Hello everyone,

I am new to this business in fact I barely know anything in running VA business except for the skills VA should offer... and so I am wondering how would the client know if we are actually billing them the true time we have worked for their asssigned job? Coz I know some prefer excel while others opt for time tracking software...

Thanks in advance

Great question - although I think the answer here comes down more on the side of ethics and responsible business practices than it does time-tracking software.

As a business owner, I'm responsible to bill my clients fairly and only for the time we have agreed upon, at the rate we have agreed upon. There is no software in the world that can verify my actual hours worked - it's up to me to treat my clients fairly and honestly; tracking time and billing accurately.

Ultimately, and again - as the business owner - it's going to be up to you to determine what you use to track time and invoice for that time.

Have you tried any of the available programs yet? I'd love to know what you decided to use.

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I track my time in an excel spreadsheet for PERSONAL use; I DO NOT give my clients daily itemized time (I'm not an employee!) but rather give them a lump-sum amount of time on their invoice at the end of the month. So a monthly invoice would look something like the following:

3 hours) Daily bookkeeping - sort/enter credit card receipts, enter payable invoices, pay bills, create new invoices.

1.5 hours) reconcile credit card accounts, bank statement

.5 hours) teleconference w/client re: credit card/bank balances, new invoice to -- project.

7 hours) End of Year - clean up files, recon loc 1/2, archive/create new folders, run 1099/w-2 reports, prepare/mail 4th qtr reports.

Total monthly charges 12 hours @ $--/per hour = $---

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

I am with Tess and Lily on this one. I have never had a client who has asked me to track minute by minute, anyway.

I realize that this is beneficial when dealing with certain projects. I just have never really had to worry about it much. My clients seem to trust me on this. I would never charge them more than what is due. It does all come down to being a responsible business owner and ethics.

I'm not sure I understand your question... Is it one of ethics - how will the client know we are billing them for time we actually worked? Times and rates should be discussed and agreed upon before project is started. And in the event that it looks like it is going to take longer than originally agreed upon, I suppose it would depend on the specifics.

For instance, if we agreed on 4 hours of billable time to work on taxes and after starting the project I realized it was a little more in depth than I originally thought and it was going to take me another hour or so...I may just do it at no extra charge and let the client know what happened so we can both be prepared in the future. However, if it turned out the job was way more extensive than I thought, I would call the client and explain the situation and find out if they wanted me to continue on at the same hourly rate.

As for the question on Excel or other software for time tracking - I love Excel and I think it is so easy to change as my business grows and changes that it is generally what I use. However, I love spiffy little programs that have exactly what I need in them and are really functional - so I am always on the look out for something.

Please let us know what you decide to go with. New ideas are always so welcome, whether you have been a VA for 10 years or 10 days!

Good luck!

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how do you know what to charge and how to time things just right I am so lost right now

There are several good calculators on this forum to help determine what you NEED to charge to pay your bills. In addition, try reviewing websites of VAs that provide similar services to get a 'feel' for industry standards.

As far as timing, I bill for what I work...

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

I actually keep minutes of what I do, mostly because I have a client who often uses me for things that can be billed to her client and they need minutes. I find it easy to track and it makes it nice for me to be able to review exactly what I was doing for who and when. I use toggl.com to keep track.

Never ever bill false hours to the client. If you are true to your client then you can build up a long relationship with him which might get you more projects in future.

Yes, some clients prefer to use tools to track the hours and some even prefer to give fixed projects to avoid the hassle of tracking the time. It depends from person to person. But yes if you gain confidence of your client you can expect to get flexibility.

Great Information. So far I have tracked client discussions and work on paper and then transferred the information to the monthly bill the client receives.

I use Time Stamp which is free and it records exactly the time I work, including seconds. According to what has been agreed, some times if the time sheet goes over a few minutes, I can disregard those.

I recently did some work for a non-profit organization and I would give them the time sheet along with the invoice. Time Stamp will allow you to set your rate and customize the setting for each customer.

It is great because if I decide to volunteer for an organization that gets to my heart as I am providing my service, it shows them how many hours I work and how much money they saved, once I give them the invoice. Small perks like that will go a long way, when getting referrals.

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Viviana Robles
www.ocvassistant.com

I wholeheartedly agree with never being dishonest with a client. I won't allow my personal ethics to be compromised for any reason, even for a few bucks.

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Peppy Mozzani
Collaborative Business Support

I have started using Tsheets, which actually links to Toodledo as well. I have just started utilizing this, so I am not sure about the overall efficiency factor yet, but it may be worth looking into if you are comparing options.

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Angela

I personally use One Page Only , which I like for its simplicity and user-friendly layout. I wasn't very convinced to any time trackers at the beginning, but after some time it appeared that this simple tool eased the burden of thinking about what I have done and what I should do. One click is enough, and I can deal with much more essential issues of my daily tasks.

Can anyone recommend a time tracker? On the other thread it is closed and I just want to get a feel to what everyone tried and liked.

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~Barbara~
Virtual Services by Barbara