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Fiszka_J
September 16, 2020
Question

Smart way to invoice fixed hourly rate (Freelance Graphic Designer)

  • September 16, 2020
  • 1 reply
  • 0 views

Hi everyone,

 

I'm a freelance graphic designer and I'm looking for an organized way to invoice my clients.

Some of my clients have accepted my hourly rate and send me different projects to complete. When the projects are approved, I send them an invoice of the time needed to complete them.

 

What I'm currently doing

When I create an invoice, I want to give details of how much time I've spent on each project. I wouldn't want to just write: "5 hours of work". That's why, I usually create a new service/product named after the project (e.g. Name: Entrepreneur Deck; Description: 16/9 PowerPoint 40 slides) then the sales price is always the same since it's my hourly rate (e.g. $50) and I adjust the number of unit to match the time spent on the project (e.g. 5 hours 30 minutes become "5.5 units").

What I'm not happy with is that I will never do the same exact project so I end up creating a ton of service names in my account.

 

What I'd prefer doing

A good start would be to be able to create and save the services/products without a description. This way, when I select that service (e.g. "Deck Presentation) I can independently write a description related to my clients' request (e.g. "Entrepreneur Deck, 16/9 PowerPoint 40 slides).

 

Is this currently possible? Is there any way I can invoice services without saving them in my list of Products and Services? 

 

Looking for solutions, thank you!

 

Juliette

1 reply

S
slhiltz
September 16, 2020

The main purpose of Items (product/services) is to allocate your sales/exps consistently to the correct G/L accounts. Each Item does require a name, but you do not have to save a description.

One suggestion is to have a basic description. Then you can create Sub Items for various customized descriptions for similar services.   Keep your Item names short, this is only a label you see when creating the entry, so it is quicker to find the appropriate item with fewer key strokes.

Another suggestion would be to enter your time with custom descriptions in a timesheet (desktop). Your entries would be to the appropriate Item, but can make a custom description when needed. When creating the invoice, you can add the billable items with the unique descriptions. Also a good way to ensure you did not miss any billable time.

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