I use the MyHours time tracker and bill in 15 minute increments (always rounding up manually in the tracker) providing the detailed reports to all clients.

Rounding up, I feel is fair since working the admin portions of their account are not tracked, such as using the tracker, preparing invoices, short chats, email responses, etc.

This shows what I am billing for, all records are shown in my billing terms and I always have reference for clients when they want to see time spent daily, weekly, monthly or by project.

My retainer and project clients have all been very happy with this system to date.

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Cindy
www.eoseasy.comThe Chrysalis Plan

Thanks! I will have to check Freshbooks out. The timekeeping feature looks very helpful.

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Perfect Balance Virtual Services

Originally Posted by LifeJazzed

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

Hi - just to clarify what I do:
If the work is between 1hr46 and 1hr52 then I round down.
If the work is between 1hr53 and 1hr59 then I round up.

Hopefully I've made sense...
HTH. Rgds

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

Feedback on this thread answered questions that I didnt even know I had. I love this forum! Thanks everyone!

I do mine in 5 minute increments. I don't have to be quite as precise as by the minute, nor do I use more time than they use.

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Serita Diana, the List 2 Close Assistant
REVA Academy

As a little followup to these great responses, I bill in different ways. For example, for straight text-to-text typing, proofreading/editing, and translations (also data entry could be in with this group), it is a flat fee -- depending on what it is. Transcription is simple: per audio minute.

For hourly clients, I also bill in 15-minute increments. I learned this from working in a temp agency -- we bill our time in 15-minute increments. I guess I carried that with me.

I know for me, these invoicing rules are subject to change. Usually I ask the hourly or retainer client if they prefer a breakdown on their invoice. I have yet to have one tell me they need a detailed list of what I did.

For any a-la-carte or transcription invoicing, I always include details as far as document/file that was worked on. I think it helps the client sort out their own paperwork.

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Patty

I am still waiting on that first client but I was going to handle retainer clients the same way as hourly clients as mentioned by Renee and Lily. So billed in 15 minute increments with an invoice that shows the number of hours used.

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Malaika Nallawangsa
Quick Works | Virtual Office Assistant

I only do transcription, so it's rather easy. I used to bill only by the hour and now I also offer a per-audio-minute option. For hourly work I bill in 5-minute increments. I don't currently offer a retainer option. Most of my clients can't work that way anyway.

On the invoice I include total time or audio minutes, my price per hour/audio minute, and any identifying information needed by the client for the transcript, which obviously varies depending on the type of business and size of the company (if it's a large company I also include who requested the transcript since there can be as many as 10 different people at one company requesting them!).

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Pam Deyerle - Transcriptionist in the Richmond, Virginia area
The Perfect Word Transcription Services