Hey everybody!

I'm in the process of writing out my policies for my letter of agreement and such. I have a question about charging for materials. I was planning to include the cost of any shipping and reasonable amount of materials in my hourly rate, that's kind of a perk for the client, right? My problem is defining "reasonable amount of materials." Paper and ink and such are one thing, but I'm afraid of a client wanting something like 25 manuals in binders or something that will cost quite a bit and I'm stuck with the bill. My husband suggested putting a monetary limit on supplies. $20 or $50 per project or whatever I decide is a good number. How do you guys handle supplies? Are they always charged to the customer? What's your limit if you do include them in your rate? Any help would be great!

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Norma D. Landis, Quest Virtual Assistant Services
www.questvas.com

Hey Norma,

I personally charge my clients for any supplies that are required for their projects. Being that I am a virtual assistant, I email all material to them and it is this emailing back and forth etc that is at no charge. However, if they require something to be printed or books and manuals to be made, there is an additional fee. For this additional fee, I charge them cost for printing or whatever the cost would be would they have gone to the printers themselves.

It is of course up to you and how you decide to charge your clients, not every business is the same.

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Ness, REPA
www.NessLindsay.com

Is this pens you use to write back and forth to someone? Envelopes to sent a few things to someone? Or is it doing a project of a large scope that you need lots of extra items for?

If its the stuff NOT JUST for a particular client? I would build it into the charge you are charging them.

If its a project just for them? I would bill them with exact receipts. I would also say that most everything should come from one or two general stores (not running all over the place).....unless they want to pay you for going to lots of places, and if you are willing.

I am certainly not the expert on this, however....so, maybe the others are better at answering the question.

Norman,

Here is my reimbursement language:

Client shall reimburse Contractor for the following expenses that are attributable directly to work performed under this Agreement:
• telephone, fax, and online charges
• postage, courier services and mailing supplies
• printing and reproduction including brochures, business cards, postcards, envelopes
• computer services and software specific to client business needs, and
• other authorized expenses resulting from the work performed under this Agreement.

Contractor shall submit an itemized statement of Contractor's expenses.

Since I have unlimited long distance I do charge for international only calls. All other ancillaries I charge at my cost and let the client know this. I discuss this with all my clients before signing and have not had one yet that is not agreeable. Some of mine provide their own paper and letterhead and some have office accounts set up for me to order supplies which are usually specific to their business styles.

PM me if you want to discuss in more detail but this pretty much covers it.

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Lee Drozak
My Office Assistant

I have to agree with everyone here. If it is SPECIFICALLY for them and only them, they would incur the full amount of the supplies. I create DVD's for videos and presentations. I usually buy what they need and then bill them with the receipt. Almost like making an expense report. I hand them the expense report at the final payment. This had all been discussed in the initial contract so that they are aware of the extra charges upfront.

Hope this helps,

I charge for supplies, etc. that are specific to the client and I also charge mileage if I need to drive away from my office. I do a lot of court house and other offsite research for some of my client's projects. My contract includes my mileage rate and if travel is necessary, I inform the client of the estimated number of miles I might need to drive (for approval) before making the trip. If I lived in a less remote area and fuel was less expensive, I might not include this charge.

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Jenny McKinney
http://www.offsiteofficepro.com

I do not charge clients for materials at the moment. That's because I didn't have such projects yet that would need me to spent a lot on materials.

When I'll have such project- I will put additional line into contract and collect receipts from stores for client.

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VA for VAs
www.jadesvirtualoffice.com

Originally Posted by leedrozak

Norman, Here is my reimbursement language: Client shall reimburse Contractor for the following expenses that are attributable directly to work performed under this Agreement: • telephone, fax, and online charges • postage, courier services and mailing supplies • printing and reproduction including brochures, business cards, postcards, envelopes • computer services and software specific to client business needs, and • other authorized expenses resulting from the work performed under this Agreement. Contractor shall submit an itemized statement of Contractor's expenses. Since I have unlimited long distance I do charge for international only calls. All other ancillaries I charge at my cost and let the client know this. I discuss this with all my clients before signing and have not had one yet that is not agreeable. Some of mine provide their own paper and letterhead and some have office accounts set up for me to order supplies which are usually specific to their business styles. PM me if you want to discuss in more detail but this pretty much covers it.

Thanks, Lee. I've been wondering about this and think this is great to add to terms of an agreement.

Kathya

Awesome advice, Lee. You normally pay for materials when you order things whether you realize it or not, so it's nice to inform customers up front that they may* be charged a different amount that way it helps keep your cost down and the customer knows what to expect.

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Shannon

Thank you for bringing up this question. Very valuable information to this point! The main point is to communicate everything up front.