Something I have been wondering about is defining time frames for different tasks. Have you gone through a list of your services and defined the processes to complete and the time involved? Or do you just complete the task and bill for time spent? As we all know many things could make a 3 hour task take 5 hours. If it is taking longer because you are not as experienced at something or had personal distractions I would imagine you would adjust your time. Do any of you eat time for one reason or another? Is there a standard somewhere to gauge by?

Thanks for all your help!

Everyone does things differently and in their own time frame. I know some VA's who can type 95 wpm so when transcribing can finish in a day or less. Here is a thread that discuses what you can do in hour. Again think about each task and apply what you can do in an hour.

Good luck
Andrea~

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Action Jackson Virtual Assistant|

What a great thread to read! I am going to modify to my services and use this in a powerpoint presentation I am putting together.

Still curious about billable time though. An example might be I have to write a biographical statement about a client as he is going to be presenting at a seminar. Also need to provide course descriptions of two classes being taught. Probably a total of about 5-7 paragraphs total. Now, I know this client and am very familiar with the industry and what he is teaching - still took me about an hour to write good copy that flowed and was concise. Same task but with a virtual client I do not know in an industry that i do not have the same background in. Same task takes 2.5 hours. Would I charge 1 hour, 2.5 hours or somewhere in between? Staying cognizant of the fact that the client is wanting cost effective assistance.....If I charge the 1 hour, then I am eating a good block of time. As your business progresses do you see a narrowing of these types of instances? Or is this just the "hidden" price that makes you work 50 hours a week with only 20-30 billable hours?

Inquiring minds want to know.....

LOL at Inquiring minds want to know...

First you want to be honest to the client and yourself especially when it comes to charging your clients.

I understand writing bio-statements for professors, as I use to work at a university. I knew my professors well and could put together a bio-statement within about 30 minutes. That is something I could do quickly and make it good copy. For class information, I worked in the engineering department, so I could also throw together a Syllabus and description of a class as well as the schedule in one brochure in about 1 hour. So, again, it goes back to what you can do within that hour of time, your typing speed, your knowledge of the subject and your research skills.

For instance, my client needs information on drop ship companies that sell medical equipment. I research quite a bit and could get the information she needs within 2 hours. Since med equipment is not easy to find for drop shipping, it would take a little longer to research that subject. But, I could do it within 2 hours and that includes finding the company, pricing, profit, sign up, terms and policy, writing up the email and sending the information to the client.

I hope that helps
Andrea~

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Action Jackson Virtual Assistant|

Usually I bill hours per individual projects. I like using freshbooks because it has a time tracker included.

I second using Freshbooks. On top of their timetracker and their nice, user friendly website , you can call them at any time and get a live person on the phone in 30 seconds to walk you through your problem.

I feel strongly about charging hourly in my own business. I've thrown the idea back and forth of putting together a fee schedule and charge per project, or sell "chunks" of time but it doesn't seem to work for me. I like knowing that I'm being paid according to the amount of time and effort I put into my work. I know a lot of seasoned VA's will disagree with me on this, but it works for me. I have tiered retainer pricing, and then straight hourly pricing for clients that call me every once in a while.

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April Sullivan
The REVA Academy

I use Freshbooks which I use to track the exact time I use on projects and then I also round it to the nearest 10 minutes. If a project takes longer than expected I don't eat any of it myself. They're paying me per hour and I know that they are still cutting down on time wasted using my services than they would a in house assistant.

I have never heard of Freshbooks but it sounds like something I may have to check out for my business. Thanks for the tip.

Never heard of Freshbook! Thanks for the info!