Learning operational cost
Dashboard work can’t be easily handed off: The 85% time savings on dashboard-involved tasks are tightly coupled to the custom automation infrastructure

For reference: The hourly model costs Ease Learning an estimated avg of ~$495/assessment — $152 more than the percentage model — and carries additional non-completion risk since the PM bills for all hours regardless of candidate outcomes. The percentage model eliminates both overrun and non-completion risk while naturally scaling with revenue.

Why Not the Other Options?

Option 1 (Hourly $50/hr)	Most expensive option for Ease Learning (avg $300–$600 range, ~$495 avg). Requires time tracking, doesn’t incentivize PM to maximize completions, and Ease bears the full cost of hours spent on candidates who don’t complete.
Option 3 (Flat Fee $300)	Lowest and most predictable cost, but doesn’t scale with exam size. PM earns the same whether the exam has 10 or 20 candidates — no incentive to recruit additional SMEs or maximize completion rates.