Tuesday, June 22, 2010

To Bill, or Not to Bill

It’s a good deal all round.

I get paid $1,000 a day when I visit the client on-site, regardless, I tell them, of the start-time or end-time. Billing is easy (It’s $1,000), there’s no need for either of us to be distracted by the clock, and hey! Whatever you want me to do, I’m here. Train, coach, write, test. I’m yours for the day.

A wider variety of tasks gives me the opportunity to showcase my varied skills.

Working off-site is a good deal too. I do the off-site work from my home office, charging only 50% of my normal hourly rate. Good for the client, good for me.

Good for me because I can schedule tasks into my time as I please, and good for the client because I don’t run the meter when I’m doing R&D stuff that remains with me. (That effectively cuts my rate to 25% for the client!).

Then comes the day when I am asked to be on-site for ½ a day.

Should I bill for the whole day on the grounds that the other half day is spent traveling?

Should I bill for travel time – 75 minutes each way?

Should I bill the whole day and suggest that the other ½ I deliver training?

I wrestled with this for a week, then realized that over the past 3 months I’ve had 3 whole days ($1,000) on site and three ½ days on site, and about 180 hours of OFF site work.

That’s a pretty good deal, and I’d be silly to start picking nits over the occasional 1 ½ hours traveling.

Not to Bill, that is the decision.

Talk to Me !

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