I have a client, that is pretty unorganized, so I spend a lot of my time, waiting for invoices to enter, and trying to figure out what he needs done. Sometimes he enters things himself, and there are a lot of emails back and forth that I don't charge for. Anyway were starting to work out the issues, but he's made it clear that he has a certain budget for accounting each month. My question is, I'm currently doing the work hourly, but I'm wondering if I might be better off offering him a monthly retainer of XXX for a certain amount of hours each month, but I don't want to scare him off as a client.

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Jaime Yerbury

I don't have the answer for you but am interested in what the more experienced folks here have to say. I am starting my bookkeeping business and am trying to figure out my rate structure. Not having any experience with this type of thing makes it harder to make a decision.

Looking forward to the responses.

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Annemarie
Mid-Michigan Bookkeeping

This is my take on this...

I think that if you know what the work will be and there are no unknown factors then flat fee is the way to go.

However, for example if you are creating a blog for someone but then the client starts asking for customization or additional work which was not anticipated presents itself then you should do the work hourly.

But if he has a certain budget, by no means should you undercut your value by doing work for him at a flat fee to meet only the client budget.

Decide what you want to earn and what your rate should be. Then figure out how much time you spend on his work and come up with a figure that is satisfactory to you. If his budget meets your expectations, I'd consider a flat fee rate. If not, stay hourly because you will lose out and undervalue your services.

Janine

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WRITE FAB RFP PROPOSALS & land THE VA job. WinningRFP unveils soon! SignUp www.WinningRFP.com

You don't say how long you have been working with this client. I would suggest reviewing your past invoices, AND EMAIL CORRESPONDENCE, note the amount of work you have completed for this client, and create a package to offer. If you are spending a lot of time with email, and you are not capturing that time for billing, include that in the total number of hours you have worked. Time spent on email is time NOT spent on a paying client.

Just as Janine noted above, don't undercut yourself just because the client has a budget.

Schedule a talk with your client and review what you have found in your research.

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Robin A. Holstein
Robin's Desktop Virtual Administrative Services
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