Do you as a freelance consultant face the dilemma of charging for the time invested or the entire project? Sometimes, it might become extremely difficult for a you to bill for the hours worked on a project. As a consultant, you may be really quick at completing the project. This may fetch you lesser money because the hours billed for would be comparatively less. In this case, the hourly rates can be set above the average rate so the shortfall in the revenue, due to the faster completion of the task can be met. On the other hand, if the market rate is predefined, then those who take the longer time to complete, would get paid more.
Now, if a consultant deliberately takes more time to complete a project then his efficiency would be questioned.
Billing for projects, in this case, helps a lot because if the consultant is more efficient, the price for the service delivered will be more. Giving an accurate estimate of the time to complete the project is important in this case.
While billing for time, it is the responsibility of the consultant to ensure that delays are not charged for. On the other hand, while billing for a project, the consultant must ensure the project is delivered on the specified date.
Sometimes billing for the time also becomes challenging when one has to track the time spent on meetings and briefs. Many a times consultants also prefer to bill clients on a monthly retainer. This becomes a part of a yearly contract that the client signs with the consultants.
A goal is defined for the consultant to achieve periodically and he can send out recurring invoices for his services.
Refer to: How to Improve Project Productivity with a Time Tracking Tool?
The time tracking software tracks the time spent on the work done for clients stays relevant in all the models. In a project or a monthly billing model too, time tracking ensures the consultant to calculate time’s worth (hourly rate) by the end of the billing or the project period.
Recurring invoicing with Invoicera is very simple as well. One can add late fee and automatic payment reminders to the recurring profiles and ensure timely payments.
Conclusion
As a consultant, one must use an appropriate time tracking software to bill clients using alternate methods. It is completely up to who and how you deal with your respective clients. Therefore, an invoicing software that understands all your business needs and can be customized accordingly should be preferred.
Invoicera provides all the necessary features for sending out accurate bills to clients. The solution helps in directly converting timesheets into invoices. It also helps in sending out project bills, while also add project work reports. Invoicera with add on and most important features like multi language and more than 30 online payment gateways help you easily deal with your clients both locally and globally. At ease of clicks you can communicate your invoices and proceed easily afterwards.
