charge for travel time and expenses at the risk of alienating clients.
by ed mendlowitz
202 questions and answers: managing an accounting practice
question: my practice is in central new jersey and i have a client about 2-1/2 hours away in pennsylvania. the mileage and tolls cost us $200 each month. can i bill for this?
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answer: are you crazy? you will lose the client. you would be “penalizing” the client for you not being local to their business.
when you accepted the client, you determined a fee that was satisfactory to both of you. if you gave reasonable inflation-based annual increases your fee would be adequate for what you are doing. in terms of keeping track of your cost of servicing the client, i suggest including this cost on the time run so you know where you stand cost- or realization-wise.
i bill for travel time and costs when the client is requiring you to make a trip on their behalf and you might have to negotiate a fixed fee or special rate for the trip depending on the importance to the client and your desire to do this work. i can tell you i missed out on a couple of really good trips (to israel and india) on behalf of clients because i was a little too stubborn with the fee arrangement. looking back the fees are meaningless, but the experience would be fond memories. maybe i was spoiled by some of the great clients i had who paid me top dollar for trips on their behalf.
a comment is that my office in new brunswick routinely services clients in long island, ny, who are two or more hours away. they are good clients, we are glad to have them and the travel costs are just part of doing business the right way.
one response to “don’t blame the client for your location”
frank stitely
i think the crazy part applies to taking a client 2.5 hrs. away who needs a monthly visit.