You’re a devoted adherent of the “flat rate” pricing structure. It’s easy. What you see is what you get and you deftly avoid the administrative headaches associated with tracking the hours of your team.
But to know the true value of your services, time tracking is a useful tool. Here are a few reasons to use time tracking even if you charge a flat rate.
Better Project Costing
How do you arrive at the flat rate you charge for your services? Like many others who do the same, you’ve probably got an internal menu of prices for services rendered.
But when you use time tracking, you get a window into human resources hours expended servicing the project. Your team members bring different skill sets to the party, so looking at the break down of the time they contribute, multiplied by their skills and contrasted to existing standards of remuneration, lets you see if you’re on the right track.
Every project is different and understanding how much time your people put into a variety of projects is a good way to gauge the appropriateness of your flat rate.
Time Deployment
Technology has the answer to time tracking, making it less onerous and more illuminating.
By capturing data for individual time logged by employees, you’ll get a useful overview of efficiencies and performance. Are employees pulling their weight? Have they become less efficient? Is productivity taking a nosedive?
All this information helps you gauge whether employee time is being effectively deployed and if the configuration of the team is working.
Managing Remote Employees
Offering employees the flexibility of working from home is a modern innovation which has borne fruit on both sides of the employer/employee relationship.
But self-regulation isn’t for everyone. Time tracking alerts you to lost productivity while transitioning an employee moving from an on-site role to work remotely.
You’ll get immediate insight into the wisdom of entrusting the required work to the employee in question. While remote work is a great innovation, it’s not always the right situation for the employee who desires it. Time tracking helps you make that call.
Time tracking also allows you to contrast the productivity of remote workers with those who work for you on site.
It’s the Little Things
While a fixed rate pricing structure is administratively sleek and client-friendly, it doesn’t always account for the fullness of the work required.
It’s the little things that often count, like time spent on the phone, answering emails, getting to work sites and client meetings and other key operational needs. These are the things which are too often overlooked when arriving at a fixed rate for your services.
Time tracking is a tool for you to get the most from your fixed rate and your employees – even if your clients only see that fixed rate.
Norton CPA, LLC takes the books off your hands, while you grow your operations. We become your personal finance department, offering expert services that keep your books compliant, accurate and responsive. Contact us.