[thelist] RE: aardvark- Client Payment Percentages

[aardvark]

> From: "Gina K. Anderson" <gina at sitediva.com>
> 
> |at work, we bill hourly against a capped project fee (well-defined
> |scope)... that way the client has a nice itemized list, and we can
> |more effectively audit our time...
> 
> This is a good thought, and I have done several projects this way, actually when
> I was first starting out-I did them all that way, since I was not good at
> estimating time). I also give the details of what I did hourly. So maybe I
> should go back to this method.

it helps you put together project plans, schedules for delivery, 
different rates for different tasks, and all sorts of other 
administrative crap... of course, you have to diligently track your 
time...

> I would kind of say "well, we can do it for definitely under this amount" and if
> the client agrees that is good for them, then I would keep track of my hours and
> charge them whatever the total was. If it was over their "amount" I simply ate
> it and learned from experience--of course unless they added more work during the
> project.

similar, but different... if we go over a capped fee project, then we 
just assume it was our fault, not the client's... if it was the client's 
fault, then it was out-of-scope work at a different rate and with 
different deliverables, and sometimes as a new project...

> I too, have a bit of a problem with the 30/30/rest thing in a contract, only
> because of the upfront charges possibly being more than 30% of what I actually
> need to purchase at the start of the project--say a store script or something.

well, all expenses are charged to the client outside of the capped 
fee, unless the client wants it in the project... in both cases, the 
client knows the cost up-front and it goes through rigorous 
requirements analysis...

> So when I did this a year ago, I would finagle that 30% if I needed to. Another
> problem is when the site is done, I only have 60% of the total of the price,
> it's a bit confusing for the client sometimes, among other less definable
> misgivings I have with it.

yeah, i know that feeling...

> I'll give that some thought..how do you word something like that in your
> company's contract (not word for word of course, but something that explains it
> better)

hmm... we don't use 'contracts'... we use plain-english letter 
agreements... very short, very precise, very preferred... but we say 
it like "we bill on a semi-monthly basis"... otherwise we explain 
how we bill, which is very much like accountants and lawyers do 
it... as such, everyone has some familiarity with it... the selling 
point is that it's a great project tracking and auditing tool for them 
as well...