Originally Posted by
bdesmond
I've seen some projects quoted/billed as expenses as a percentage of fees but if you're an independent consultant I doubt this would work well from a volume perspective.
No, I don't think that would be sensible. My clients have their expense policies, and it's much easier to book through them (and hence also reassure them that everything is going by the letter) than to take on the marginal cost savings of doing it myself and then getting into a pickle when that "go directly to Abu Dhabi, do not pass go, do not collect $200" phone call comes. And I get brownie points if, as on occasion happens, I suggest a ticket that gets me where I need to go for $1000 instead of their proposed $3000.
The assumption is that you bring additional value to the table and are thus worth (W+E), as your services justify (W+E) > W.
That's right! But is there a way of for figuring out a good level of E in relation to W?
Kagehitokiri mentioned that some consultants can expense $1000/hr F tickets, and their clients are willing to pay. Well, if you're paying $1000/hr for the guy to sit on a plane, surely the sum you're paying him to actually work will be in the same ballpark?
Here's an earlier thread that touches on this:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=753338
CPRich: "It also depends on the type of consulting, the rates, the role, etc. $200 in car service, business class travel and club floor hotel isn't going to wash for an entry-level app dev resource where those expenses exceed 50% of a weekly bill."
Pickles: "Our billing is usually in the form of fees + expenses. In the contract, we explicitly state that fees will run some percentage range of fees, said percentage a function of our assessment of the cost to deliver (e.g. travel vs. local client, flying in people, research expenses, etc.) It can be as low as 10-15% to 20-25%."
And
this whole post by
PhlyingRPh.