Re: Contracting/Freelancing question: what is billable?

[Laura Praderio Lynn <lpraderio -at- alpineclimbs -dot- com>]

hi tracey,
it seems you have everything in order, except you need to discuss items 
#1 (flare learning curving)and #2 (CSS use), and #3 (charging for travel 
time) with the client. i would negotiate with them and keep all 
communications open; the worst your new boss could say is no. then you 
have to decide if this 1099 contract is still viable for you.
cheers,
laura

Tracey Bean wrote:
> Hi all -- I'm sure this has come up before, but I've not been able to  
> find anything recent in the archives.
> 
> I'm doing some freelance work at the moment. I'm puzzled as to which  
> activities are billable and which are not. The client has not  
> specified anything -- they're a small company. Most of the people on  
> the project are contracting, on site, through agencies. I'm a 1099  
> employee, working off site.
> 
> When I've contracted as a W-2 employee at a client site through an  
> agency, I did whatever the client had me do -- learn applications,  
> edit, write, attend meetings, wash the manager's car... okay, not that  
> one.  Anything I did for them was billable.
> 
> The first thing the client wanted me to do was to help them select a  
> help authoring tool. We agreed what I would do, I did it, I billed  
> them, they paid me. So far, so good. Their on-site agency contractor  
> has since left the project. I was asked to take over the writing  
> duties, create the help, the printed doc, the whole shebang.
> 
> I am confident that these activities are billable:
> -- learning their application (in order to document it, not to get a  
> job using it, obviously)
> -- creating the various requested deliverables: researching, writing,  
> soliciting/incorporating feedback... all the "normal" production  
> activities
> -- participating in teleconferences
> -- attending on-site meetings
> 
> What I'm unsure about:
> 
> 1. Time spent learning Flare
> 2. Time spent learning CSS well enough to work with Flare
> 
> The client knows that I did not know how to use Flare. Even though I  
> recommended it to them, I am not an expert in its use. (I could write  
> a short store, at the very least, on the inherent illogic in this  
> situation, truly, I could. However, it is what it is.)
> 
> So is the time I spend learning to use the tool billable, given that  
> they knew going in that I would have to learn it?
> 
> 
> 3. Time spent traveling to on-site meetings (over an hour each way;  
> hasn't happened yet, but we've talked about the possibility)
> 
> Is there a standard approach to travel time?
> 
> Thanks,
> Tracey
> 
> 
> 
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