How Do I Bill Day Rates?

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A day rate is a set number of hours and amount charged to a client for a task or activity, regardless of the actual hours worked in a day. In BillQuick Online, it is set up using the Bill Rate and Minimum Hours value for an activity.

 

You can also define a day rate on a service fee schedule.

 

How you report day rate activity on an invoice depends on whether actual time worked is greater or less than the stipulated time. When A-Hours (Actual Hours) are greater than the B-Hours (Billing Hours), you might want to show the extra hours on the invoice. Conversely, when A-Hours are less than B-Hours, you might want to hide this information.

 

To set up a day rate for your company:

 

  1. Open Activity from the Lists menu.
  2. Click New to create a new activity code.
  3. In the first field, enter a unique Code, Sub and Description. This will make it easy for a timekeeper to identify the day-rate activity code in a list.
  4. In the Minimum Hours field, enter 8 (this day rate is based on a standard 8-hour day).
  5. Move to the Bill Rate field. Calculate this rate by dividing the negotiated day rate by Minimum Hours. For example, if the day rate is $1,200, then the Bill Rate is $150 per hour (1,200 / 8 = 150).
  6. Mark the Billable check box.
  7. When you have finished, click Save and then Close.

 

When a timekeeper selects the above (day-rate) activity while recording time entries, BillQuick Online carries its Minimum Hours and Bill Rate to the time record. It adjusts the B-Hours to the Minimum Hours and applies the activity’s Bill Rate to calculate the Bill Amount. The timekeeper enters his A-Hours (actual hours), which calculates the cost of the activity and then saves the time entry.

 

On the invoice, if A-Hours are greater than B-Hours (Say an 8-hour day-rate activity took 10 hours to complete), the extra 2 hours do not print on the invoice. Alternatively, if A-Hours is 6 and B-Hours is 8, you do not want to show that it took less time to complete the actual work to a client.

 

When you want to present the extra or free hours on an invoice, split the time entry into two. Enter your hours, let BillQuick Online adjust B-Hours to the minimum, then make sure A-Hours is the same eight hours. Next, create a second entry for the same activity and enter 2 in both B-Hours and A-Hours fields, then mark the entry as non-billable. This creates a separate item on the invoice and because you marked it as non-billable, it prints ‘No Charge’ on the invoice.

 

A timekeeper with appropriate security permissions can accomplish this task; however, many companies delegate this responsibility to a project or billing manager. Thus, while they review time in Sheet View, they can look for day-rate activities and determine whether to split the time entry into two to show the free hours.