How much to charge

[vermilk]

I am considering creating an Access db application for a nearby company
and I'm not sure how to charge them. Should I go by the hour or flat
charge? If by the hour, how much would be reasonable? I'm not looking
to get rich by any means.

Thanks for your help!

kxv

[Curt]

My suggestion:

What do you currently earn per hour? By proxy of your job, this IS what you
are worth. I would charge about double that for freelance work, to
compensate for benefits etc. DO NOT establish a low rate, you will be sorry
if you do! This is important, as if your work is impressive, this will
almost certainly lead to other possibilities. If you work cheap for client
A, client B will want the same rate.

If you code the project by the hour, technically (and legally) the app
belongs entirely to the client. With this in mind, I would estimate the
hours to code this project and determine a price for the product based on
these hours and your hourly rate, then license the software to the client
for the agreed upon price. This leaves you free to reuse the code legally.
If clients trade secrets or other intellectual property are leveraged in
this app, this strategy probably won't work.

I have often found myself working more hours than estimated on a project,
sometimes because of my own goofs. In this case, I charge reasonable hours
rather than actual hours, but I NEVER reduce my rate. If you do it once,
you will be expected to continue the practice.

Good luck,
Curt

<ve*****@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:11**********************@g44g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...

I am considering creating an Access db application for a nearby company
and I'm not sure how to charge them. Should I go by the hour or flat
charge? If by the hour, how much would be reasonable? I'm not looking
to get rich by any means.

Thanks for your help!

kxv

[Larry Linson]

There's no general guidline for rates for all location. They are very
locale-specific; you need to talk to contract developers in your geographic
area to set your rate.

If this is a "bespoke system" just for this one client, I'd strongly suggest
working by the hour, but, even so, write your agreement to retain your
ownership of the code, though giving them a very broad license. It could
save you the hassle of a lawsuit, later, if you reuse any part of that
application.

If you may sell it to others, I'd still work by the hour. In fact, the only
kind of work that I do other than time-and-materials are things like classes
(where the time is specified in the contract) where I charge per
student-class or per student day.

In the Dallas - Fort Worth, Texas area, from the beginning of Access through
about 2000, the going rate for "beginning developer competence" without any
"specialties", was US$40 - 50 / hour (wholesale, working through a contract
broker or recruiter) for contract work. About 2000, the business climate
here "went South", Access work was hard to find, and it paid much less. The
business climate is picking up, but I couldn't say what the beginning
developer rate is now, but it may well be lower.

Larry Linson
Microsoft Access MVP
<ve*****@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:11**********************@g44g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...

I am considering creating an Access db application for a nearby company
and I'm not sure how to charge them. Should I go by the hour or flat
charge? If by the hour, how much would be reasonable? I'm not looking
to get rich by any means.

Thanks for your help!

kxv