Thank you so much for the breakdown. I have to say that I've been a VA for several years and never really broke down everything like that, it's really stunning when you do it that way.

Office Goddess, your name fits you to a "T"! Thank you so much for the upfront calculations. I knew I'd have to pay taxes, but I had no idea they would take up so much of my income!

As a newbie, this information is priceless! Now I know that what I'm charging is right in line with where it should be. Like so many others, I struggled (and continue to struggle) with coming up with a figure that would accurately reflect the worth of my services. I thought it was too high, but thanks to your input, it's right on the mark...thank you, thank you, thank you!!

I'm going to take advantage of the spreadsheet, if it's still available... I need all of the help I can get

Cheryl

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Eagle Virtual Assistance, LLC
Power to Help Your Business SOAR!

This was amazing! This makes sense for the hourly rate I set 6 months ago.

Thank you for sharing! Very helpful having the right perspective when setting rates

I've been thinking more about this and I've come to the conclusion that focusing on an hourly rate is not the right approach. We are supposed to be highly qualified professionals, charging by the hour doesn't make sense to me, there are only so many hours in a day and only so many of those hours available for actual "billable hours" -- after all, if you're running your own business, at least 2-3 hrs/day has to be devoted to that.

I've decided to focus on offering a customized menu of services for a reasonable monthly rate instead.

Anyone else thinking along these lines?

Lori

I guess it probably depends on your services. Some things I have been considering offering in a monthly package, like social media updating and things of that nature where there is a clear limit on how much time it will take me.

Where I would run into a problem is with the work that I do for attorneys. If I bill my assistance to attorneys as part of a flat rate per month, I could potentially short change myself. For instance, preparing one deposition summary could take me two hours and another could take me two days, depending on the deposition. I figure that if professionals like attorneys and CPA's can bill hourly, then it makes sense for me to bill that way too.

So I guess it really depends on the type of work you are going to do if charging a monthly flat rate would make sense for your business. Good luck!

Wow those costs are high. My mortgage is $600 and my cell bill is $12 a month. Have you ladies never heard of coupons? lol $200 for gas and groceries - you work from home. Where are you driving?! lol. I guess this may be a regional thing. No wonder my rates are so low. Maybe I should be charging as if I had all these expenses? lol

The one thing I think is too low is the $350 for health expenses. The cost of insurance needs to be considered as well.

Here is an awesome article I found online about Consultant Fees and calculating your rate. The breakdowns and variables that confirm your rate are very realistic and things that I hadn't even considered.

Happy Reading!

http://consultantjournal.com/blog/se...ting-fee-rates

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Consider it Done! L.D. Henry Consulting, LLC
Taking Control of Today for a Better Tomorrow

Yet another helpful post! Thank you for that great example. I will definitely use this to calculate my rate

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Gabi