I'm working on my biz policies & have been reading many of yours. I notice many of you who offer pre-paid or retainer plans, state that "unused hours can't be carried over." Has this ever created a problem with a client? Do you give your clients notice that they have unused hours? Do you re-negotiate the number of retainer hours for the next month?

Lezly

Hi Lezly,

I do have that policy. I actually carry over hours. But, my clients usually go over hours and not under lol

If I were to not carry over hours and there are unused hours, I would simply email the client a week before to let them know they have X amount of hours available and they will loose them if they are not used.

Although, I am sure there will be lots of information provided to this thread and would be interested with those who do not carry over hours handle this situation.

Andrea

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Andrea Jackson
http://www.connecthim.com

I send out a 'reminder' notice mid-month and 7 days before the month - after that - *shrug* It's in my written contract.

I carry over hours. My clients tend to "shoot for the stars" when they sign up and buy a larger block of time than is needed. Since I've been really busy lately, I've relaxed my billing a bit and have been invoicing my clients when they are down to four hours remaining, regardless of where we are in the month.

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April Sullivan
The REVA Academy

I carry my hours over as well. My policy is that if you paid for the hours, you get to use the hours. However, I do tell them that if they buy 10 hours and stretch it over a long period of time, then they may not be considered a priority client and that clients who use their allotted hours each month on a continual/on-going basis, will be considered priority clients over all others.

Like others though, I will try to make sure they get their hours used within a 30 day period as this does make billing and tracking easier.

I will only carry over hours in extreme circumstances. My contract states unused hours are not carried over and so therefore they are not. I have only had a few instances where the hours were not used and they were minimal. I like Lily send my clients updates throughout the month so they know where they stand.

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Lee Drozak

I do not carry over unused hours; and, like Andrea, most clients I have go over, not under the contracted hours anyway.

However, on the rare occasions that the hours aren't being used up, I let the client know mid-month and about a wk before the month is up, how many hours there are left.

Besides having it in my contract, when I do my consultation with a PC, I make sure they understand that the unused hours do not roll over.

I state clearly in my written quote, t&c's and then again in the contract that any unused hours can not be carried over. I have never been asked and it has never been questioned, well so far anyway!

Hope this helps.

Regards
Kelly

When I launch my business formally, I will offer a certain amount a hours a month that can be carried over, depending on what package they are on, e.g 1 hour can be carried over for one month only for every 10 hours that they purchase. I hope that makes sense - it is set out much easier in my rates and package guide.