Invoicing?

[detailnerds]

I'm in the process of creating invoices for my business. For those that bill hourly do you have invoices that shows the hourly breakdown of total time spent on the car or do you just have a general invoice that shows the total amount due?

 

[Setec Astronomy]

Do you always bill hourly? You can just set up columns that have Hrs, Rate, and Total (and of course a description column to detail what the service was). Or if you sometimes do hourly and sometimes flat rate, just have a Unit of Measure column, then have a Qty. and a Unit Price, and Total.

So if you are charging by the hour it's Qty (number of hours), UOM (hours), Unit Price ($ per hour) and Total (Qty x Unit Price). If you are doing a flat rate it's Qty (1), UOM (ea.), and both the unit price and total are the same number (unless you did more than one vehicle at that flat rate, then you would change the qty, etc.

 

[detailnerds]

We generally bill hourly, but in some cases depending on the job a flat rate would work better. Using the UOM is actually a good idea.

 

[explorerlyon]

I am a hobbyist and love detailing my own vehicles. I hire professional detailers like you from time to time. As a customer, I do not care about hour hourly rate or the number of hours. Give me a fee quote. Why? How fast do you work? Maybe the guy down the street works faster. If you do a paint corection and show me 8 hours, you run the risk of a customer thinking you were slacking off on the job and it should have only take 4-6. Or if your hourly rate is $80/hour, you run the risk of a customer thinking that is too much to "wash" a car, not understanding the cost of your supplies and expertise. I prefer a fee quote. That also leaves you the ability to actually make more money if you work really fast (without comprimising quality).

 

[VP Mark]

I prefer a fee quote. That also leaves you the ability to actually make more money if you work really fast (without comprimising quality).

This is a really important point. This is why I always give "estimates". If it turns out to be much more work than expected, charge accordingly. If you get done faster, explain that they are paying you by the job, not by the hour. As long as you do everything you say you are going to do there is tremendously more profit margin in charging by the job.

 

[Bryan W]

As a customer, I'd rather pay by the job too. If the service provider can do high-quality work quickly, then he or she deserves to e rewarded with higher profits.

Of course there are limits. My wife is disabled and needed hand controls installed in our new car. One place quoted $750 in labor for a two hour job! Sorry, but that's more than a decent lawyer in many places! We took our business elsewhere.

That said, in general, I prefer paying by the job.

 

[tigerwash]

I think by the job is preferred.