My Billing and Charging Ethics Handbook

By Thomas Eklund

Contents

- How Much Do I Charge?
- Payment Terms
- What Do I Charge For?

How Much Do I Charge?

• Flat rate that covers all the database application development tasks from project management and business/database analysis, to application's architecture, navigation structure, database, functionality and user interface development and programming, to installation and training: $60 an hour.
• When technologies other than MS Access are concerned, and I work for the customer as project manager / business analyst / application architect / usability engineer and use paid assistance of remotely located contractors for the rest of the application development tasks (mostly programming), I charge my hourly rate for my services and the customer pays precisely the same price for the remotely located contractors services that I would pay for using these services. Those services usually cost around $15 an hour.

Top

Payment Terms

I can develop an application either so, that I charge an hourly fee throughout the project, or so, that I charge an hourly fee during the main business analysis stage, and a fixed fee for the rest of the work.

• In many instances it is advisable to proceed in an agile manner, so that functionality is delivered in short iterations. This approach require relatively frequent interaction with the customer's representative team throughout the project. In this case, I charge the customer an hourly fee throughout the project.
• I can also work so, that I charge an hourly rate (listed above) during the Analysis Stage and a fixed price for the rest of the work.
• This approach starts with the contract development process part of the Analysis Stage, during which I charge the customer an hourly fee. During this development stage I put together a comprehensive solution and verify with the customer's employees that different aspects of the devised solution meet their needs and wants. This way, the customer representatives will know what they will get. The application and its functionality will be described in Users Requirements Statement, which will also contain the fixed price for the rest of the development work.
• For the work listed in the Users Requirements Statement I except 50% payment on signing of the Users Requirements Statement, 30% payment on approval of the prototype, and the 20% balance on completion of the project.

Top

What Do I Charge For?

I value honesty and fairness very highly. It is worth a lot to have a clear conscience that I derive from knowing that I have performed a good job that really benefits the customer, and that I have received monetary compensation that truly reflects my efforts.

The charging principles outlined below are rooted in these values.

I do not charge for initial consultations, for general communication or for self-improvement. I only charge for the actual tasks that qualify as both inevitable and necessary. When attending meetings I charge for both the travel and the meeting time.

Below is a brief elaboration of the above statements.

I do not charge for initial consultations. Everything that has to be done up to the point where both parties agree that they will work together is defined here as an initial consultation. I will start charging after both parties agree that they will work together.

I do not charge for general communication. I do not charge for simply thinking about the project, for general communication, that is, for emails and other correspondence that do not qualify as inevitable and necessary part of the development process, or for doing something else that does not qualify as inevitable and necessary part of the development process.

I do not charge for self-improvement. Very few developers are so experienced that they never ever have to look something up. Sometimes researching an issue can take hours or even days. I do not bill for research other than the research that I am actually expected to do as part of the job, or qualifies as both inevitable and necessary part of the development process. Similarly, I do not charge for tasks that were performed only for self-improvement.

I only charge for the actual tasks that qualify as both inevitable and necessary. Most of the development-related tasks are such that they would have to be performed anyway, no matter who performs them. Such tasks qualify as both inevitable and necessary.

At least in theory any kind of human error is possible. So, if I make any mistakes because of incompetence or ignorance then I will do such work over free of charge until it meets the agreed on project requirements, or I will not charge for that work at all.

Most of the development-related communication can be handled via email, over the phone, or via using communication or remotely working software. However, some people prefer having personal meetings to using other project communication options. I respect such preferences, but because time is a valuable resource, when attending meetings, I charge the full hourly rate for both the meeting time and the travel time.