On February 1, 2009 at 11:53, Audible Solutions said...
The actual time it takes to code and install a job almost always exceeds the value
for these services as line item. I am not, in this instance,
even making the case for the time it took to build modules
or draw and code the GUI. I am speaking of the known
time it takes to perform the data entry and deal with
any issues on site.
Alan,
I won't weigh in on the who-owns-what software argument here, but after reading several of your posts it's clear that you need to modify your business model and accounting methods.
You need to be paid for everything you do - all of it - or you will go out of business.
The time that you spent, in the past, building modules and designing GUIs etc. needs to be part of your Overhead Costs. You then can break this figure down into the number of hours you bill for an entire year, divide it out, and add it to your labor rate. Just like you should be doing for all of your Overhead Costs.
The time you spend programming an individual client's system becomes a line item cost (either hidden or visible to the client - your decision) for that individual proposal.
If you've ever been billed by an attorney, you may have seen line item costs for making copies on a fax machine or for the postage for mail the attorney sent.
It's also why, if you're in the hospital, the final bill may have a line item for, say, Tylenol - at $25 a tablet! That pricing helps cover the hospitals costs of caring for the uninsured.
