Padding my bill?

[Linda_Marie]

I’m an accountant and last evening, I had to go into one of my client’s offices to do some urgent work that had to be done yesterday. It took about 15 minutes, maybe half an hour if you count travel time. My client told me to add 2 hours to my timesheet to cover the work done.

This just doesn’t sit well with me and feels like I’m falsifying my timesheets to overcharge him even though it is at his instigation.

Am I just being scrupulous? Should I go ahead and charge him for 2 hours because he has authorized it?

Any advice?

 

[JimG]

You’re following the client’s instructions. Consider it overtime pay.

Once in my early years while working at a hospital, I agreed to be on standby. They would call me in the middle of the night; I would clock in, be there for 1/2 hour, clock out, and be paid for 1/2 hour. It occurred to me that this was patently unfair, as I was getting nothing for the inconvenience, so I took myself off standby.

Now of course, hospitals pay for standby duty whether you are called in or not.

 

[Verbum_Caro]

Linda,

Are there any rules of professional responsibility laid out by the board or body that certified you as an accountant regarding this issue?

Perhaps that could be one place to start.

What do you think?
VC

 

[Ray_Scheel]

Am I just being scrupulous? Should I go ahead and charge him for 2 hours because he has authorized it?

Bill it. When I get called in special, I include the entire time it took out of my schedule, including changing clothes and driving in, any discounts are turned off, and then I round up as an inconvenience fee, and do so with no qualms.

 

[Meggie]

I think its normal in accounting, IT and maintenance fields. It prevents calls that are just for basically nothing. Think when you call the furnace repairman…its usually $first hour (even if first hour isn’t used up) plus parts and then additional hours if needed. Even if the repairman stays for 5 minutes and drives from five minutes away.

Clients are less likely, then, to call for frivolous charges, and less likely to call at times when you are doing something important.

Also, remember your standard of work. If you can do in 15 mins what takes two hours then you should be paid for the standard amount of time. This is often seen in the IT field. Each job is measured what it takes an average professional to do, tho most do it in less. This makes the worker stop to think and make sure they aren’t missing anything.

 

[Linda_Marie]

Thank you, everyone. That really sets my mind at rest.

 

[otjm]

If the client told you to bill it that way, the client told you what the service was worth to them.

And as for the emergency, it takes a while before professionals have the wisdom to tell clients in advance that emergency work costs $XX. The net result is that the professional gets run around by the nose, with clients having “emergencies” at will.

The old phrase “your failure to plan does not make my response an emergency” has a lot of wisdom in it. Only after you have run at their beck and call enough will you learn that your time is valuable, and it is fair and just to charge for it. And surprisingly, it has a way of sorting things out - they have fewer emergencies; the ones they have are more likely to be real ones, they have more respect for you as a professional, and those that don’t find someone else they can use and abuse - all of which nets to you a more professional practice, payment for what you are really worth, and better control over your time.

And I find nowhere in Moral Theology that that is immoral.

 

[Linda_Marie]

If the client told you to bill it that way, the client told you what the service was worth to them.

The old phrase “your failure to plan does not make my response an emergency” has a lot of wisdom in it.

It wasn’t my client’s fault. It wasn’t like he suddenly sprung it on me. I was supposed to have gone in to take care of this on my way to another client in the morning, but I was running late and forgot. It was my fault that I had to go in in the evening after I was done with my other client. I suppose that is why I don’t think I deserve a bonus for working outside of normal hours. I’m embarrassed that I just forgot. The thing that really gets me, is that as I was going out my door, I reminded myself that I needed to do this, but after I got my salad roll and newspapers for my lunch, I just went straight to the other client, completely forgetting that I had to go into the other office first. Early onset Alzheimer’s? It was really not good enough.

 

[BrendanD]

Your client offered you the payment-- assuming you didn’t mislead them, I don’t think it’s wrong for you to accept. If you still feel bad, maybe you should take what you feel is right and donate the difference to charity?

 

[steveandersen]

Something is worth (at least in monetary terms) what someone is willing to pay for it.

 

[puzzleannie]

I’m.

Am I just being scrupulous? Should I go ahead and charge him for 2 hours because he has authorized it?

Any advice?

what is the written policy for you firm? most professionals have a minimum charge for 2 hrs or something similar. if you don’t have a policy, set one. it probably took as much time and effort to drive there, do the work, get back, for 15 min of work as for an hour of actual work, and billing should reflect that.

 

[Linda_Marie]

It’s my own firm, very small - just me and I don’t have a written policy. Left over from when I worked for a chartered accountants’ firm, I keep my timesheets in 6 minute intervals (being 1/10th of an hour for easier calculations) so my minimum charge-out time is 6 minutes. If I take a phone call for instance and it is two minutes, I charge for 6 since that is my minimum charge time. To tell the truth, I feel guilty about charging 6 minutes for 2 of work, too.

I will consult a chartered accountant I work with occasionally to see what the industry norm is for call-out work.

Thank you, Annie and everyone who answered. You have helped to see that, yes, I am being scrupulous and that I need to fight it in my professional life, just as I do in my spiritual life. It’s a bit of an occupational hazard and I have a hard time seeing it as an undesirable trait. No scruples would be a lot worse, I think. Finding that happy medium is very hard.

 

[Jay2]

Well, compare your billing policy to the shop I work for:

M - F, 8am to 4:30pm = Standard rate, Two-hour minimum charge
After 4:30 the rate goes to 1.5x.

Saturday = 1.5x rate
Sunday = 2x rate
Two hour minimum, the “meter is running” from when the technician leaves his home, until he gets back (portal to portal billing).
If he leaves, repairs the problem & gets back home in less than 2 hours, you’re still billed for 2 hours.
If he’s en-route, and you call & cancel, you’re still billed for 2 hours.
Mileage is charged if outside the metro area (15mile radius from the center of downtown).

This policy is explained to the customer by our dispatch center, before they call the technician. It’s amazing how “You’ve gotta send someone out right now” can change into “Oh, it’ll wait until Monday” when they hear the terms/costs.

We do have about a dozen clients that have purchased a service contract… an expensive service contract… but they are guaranteed:
24 hour service
Phone contact by a tech within 1/2 hour
A Tech “on-site” within 4 hours (non-life safety issue)
A Tech “on-site” within 2 hours (life safety threat issue)
Billed for repair parts only

I wouldn’t feel bad about charging 6 minutes for 2 of work… if you analyze it, you probably spent more than 6 minutes…
Getting files/materials
“Shifting gears” in your head, looking over materials
Doing the actual work
Putting stuff away
“Shifting gears” in your head, getting back to where you were.

People’s time is worth money. If you’re asking/demanding someone to alter their lives to accomodate your needs or wishes you should be prepared to pay a premium.

 

[Sir_Knight]

Matthew 20

1

For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.

2 And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

3 And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,

4 And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.

5 Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.

6 And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?

7 They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.

8 So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.

9 And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.

10 But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.

11 And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house,

12 Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.

13 But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?

14 Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.

15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? … Was it sinful for those who only worked an hour to accept a day’s pay?

 

[Newbie2]

If the client told you to bill it that way, the client told you what the service was worth to them.

Exactomundo.

In no way is it padding your bill. Think of it as a bonus, a thank you, a gift, if that helps.

 

[SeanTom]

I guess I’m not in agreement with most of you. I would rather handle that problem like this:

I would submit the bill with the appropriate time and charge that would be appropriate for the work done. THEN, if the client wanted to give me something extra, so be it.

I would not falsify the records from what they should be. That in itself is a crime, and certainly not an accurate accounting of your time and effort. This “fattening” the bill may come back to haunt you some day. Better to be safe than sorry.

Whether this is a sin or not, I can not say - but what I could say is that fattening the bill is definitely an improper action that could not be legally be justified. Accept that extra money as a gratuity/ or gift, but do not include it in your bill. I am sure your client will understand that, and I dare say, he would also appreciate it. That action would show your honesty in billing your customers-which would be a plus for you and for your company.

 

[mschrank]

I’m an accountant and last evening, I had to go into one of my client’s offices to do some urgent work that had to be done yesterday. It took about 15 minutes, maybe half an hour if you count travel time. My client told me to add 2 hours to my timesheet to cover the work done.

This just doesn’t sit well with me and feels like I’m falsifying my timesheets to overcharge him even though it is at his instigation.

Am I just being scrupulous? Should I go ahead and charge him for 2 hours because he has authorized it?

Any advice?

Consider it a present. Give the money to the poor or take your spouse out for dinner. Case closed.

 

[Sir_Knight]

if the client wanted to give me something extra, so be it.

The client ALREADY gave something extra – it is not nice to look a gift horse in the mouth.