Originally Posted by
darthbimmer
Several possible reasons come to mind:
- It's their policy/requirement to understand travel costs
- They have to pay vendor travel costs out of a different bucket of money than hours
- Your competitor is bidding a much lower rate "plus travel" and they want you to break out the components of your bid so they can compare them better.
...These are just the reasons I thought of in the first 5 seconds.
Fair enough, but then it's my choice whether I wish to provide this information or not.
I've quoted many deals where I knew I'd be swallowing some travel costs compared with such an itemized accounting mainly to eliminate the administrative nightmare that is detailed expense accounting. In return, the client gets the luxury and confidence of knowing exactly what they are spending and not receiving a separate bill for travel and expenses.
The client shouldn't think that I can or will be willing to reduce the overall bill simply by itemizing expenses and then figuring out ways to squeeze blood from a stone.
If the client insists, I'd likely restructure the deal to one where itemized accounting is required and expenses are billed separately. But that will cost the client more most of the time.