Re: fees: charging for conceptual time

[Fabien Vais <phantoms -at- POP -dot- TOTAL -dot- NET>]

In reply to Becca, I think you're right in wanting to charge for your
thinking time. The difficulty lies in estimating the length of time it took
you to "come up" with the solution. And you must do this estimating.

What I often do is start a meter going every time I actively think of the
project. Without overdoing it, of course. If it is just a fleeting thought,
I wouldn't mark down "3 minutes thinking", etc. But if I sit down and work
on my project, and think about it for a half hour or so, even if nothing
comes out of that thinking process, I certainly bill for that half hour.

So, I guess what you bill for, and how much you bill for thinking, is up to
your conscience and your ethics.

If I were that mechanic who billed for "knowing exactly where to hit with
his hammer", I probably wouldn't charge $300, but I certainly wouldn't
charge only $0.25. I would think it was normal to charge for my "expertise"
in determining how to solve the customer's problem. But I would also use my
conscience so as not to swindle the customer either. Perhaps $10 would have
been more appropriate.

Fabien Vais


At 09:14 PM 7/18/98 -0400, you wrote:
>For contract gigs,  how do you charge for time you spend thinking
>about how to approach a problem?

<SNIP the rest...>
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Fabien Vais - Documentation Analyst
phantoms -at- total -dot- net
38 Elderidge, Montreal, Quebec
H9A 2P4
(514) 685-4752