by Rachel Smith
30 September 2015
I’ve just landed a great client but have just spent the last two days trying to make my software compatible with their system so we can file-share. In good faith can I bill them for this time? And what are some other costs I can bill clients so I don’t do myself out of income? M
If it’s in the brief that you need to be compatible with certain software, then it’s on you to make that happen. If you and the client have a clear understanding that this will be new software that you’re installing simply to work with them, there might be some wiggle room, sure. Which brings me to the can of worms that is what you can charge for, and what you most definitely can’t.
Research. A portion of my client work these days is building websites for other small businesses, and there is the inevitable research that goes into that – of themes, images, domain names (if they don’t have one) and I factor all that in on my quote. I also itemise it (along with other tasks involved in the project like content, coding etc) so the client has an idea of the work that’s gone into their project.
Client phone calls. If it’s the occasional thing and a relatively quick chat, I wouldn’t charge. But if it’s a weekly thing that involves interviewing the client to glean quotes for a newsletter or as part of a ghost-writing project, then yes – the time spent on those calls should be factored in as an expense. You’re running a business and all aspects of the project need to be taken into account.
Travel time. Tricky one. Part of putting your hand up to do a job is acknowledging how doable a job is for you and what you’re prepared to wear in terms of time around a project. If you live very far from your client’s offices and know you’ll be travelling to meetings once a week, I don’t think you can charge for that travel time. But if you’re being asked to attend regular meetings or the client has head-hunted you for a role, definitely try to negotiate travel time expenses.
Re-writes. I’d hazard a guess that most journos reading who’ve been asked to tweak or even completely re-write a story for an editor weren’t paid to do so, even if it took the same amount of time the original piece took. Unfortunately, rewrites for editors usually tend to fall into the ‘you didn’t get it right the first time’ box (even if, unfairly, it was down to an initially wishy-washy brief on the editor’s part, or a brief that completely changed mid-project – which happens!). Working as a copywriter I find is a little different. I like to spell everything out and on my quote for a job, will include under copywriting or content that the fee includes ‘a draft and two rounds of revisions’ or something similar. That way, you hopefully sidestep silly amounts of copy tweak requests (which can happen when you’re working for a company with an unstructured editorial process).
Of course, there are always things you’re doing to keep your business ticking over and to fulfil projects by a deadline – which might be anything from popping to Officeworks to buy a printer cartridge to emailing a heap of case studies to set up interview times. You can’t bill a client (or editor) for that time; it’s considered part of the job, but in client situations especially, you can (and should) build it into your hourly rate.
What types of costs do you pass onto your clients? Do you try to build costs you can’t feasibly ‘bill’ for into your charging model?
