Six minute increments: when rounding is fair and when it is not
Rounding is normal in professional services. The trouble starts when the client finds out from the invoice.
By Nadia Brenner
Billing
6 min read
Lawyers have billed in tenths of an hour for decades, and most consultants round in some way. Rounding itself is not the problem. Surprise is.
Say it in the contract
Put the increment and the direction in the engagement letter: six minutes, rounded up, with a fifteen minute minimum for calls. A client who agreed to it in writing rarely argues about it later.
Show both numbers
On the invoice, show the raw time next to the rounded time. It costs you nothing and it tells the client you have nothing to hide. In our data, invoices that show both are disputed less than half as often.
Round the entry, not the day
Rounding each entry up is standard. Rounding the whole day up to the next hour is not, and clients notice. Keep the rule small and consistent.
Invoicing
5 min read
What to put on an invoice so it gets paid in 10 days
Most late payments are not about money. They are about an invoice that is hard to approve.
Pricing
7 min read
Setting a day rate when a client asks for hourly
A worksheet for turning an hourly habit into a day rate without losing money on long days.
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