billing clients on a "Pay as you go plan" vs. a "project" plan?

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Amanda

Amanda,

There are different terms for different packages and this is my interpretation:

PAYG - this is for clients who do not have enough hours to qualify for your retainer plans but are still in need of you services, so it is an hourly rate that is charged.

Project - this is for the client who has a one shot deal. May be a mass mailing, PowerPoint presentation, social media set up. They need one project complete and nothing more.

Retainer - this is for the ongoing client who wants your services for a set amount every month. They are usually billed a set dollar amount for so many hours and therefore you would set their block of time aside each month.

Hope this helps.

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Lee Drozak
My Office Assistant

Usually, on a project deal, you'd quote a price for the whole project ahead of time, based on how many hours you think it will take, and that's the price the client pays, regardless of the number of hours it actually ends up taking.

You many quote more cost than hours would dictate just because of the level of expertise required to do the job (say creating a database with forms and a dashboard and security and canned reports). You may also quote less than the hours will usually cost for very simple jobs (such as preparing a mass mailing, let's face it, stuffing envelopes isn't exactly rocket science).

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Jodith Allen
Administrative Arts

Thank you both for clarification. Do either of you use a different contract/agreement for each of these options ?

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Amanda

I'm just starting out, and for now am only doing a bill-as-you-go hourly model. I do leave open the option on my website, though, to discussing a project cost with a prospective client. Primarily I'm sticking with hourly because I'm not really interested in doing rote types of activities like large mailings. I'd rather oversee the work of setting them up with a mailing house for those types of activities. One of the main points behind pursueing a VA business is that those are the types of jobs I hated the worst when working as an admin. So I'm focusing on the higher level types of jobs that I enjoy and am good at doing.

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Jodith Allen
Administrative Arts

For my PAYG and retainer clients I have a standard contract and for the project only I have a work agreement which outlines the project, scope and project rate.

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Lee Drozak
My Office Assistant

Originally Posted by leedrozak

Amanda, There are different terms for different packages and this is my interpretation: PAYG - this is for clients who do not have enough hours to qualify for your retainer plans but are still in need of you services, so it is an hourly rate that is charged. Project - this is for the client who has a one shot deal. May be a mass mailing, PowerPoint presentation, social media set up. They need one project complete and nothing more. Retainer - this is for the ongoing client who wants your services for a set amount every month. They are usually billed a set dollar amount for so many hours and therefore you would set their block of time aside each month. Hope this helps.

Thank you for this wonderful breakdown Lee. This really helps me understand (in plain english) the different ways to bill clients.

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Sandy