Charge hourly, bill monthly?

[C.E.]

Quick question on the general process... I have a client that has signed on for an unlimited amount of work which will be billed hourly (yay for me!)... but I'm curious, do I wait until the end of the month and bill out what she owes me? Or ??

[DesignVHL]

I'd bill em at the end of each project...invoice em for 15 days net to keep a consistant paycheck. :) congrats on the job! :)

[CkretAjint]

Agreed with VHL. Consistant invoices. This way they don't freak out when you send them a HUGE invoice bill at the end of the month. LOL...

[C.E.]

That's just my concern... there really is no "end" to this project (until they terminate our partnership). Some months will have heavier hours than other, which is why I was leaning toward billing monthly. I even gave them a 2nd payment option, discounted my hourly rate, and lumped it into a fixed monthly 'maintenance' package (web work), to save me the hassle of having to bill hourly, but she chose the more expensive route for her. So now, I'm trying to figure out which method of billing would be best. Chances are, even some months may not have any work done, but there could be other months that will be huge.

[Ned]

Is this full-time hours? If so, I would bill them weekly or bi-weekly, myself.

Good idea to keep a log of projects worked on, and either include with your invoice, or in a monthly report. This will help when it comes time for them to review their budget.

[C.E.]

Thanks Ned. No, it's not full time hours. This is an online catalog that they put out new items annually and I'm in charge of updating all their products, adding/editing anything, and any updates from here on out. I did the initial website design, and even a redesign, but that was billed as a project/design, not hourly. Each year they have as many as 100+/- new items (with tons of different custom configurations/options) so it could take me anywhere up to an hour per item. The thing is, that one time a year could end up costing her a fortune, which is why I gave her the option of a flat monthly maintenance package that would cover everything. I figured she'd chose that option, since it would very well save her tons of money. So theoretically I could go 2-3 months w/out word from her, but every now and then she'll have price changes and so forth, which brings me to another question.... is billing the hour quarterly the typical thing to do? So if she has me do one price change which literally takes me 10 minutes, do I bill her 15? Do I say 15 minute billing w/ a 1hour minimum so she saves up some work for me? Not sure which route to go with her. She's my toughest customer. (But she always pays on time!)

[balou]

Maybe working on a retainer basis might be a better option with this customer.

[C.E.]

balou, can you explain that a little further?

[urstwile]

I had a similar client a while back, and I used to bill monthly. Although it was a bunch of different projects, they would happen multiple times during the month. I would itemize each project by name and cost and then send them an invoice for the month. They seemed fine with that.

Why not ask the client how they'd prefer? A lot of this is going to repercuss on the accounts payable department, so they might have a method they'd like you to use. :)

[Ned]

Good point, Urstwile. If you can time your invoices to be paid the same time that the accountant writes up cheques for all the employees, that will make it easier on them. :)

[Seapony]

I have a client with a similar profile.

We agreed to bill monthly as a minimum, as any rent, credit card, etc. would. I formulated a special contract specifically outlining the details of the arrangement, payment schedule (and penalty for defaulting) and so forth. I update the contract yearly and have them sign it to renew. I also keep a log book (in my case two composition books) where I "log in" my hours and update the balance every time we work (sometimes the client wants to pay me more than once a month, or when they can, or even in advance, which works great for me. I jot down the day of the deposit, the amount and deduct it from the written balance). At the end of the day I date the session, note the hours worked for that day, update the balance and both the client and myself sign on it.

The client keeps one log book while I keep mine and bring both to every session.

:)

[C.E.]

Thanks gang!!! I'll be talking to her today and will suggest monthly invoices but will see if she has a different method she prefers.

[CkretAjint]

Definately don't go any longer then a month without getting a check. She MIGHT try and get you for bi-monthly, quarterly, or God forbid every 6 months.... ;)

[Seapony]

Definately don't go any longer then a month without getting a check. She MIGHT try and get you for bi-monthly, quarterly, or God forbid every 6 months.... ;)

Quarterly...every 6 months...? Heck, why not go for the year? It is an unlimited work arrangement and I bet she'd LOVE it, lol.

:D

[CkretAjint]

Hey now, I;ve had a few low work clients that wanted a bill every six months. I about died when I heard this request.... LOL. I talked them into per job at that point. It was just insane to request something like that!

[Seapony]

Thanks gang!!! I'll be talking to her today and will suggest monthly invoices but will see if she has a different method she prefers.

I suggest you give her two options, either bi-monthly or monthly for example (which is fair), and let her choose, rather than let her come up with her own method which may (or may not) lead to complications.

Offer choices, but keep the ball in your court. Last thing you need is for her to start waffling over what to do or worse still, get the impression that you don't know what to do.

Just sayin'.

:)

[Seapony]

Hey now, I;ve had a few low work clients that wanted a bill every six months. I about died when I heard this request.... LOL. I talked them into per job at that point. It was just insane to request something like that!

LOL, did they share whatever they were smoking? Sounds like it was good.

:D

[C.E.]

We have a winner. I will bill her out monthly. Now, if I can just figure out which hours are acceptable billable hours. I think there was a post on here somewhere... *off to search*