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Ask HN: Freelancers, do you usually bill more or less than your work hours?
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Re: Ask HN: Freelancers, do you usually bill more or less than your work hours?
#2Possibly unhelpful but: I only do fixed-fee projects, which eliminates the need for time tracking. That said? About 15-20% of my projects run longer than budgeted.
Re: Ask HN: Freelancers, do you usually bill more or less than your work hours?
#3Possibly unhelpful but: I only do fixed-fee projects, which eliminates the need for time tracking. That said? About 15-20% of my projects run longer than budgeted.
Interesting. I've had this problem several times as well. Are you getting better at budgeting over time? Or are these 15-20% constant?
Also, budgeting and defining project limits takes time. Do you manage to bill more to take this into account?
Re: Ask HN: Freelancers, do you usually bill more or less than your work hours?
#4I usually estimate an average amount of hours I can dedicate on the projects a week. Some I strike the limit others(More frequently) while others work less hours
Re: Ask HN: Freelancers, do you usually bill more or less than your work hours?
#5I usually estimate an average amount of hours I can dedicate on the projects a week. Some I strike the limit others(More frequently) while others work less hours
To clarify: are you saying that most of the time you work more than you bill?
Re: Ask HN: Freelancers, do you usually bill more or less than your work hours?
#6Don't bill by the hour. Bill by the week instead and set a day-rate that is 1/3rd of your week rate so you don't get cut into little ribbons by lots of short jobs.
Re: Ask HN: Freelancers, do you usually bill more or less than your work hours?
#7Don't bill by the hour. Bill by the week instead and set a day-rate that is 1/3rd of your week rate so you don't get cut into little ribbons by lots of short jobs.
Interesting. So you're billing a week of elapsed time instead of working time, correct?
If correct, do you find yourself working more or less than the usual working time in a day for freelancers during this week?
Re: Ask HN: Freelancers, do you usually bill more or less than your work hours?
#8Don't bill by the hour. Bill by the week instead and set a day-rate that is 1/3rd of your week rate so you don't get cut into little ribbons by lots of short jobs.
Interesting. So you're billing a week of elapsed time instead of working time, correct? If correct, do you find yourself working more or less than the usual working time in a day for freelancers during this week?
> So you're billing a week of elapsed time instead of working time, correct?
Yes, indeed.
> do you find yourself working more or less than the usual working time in a day for freelancers during this week?
As much as the job will require, usually that's roughly between 35 and 45 hours but there have been some very bad exceptions on the high end which ended up me working the weekend as well to finish the job on time. Having work sliced off in weekly increments also helps to keep my agenda manageable, which I would otherwise have serious issues doing.
And the day rate trick works well too: if I do sell a day at that rate I right away have the option to sell more days during that week at the same rate and then instead of having less pay it works out to more and if there is no other work I have almost a whole week off but still 30% of the income.
Re: Ask HN: Freelancers, do you usually bill more or less than your work hours?
#9I usually estimate an average amount of hours I can dedicate on the projects a week. Some I strike the limit others(More frequently) while others work less hours
To clarify: are you saying that most of the time you work more than you bill?
Yes at times I find the weekly limit to be less than it was initially estimated, so I'm forced to do some more work. Though some of my clients are happy to give bonuses upon discussion.
Re: Ask HN: Freelancers, do you usually bill more or less than your work hours?
#10Ideally you charge for deliverables or outcomes, not for your time.
Does your auto mechanic or plumber or doctor charge by the hour? No, they give you a price for what you need. And they base their price on both market value and their cost (including their time).
Fixed fee for a large project can go wrong badly because early mistakes or missed requirements can set the schedule back and increase the complexity of the work. Break big projects into smaller tasks that you can reliably estimate. Review progress with the customer frequently. Know the business value of your work, not just how long it will take.