This is such a valuable thread!
But I do have a question... Did any of you experience any issues with justifying your rates ($30, $35, $40, even higher)? Using the above templates, I'd need to charge $92/hour... But I know that for a start-up, this is way beyond any reasonable expectations... until I become a "super extra special expert" :-)

Thank you!

My rate is mid-point for virtual bookkeepers according to industry calculations so, no, I haven't had any trouble justifying my rates. I AM curious to how bad your expenses are that you would need so much income. I'm assuming it would be mostly personal expenses?!?

Hi Lily,
Yes, mostly personal expenses, but I took another look at it and were able to adjust few things... So not such an absurd number any more;-)

Excellent! I'm glad this thread is helping out.

Lily, thanks for the breakdown of expenses! I'm one of those people that can try to ration it in my head, but it doesn't quite sink in until I SEE it. This has definitely opened my eyes and given me a bit more insight as to what I would need to survive, and maybe thrive, a little LOL!

It's funny for me to think about it this way - if I were an employee making $20/hour, I'd be over the moon and might actually have a savings account (with money IN it!).. But if I were self employed at that same rate, I'm much afraid I wouldn't even be able to cover the basics.

A lovely reminder of how much money goes to taxes

I bet this thread will help so many when struggling with the "what should I charge" battle.

Thanks again!

Marg Robins

Thank you soooo much for sharing... I really needed rhis

Thank you so much for sharing - this is unbelievably helpful to me!!

That calculation helped out greatly.

I did it and the rate looks fair until i realize if I did 3 clients a week at $40(just reference) an hour for 20 hrs between the 3, it would be like $800 for the week just for them. Then i started feeling guilty cause that's only one service.

Is that how it should be? Am still in the 'employee' state of mind? I just looks like a crazy amount just for couple hrs a week for 3 persons.

I just found this Excel spreadsheet. I haven't tried it yet, but it looks promising.

http://www.snapwebmarketing.com/Pric...come-Goals.xls

Wow! Thank you for all the great info. I too am looking into my rate a little deeper. At the moment I charge a flat rate fee across the board. Is that pretty standard or is it recommended that the rate change based on the service? Does anyone have tiers set up when it comes to how much to charge?

Thanks!

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Angie Fisher
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