[consulting] Billing Increments

[Fred Jones]

In response to a discussion we had here last year, I now bill by the
quarter hour, meaning I time all work on my Hamster timer and then I
have a script that (at the end of the month) tallies the total time
for each day and then rounds that up to the nearest quarter hour and
then adds all the days of the month together.

My question, aside from if anyone has any feedback on the above, is do
you think I need to explain this clearly to my clients? I used to work
with a guy whose bill always was rounded daily to the half hour, but I
never asked him how exactly he got those times.

I have my clients confirm that they understand that all work is being
billed by the hour for work done, and that estimates are just
estimates, not guarantees, but I never really discuss with them this
quarter hour thing.

Turns out I do double bill a bit therefore, but due to the reasons
provided before, rounding up makes sense I think.

Thanks,
Fred