Should I Charge For Minor Travel?
January 24, 2012 8:36 AM Subscribe
Free-lancers: when do you charge for travel time?
Suppose I'm working on an hourly basis for a company. Suppose it takes me 15 minutes to get to them. Should I charge the 15 minutes? What's the etiquette?
Suppose I'm working on an hourly basis for a company. Suppose it takes me 15 minutes to get to them. Should I charge the 15 minutes? What's the etiquette?
Do you normally work on site? In that case, it's not appropriate to charge for your commuting time (unless you specifically negotiated because the company has no control over where you choose to live. If, however, you normally work off-site but come in for the occasional meeting, then it might be appropriate but it's not worth it because you'll be perceived as nickeling and diming them. You may, however, track your milage for tax/reimbursement purposes.
If you travel on the company's behalf, charge for that travel time and related expenses, including milage.
posted by carmicha at 8:45 AM on January 24, 2012
If you travel on the company's behalf, charge for that travel time and related expenses, including milage.
posted by carmicha at 8:45 AM on January 24, 2012
Grrr... make that, "it's not appropriate to charge for your commuting time (unless you specifically negotiated it) because the company has no control over where you choose to live.
posted by carmicha at 8:48 AM on January 24, 2012
posted by carmicha at 8:48 AM on January 24, 2012
If it's a recurring and inevitable part of your work (i.e. "commuting" as for any job) then no, you do not charge for it, because presumably you've already accounted for it in the hourly rate you negotiated. As gauche says, it's overhead.
(When one takes a position two hours away from home, one considers that time/cost, and weighs it against the proffered salary, right? Maybe one even asks for a higher pay to offset it, but one would never bill the company back for expenses after the fact. Yes, that's an FTE example, not an hourly consultant, but the concept is the same.)
But but but... if the travel is unexpected, occasional, irregular, or upon special requests, then yes, you most definitely charge for it as costs are incurred, the same as if they asked you drive over to the next city tomorrow.
posted by rokusan at 8:52 AM on January 24, 2012
(When one takes a position two hours away from home, one considers that time/cost, and weighs it against the proffered salary, right? Maybe one even asks for a higher pay to offset it, but one would never bill the company back for expenses after the fact. Yes, that's an FTE example, not an hourly consultant, but the concept is the same.)
But but but... if the travel is unexpected, occasional, irregular, or upon special requests, then yes, you most definitely charge for it as costs are incurred, the same as if they asked you drive over to the next city tomorrow.
posted by rokusan at 8:52 AM on January 24, 2012
At a previous company, when we hired consultants we paid them their consulting rate plus reimbursement for travel expenses according to some schedule fixed by company policy (something like $.50 / mile + hotels, taxis, etc if there were receipts). The consulting rate is negotiable, the travel reimbursement not so much.
posted by losvedir at 8:57 AM on January 24, 2012
posted by losvedir at 8:57 AM on January 24, 2012
My current contract only charges for travel that takes me out of my major city. I bill significant travel (air, road trip, etc.) up to 8 hrs a day.
posted by smirkette at 8:59 AM on January 24, 2012
posted by smirkette at 8:59 AM on January 24, 2012
You may, however, track your milage for tax/reimbursement purposes.
Seconding this. You can deduct all mileage for business purposes. I would not bill the client, but make it an assumption that you will have to do some minor travel and build that into your rates.
posted by mattbucher at 9:01 AM on January 24, 2012
Seconding this. You can deduct all mileage for business purposes. I would not bill the client, but make it an assumption that you will have to do some minor travel and build that into your rates.
posted by mattbucher at 9:01 AM on January 24, 2012
My consulting is most Web work, i.e., I do it remotely. When the customer requests a site visit I do charge travel time at my hourly rate. (My customers are a couple of hours away.)
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 9:05 AM on January 24, 2012
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 9:05 AM on January 24, 2012
I do not charge for the time it takes me to get to the client site (wish I could it's 2 hours each way) but should the client send me elsewhere I'd expect them to pay for travel and accommodation (if applicable) and the time it took to get there.
posted by hardcode at 9:09 AM on January 24, 2012
posted by hardcode at 9:09 AM on January 24, 2012
I think charging for such a small period of time makes you look small-time. I only charge when a location is very far away, like over an hour of LA commuting time.
posted by Ideefixe at 9:11 AM on January 24, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by Ideefixe at 9:11 AM on January 24, 2012 [3 favorites]
I think the standard, professional thing, is to charge mileage. And given the freelance climate, that might be pushing it.
posted by timsteil at 9:40 AM on January 24, 2012
posted by timsteil at 9:40 AM on January 24, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
If they have you driving 2 hours one-way to a separate on an occasional or recurring basis, I'd charge your hourly rate for the whole errand.
If your business is so booked up that 15 minutes of travel time is cutting into other immediately profitable opportunities for you (i.e., not "I could be working on my novel" but "I could be performing tasks X, Y, and Z, to meet a deadline for Client Q who always pays on time.") then your rates are too low.
posted by gauche at 8:43 AM on January 24, 2012 [2 favorites]