It's funny you bring this up. I have a client that likes to do weekly calls. There was one I was on for an hour with one of his colleagues. I politly asked if he normally charges his consulting clients. He said no because he didn't like to get caught up in the small details but he said it's totally up to you.

I decided against billing because this man is full of knowledge and he teaches me on every call. So to me knowledge is priceless but not billable

Everything in moderation is my opinion. If the client knows that I would need to learn a program, I advise that I won't charge them the full time it takes if it is a skill that I can then use with other clients. If however, as has been suggested in other posts, it is client-specific, then costs would need to be agreed upfront.

I have a client who phones and spends an hour telling me things they could have emailed so I have started adding 'telephone discussions and liaison' in my invoices and have noticed that she is reducing the calls (even though I'm not actually charging her any dollar value hehehe!). But I have decided any calls from a client longer than 10 minutes are going to be charged for. My time is valuable and they (a) need to respect that and (b) probably expect to be charged as they are receiving a service.

Everyone is different, and it can change on a client to client basis, but I'm getting stronger!

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Marie Chandler - your virtual assistant
www.officesupportonline.com.au

I think it is safe to call this a situational decision! Each decision will depend on what the skill, situation, client, personal belief, etc.

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Amy
www.porterofficesolutions.com