Just had a potential client meeting and they have said they are happy with the quotation and we get on too, but they would like it broken down between the different services I will undertake. Which is payroll, bookkeeping and accounts & tax.
I didn't really look at the job in 3 elements when I quoted it as I estimated the total time required for all elements for a year and then added in some contingency.
I'm happy to break the three amounts down to please the client but usually prefer to quote one price for the whole job. Does anybody quote seperately for every service or one amount for everything they require like me?
oooo... I think once you start breaking down a job it makes it easier for the client to start trying to negotiate certain parts out. I remember a discussion on here a wee while back where a client was trying to knock a few pounds off their bill by telling the bookkeeper not to do a bank rec.
I provide a quote it is very rough, generally I say 'Bookkeeping which includes....' and then list what I'll do and give a total price. I would maybe break it down to the level you outline, but I'd not be happy breaking it down more than that.
@Woody - putting to one side the pricing methodology of estimating time, explain that the price is a bundle/package and if you break it down the total of the individual elements will more than the package.
If the still want in broken down here is an example, the package price could be £1,750 broken down like this:
£1,000 for bookkeeping £ 500 for payroll £ 800 for year-end accounts and tax
The individual prices are based on the client just buying that bit from you.
But, the only reason they are asking you to break it down is to compare you and potential give you some pressure.
lol. How long before the clients want us to start filling out time sheets for approval.
When sorting out accounts at the period end will the client start argueing that much of the work falls into being a lower charge rate bookkeeping task?
Might be worth pointing out that they're getting a combined price rather than the price of seperate services which would be at a higher charge rate as many tasks are being charged to the lower rate.
The only time that I break things down for clients is when they need additional work doing such as sorting out their computer systems or building them a spreadsheet which I bill seperately from accounts work.
For related work such as bookkeeping, VAT and Accounts they're buying into the package rather than the individual services.
As Kris states, start breaking it down at this level and next thing you know they'll be questioning time taken over various prodedures that they see no merit in.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
It helps me manage a client to invoice things separately, so I wouldn't have trouble quoting separately with the provisio that I wouldn't want the payroll without the tax nor the bookkeeping without the accounts and so on. There is the aspect of invoicing a company separately from personal taxation which you might want to consider.
The main thing I would emphasize though is that the quote is subject to hourly rate(s). For instance, if the paperwork arrives in a haphazard or unsorted way, then the quote might end up being less than the eventual fee.
Some software lends itself to this with one entry in the payroll program will land in all the other 3 services automatically, so that would influence the way some would charge and quote.
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
We usually quote for the bookkeeping separate from the year end accounts production but sometimes give one total quote for everything. Also, we often quote an hourly rate rather than a fixed cost, especially when doing on-site work. Nice crack Rob. It's almost tempting to actually use that with one of those potential clients that want everything for nothing and that you don't really want to work with anyway........
I do the same as thomashade, say this is what the charge is either hourly rate or fixed price and tell them what we will do for that price, certainly never break it down further than that, ie cost for each part, you'd never get any work done
