I'm wondering if you charge a steady fee or if you charge per service?

THANKS!!

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Michelle
Virtually Michelle

Personally, I charge a flat rate for all services excluding audio transcription which has its own fee scale.

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"Instead of looking for things that have gone wrong and trying to fix them...Look for things that went right and try to build on them" Tom Peters

I exclusively charge by the hour, with three different hourly rates depending on the service I am providing (admin, bookkeeping, writing/editing). I rarely charge a fixed fee, b/c I've gotten burned by doing that in the past.

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Angela Mattson
Define Your Day

Angela

I'd be really interested to learn what happened to you because of your previous fee structure. As I stated previously, I work to a fixed rate but am always looking of ways to improve my systems!

Thanks!

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"Instead of looking for things that have gone wrong and trying to fix them...Look for things that went right and try to build on them" Tom Peters

Ah, you know I was thinking of a "project fee" rather than a "fixed fee." I have in the past quoted a fee for a project and been really burned doing that (i.e. the project took longer, was more involved, etc.). Because of that, I took another look at my pricing and decided to go with a graduating scale, with the lowest/easiest tasks falling into the admin category, any bookkeeping or involved projects and organizing hitting the middle fee category and writing and editing being the most involved and therefore hitting the highest fee category.

The only thing I charge a set fee for (based on the project) is for traveling with my clients. We agree to a fee beforehand for say, three days of travel and meetings out of town. My client covers the airfare, taxi, hotel, and meals and pays me an agreed upon fee for my time those three days.

Does that clarify things?

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Angela Mattson
Define Your Day

Absolutely! Thanks for taking the time to explain, Angela

It's always a nightmare trying to quote accurately for projects; quote too little time and you can feel obliged not to charge for the extra time; quote too much and you worry you may 'scare' the client away!!

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"Instead of looking for things that have gone wrong and trying to fix them...Look for things that went right and try to build on them" Tom Peters

.......... Oops, sorry, double post.

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"Instead of looking for things that have gone wrong and trying to fix them...Look for things that went right and try to build on them" Tom Peters

I have different rates for different services and they are quoted hourly, but are billed based on the actual time worked down to the minute. Examples of different services: Admin/Clerical; Bookkeeping; Proofreading/Editing; Writing; Web Maintenance; etc.

If I do project work, I bump my rate up $5/hour over the current rates when calculating a fixed price.

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Mary Hettwer
Hettwer Virtual Office

I charge by the hour but will provide a project quote based on the number of hours it would take to complete. All of my current clients are retainer so if they have something they want done and ask for it, then I'll provide an estimate of how many of their retainer hours it might take, but usually I provide a 1 to 2 hour buffer of how long something will take. That way if it take a little longer they aren't surprised, but most times I come in at the lower end of the time estimate.

I am going to start working on a flat fee scale for certain packages of services in the near future, but don't really have it set up how that will look.

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Kimberly
Facebook Marketing Magic!

I work with an hourly fee as well (well, 2 actually. One for basic admin work and one for bookkeeping and the more involved projects). I bill in 10 minute increments and do give estimates for projects when my clients request them. I also pad the estimates by an hour or two depending on how involved the project looks.

I'm not sure if a project fee would work as well as the hourly fee, I can see that getting abused.

best of luck

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Kristi Bennitt
Virtual Assistant/Bookkeeper