I had the pleasure of sharing lunchtime with a fellow "developing VA" and one topic we discussed was the $64,000 question of "what to charge?" I've been thinking about that.......and I'm hoping there are some HR-minded folks here to help me out with the details of a point that I don't think has been brought up here (or that I could find reading thru alot of the threads).
In my previous life, I've managed multi-millionaire dollar department budgets that of course included payroll, which is hands down the biggest chunk of any business's expenses. The HR Manager of one company told me that if I wanted to budget to hire for a new position, to properly budget expenses to the company I should take the hourly wage I would pay, and double that to cover workman's comp, HR service costs, payroll costs, underwritten healthcare, business insurance, overhead (building costs), etc. For example, a $15/hour employee actually was budgeted at $30/hour in expense in my budget.
Seems like a sound argument if when a potential client balks at your rate and says, "I could hire someone for $15 an hour to do what you want $25 for!" that you could respond by saying, "Yes, but there are no additional costs when you hire me! And, in fact, I'll cost you less than that hired employee."
What do you think? Does it make sense?
June

Hey,

It makes since to me. One of the first things I was interested in when I join this forum was the virtual assistance calc. This thing is neat. It compares all the info you want into a form and you can put it on your website.

My problem is just deciding a figure for the amount of work you going to be doing?

Well, hopefully someone can give us some answers because I just don't know

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Sierra Davis
Airra Virtual

check out this calculator to get an idea of how much you NEED to charge...

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

One of my first clients mentioned that if I had charged any less, he'd think I wasn't worth it and wouldn't even consider me. He even told me I should raise my rates considerably. Over the last year I took his advice and I have more clients than ever.

The teleclass I get to be a guest on next month will discuss this subject to some extent. I'll be showing how solo professionals can actually make money by hiring a virtual assistant.

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Sue L Canfield
AwesomeAssistant.info
My Blog

Absolutely makes sense! I get a yearly summary from my employer as to what my full "package" includes..and to my surprise I am worth almost 2xs more per year than I actually get in my paycheck...and that only includes my benefits and holidays etc...not the desk I sit at or the sooftwar or any other physical overhead. Please girls, lets don't undersell ourselves! All those non billable hours we put in??? This is work and we are worth every penny we charge.

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Cheryl Richey
Carte Blanche Assistance, LLC
Virtual Assistance...Creating Time for You!

We definitely should be charging at least twice what we would be making at a company. The other admins at my "day job" average about $18 plus benefits - I figure the $35 I'll be charging is fair, maybe even too little.

Originally Posted by tracy_dos

We definitely should be charging at least twice what we would be making at a company. The other admins at my "day job" average about $18 plus benefits - I figure the $35 I'll be charging is fair, maybe even too little.

IMHO this is too low. As stated above, the total compensation package for an employee does not include your computer, printer, software, office furniture, rent, utilities, marketing expenses, professional development expenses, etc. Figure all that plus your vacation, holidays, insurance (even if you aren't currently paying for it budget for it).

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Lorri Morin, CPVA
www.virtualsynergy.net

Really? I guess I do feel weird taking more than that to start with. I'll have to reevaluate how much I really make w/benefits etc., at my "day job."

Thanks for the advice!

I agree.. my total compensation package from my company is twice my salary.. We have excellent benefits that I don't pay a dime for...I plan to use this information when I pitch my virtual assistant with THEM :-)

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Tamika R. Johnson, MBA, Principal
administrative partners, llc
www.administrativepartners.net | http://adminpartners.blogspot.com