Hello all,

I just wanted to know if any of you round up your hours to the nearest 15 mins for a retainer client or should you bill by the minute?

So for instance if you do 22mins of research would that show as 30mins of time used on your invoice and then show actual time spent (22mins) on your monthly detailed report?

Thank you to anyone who responds.

Regards
Kelly :-)

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Kelly George

Hi Kelly,

You can do it either way. Most clients will understand what ever you decide to use as your billing policy.

One other thing you may want to consider is setting a standard of which would consist of: "a 1 hour minimum is required".

I hope that helps,
Andrea~

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Action Jackson Virtual Assistant|

I always bill in 15 minute increments - retainer client or not. I don't provide a detailed record to clients, either. All they get is a total of hours spent each month on their invoice. I DO send an invoice to my retainer clients, showing how many hours were used and, if they went over their retainer hours, how much they owe me at the same hourly rate. This way, they can better manage their own retainer hours whether they go over or under each month, or if the monthly retainer is 'just right.'

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Lily Chambers, The Virtual Office Goddess, LLC
Author "How to Do Your Own Small Business Bookkeeping"

I agree with Lily, I bill in 15 minute increments. 2 hour minimum (if it is project based). I too don't provide details record to clients and for the projects I have the project scope which the client sign off on before the start of the project.

My retainer clients get a monthly invoice with their retainer package, any additional hours and any expenses I may have incurred on their behalf.

I do have records of what I worked on each month for my retainer clients to use for myself as reference.

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Renee Shupe, Become a Techie Virtual Assistant
eMail Marketing & Aweber Training Starts May 15! - Save 50% using VAFAweber

I bill to the minute and also send a detailed report to them. I invoice on the 1st and 15th (although that might change to weekly).

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Jules, SunRise Virtual Solutions - WordPress Customization & XHTML/CSS Web Sites

Thank you to all that replied, very helpful.

I wish I had posted earlier! I have already started billing my first client by the minute so I think I will stick to this with her, however, any future retainer clients I get will definitely be billed at 15 minute increments.

I guess we all have to learn by our mistakes!

Thanks again
Kelly

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Kelly George

What if you decide to bill in one hour minimum increments and the job takes less than one hour? They still pay for one hour?

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Sandy

Originally Posted by splarske

What if you decide to bill in one hour minimum increments and the job takes less than one hour? They still pay for one hour?

That's what I do. If the job takes less than 1hr and I only did one job for them, then they pay the hourly rate regardless.

I bill in 15 minute increments - clients pay X amount for the 1st hour for whatever I do. I bill on the last Friday of each month (I also try to avoid doing client work on Fridays so it's pretty much Admin!!). It's the way I always done it.

BTW, to keep tabs on how many hours you do, I use the timer widget on Freshbooks. If I do 1 hour 49 minutes of work, then I bill them for 1 hour 45 minutes - I just edit the minutes in the timer section. it's the way I've always done it and I find that it's the easiest route and it works for me and my client.

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Julia Neal ...because we ♥ admin!
http://julianeal.wordpress.com

Maybe this is getting a bit tedious but if you bill in 15 minute increments and spent 1 hour 51 minutes on a project do you round up or down? So 1hr 45 min vs 2 hours. I feel torn between short changing myself for time worked and billing the client for more than done.
-LifeJazzed

LifeJazzed: That is why I do as Jules does, bill to the minute (as well as provide detailed reports). This eliminates having to round up or down. I also use Freshbooks timer to track my hours. My client will be billed for actual time to the minute worked for that particular project or period.

However, if it is a one-time project that takes less than one hour, the one hour minimum charge is applied.

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Delilah Smith
Caliber Virtual Services