Re: Contracting moral dilemma

["Barbara J. Philbrick" <caslonsvcs -at- JUNO -dot- COM>]

On Wed, 5 Feb 1997 08:03:09 -0800 The Tech Writer <techwrtr -at- CRL -dot- COM>
writes:

>My potential dilemma is: what if I spend a lot less hours on the project
>than I calculated for my bid? It is a fixed bid, but I still based it
>on >how many hours I thought it would take. If I go over the amount of
>time I estimated, I certainly wouldn't expect to be paid more...but
should I
>return whatever portion that I didn't work for?

I usually split the difference between myself and my client. I look at it
as a bonus for taking the risk of a fixed price contract (don't worry -
you'll lose money on enough of them that you won't feel guilty after a
while). None of my clients has ever complained about being charged less
(even from a paperwork standpoint; they just mark the P.O. complete).
The plus side of returning a little to the client is that they think
you're honest and fast.

>Another contract will follow this one. Should I just adjust the other
>contract to offset any unworked-for income on this one?
I never reduce a quote. I'd rather have extra on a quote than have to go
back and beg for more money, even if it's the client's fault that the
project is over the quote.

Barb Philbrick

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