I have been contemplating the "to rollover or not to rollover" question myself. One thing I thought of doing was to allow clients to rollover unused hours, but instead of adding the unused hours to the next month's retainer, I would bill them for the difference in the hours need to bring their account balance up to the retainer hourly commitment.

For example, a client is on my Retainer -20 plan which gives him 20 hours per month. If at the end of the month he still has 2 unused hours that we didn't used, I would roll over the 2 hours, but would only bill him for 18 hours for the next month, which would bring his retainer account up to the 20 hour commitment. I may put a maximum on the amount of hours (i.e., 2 to 5 hours max.) that can be rolled over so that I won't have a month where I'm not billing anything.

Although I like the gym membership analogy, which makes a lot of sense too. I just want to be flexible and fair to clients especially during these economic times where business fluctuations are expected. I don't want to have to refund their money for unused hours, and would certainly encourage them to use the hours they paid for, but I don't feel comfortable keeping their money just because they didn't have any work for me to do. I even thought about converting unused hours to gift certificates that they can give to others.

I am still researching my options. I know that a lot of IT and computer consultants have various retainer options that they offer to their clients. some rollover over, some don't, some work on annual contracts, some on pre-paid blocks of time. Attorneys are the same way. It's interesting.

I do not roll over anymore. Did it with my first client and she took advantage. Lesson learned.

I track my hours with FreshBooks and allow my clients to login and see where they stand. Haven't had any 'left overs' since.

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Erika Yocom, Virtual Personal Assistant
http://www.linkedin.com/in/vpassistant

Nice info guys. How do you suggest that I state the no rollover policy in my contract?

I have a use it or lose policy too. Now, in case of emergency or if I'm unable to perform the work they prepaid for (having a baby/moving), I will allow an exception on a case-by-case basis & discuss if necessary. But technically no, the hours don't roll over. I put the following on all retainer invoices as well as in my biz docs so there is definitely no question about my policy:

- Work begins once payment is received.
- Retainer packages do not carry over to the next month.
- Retainer packages are non‐transferable.

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shana
www.piedmontjewelbox.com

I'm thinking about offering a 3 month trial period for new clients in which hours would roll over. The plan used is the most expensive but has the fewest hours available. Once the trial period ends so does the rollover. The purpose would be to give us both an idea as to which of the other plan might be more appropriate for a continued working relationship. Afterwards I would not roll over hours. I want the client to get what they pay for but, at the same time, I want to work as much as possible and have the time available in case another client or project comes along.

I'm going to follow frsvirtual's lead and add her lines to my retainer invoices and contracts. Hope she won't mind!

alcva
www.alcoffice.com (don't look it's nothing--yet)
ALC Business Services LLC (already a change in name!)

wow, this is useful as I am working on my retainer package and was wondering abouth rolling hours or not. Im still a newbie so this helps

WONDERFUL info ... I will also be using the invoice lines ... just in case. I will also put my late fee policy on my invoices too.

It's nice to see I'm on the right page with this. I am launching July 5 and this was the last "big" decision I was iffy on.

I could see how rolling over could quickly end up out of control.

Thanks,
Stacey

I agree with the "use it or lose it" policy but personally I would make an exception if a good client was having surgery or going out of town for a week due to a death in the family ... something unavoidable that was a one-off. However it would be understood that the hours rolled over to the next month would be used when I could fit them in.

Lynne

I also use the use it or lose it policy for retainer hours - and include that in email/invoices etc. I do focus on individualized service so of course would make exceptions for clients in case of emergencies. ALSO they can make changes for the next period. i.e. -- April 1st they are scheduled for 40/mo total @ 10/wk -- some of my smaller clients pay weekly up front -- I would give them the option to change retainer agreement b4 next pmt even if during mo of April.... -- client A pd for 10 did not use any -- keep same and not pay for additional hours in April until that week's is used.... -- review use and revamp hours. 10 hrs of course is more expensive per hour than if they use more.... ANOTHER example is had client pay for 40 hours April - used 60 -- need to rethink retainer for May. (as 60 hours would be cheaper for them per hour)