Question

Question for everyone: Interested in billing rates and/or fixed fees per service by geography?

  • 22 October 2020
  • 8 replies
  • 133 views

Userlevel 5
Badge +3

In working to get Time & Budgets up and out of the door, we sent out a survey to understand what billing rates were by role and the related fixed fees charged per service provided. We have that information across different geographies and firm sizes. Thank you all for participating to provide some understanding so we could set some default rates and details within Karbon.

 

Would it be of interest to post those results here? I would love to hear from the community how those averaged rates and fees differ to your own. There appears to be quite a lot of variation from the data. In addition, is this something you would like to see/learn more from us in terms of the underlying research that we do? Let us know!


8 replies

Userlevel 1
Badge +1

Yes indeed, and I’m happy to provide our rates and billing methodologies as part of the survey

Userlevel 5
Badge +3

As a follow-up, after the 300+ responses to the survey, here are the billing rates for the US, CA, AU, and UK (large enough sample size; in local currency). What are your thoughts as it compares to your practice? This is a blend of all firms so firm size, complexity and perception of value all do play a factor.

US Billing Rates by Role (in USD):
Accountant: $150.00
Admin: $90.00
Analyst: $150.00
Bookkeeper: $100.00
Client Manager: $90.00
New Hire: $60.00
Onboarding Specialist: $60.00
Operations Manager: $100.00
Partner: $150.00
Payroll Specialist: $100.00
Preparer: $100.00
Reviewer: $150.00
Salesperson: $100.00
Training Manager: $100.00
Virtual CFO: $200.00

 

CA Billing Rates by Role (in CAD):

Accountant: $150.00
Admin: $50.00
Analyst: $120.00
Bookkeeper: $100.00
Client Manager: $80.00
New Hire: $80.00
Onboarding Specialist: $50.00
Operations Manager: $100.00
Partner: $150.00
Payroll Specialist: $80.00
Preparer: $100.00
Reviewer: $100.00
Salesperson: $80.00
Tax Agent: $100.00
Training Manager: $100.00
Virtual CFO: $200.00

 

AU Billing Rates by Role (in AUD):

Accountant: $150.00
Admin: $80.00
Analyst: $150.00
Bookkeeper: $100.00
Client Manager: $80.00
New Hire: $80.00
Onboarding Specialist: $90.00
Operations Manager: $100.00
Partner: $150.00
Payroll Specialist: $100.00
Preparer: $100.00
Reviewer: $150.00
Salesperson: $100.00
Tax Agent: $125.00
Training Manager: $150.00
Virtual CFO: $200.00

 

UK Billing Rates by Role (in GBP):

Accountant: $150 
Admin: $50 
Analyst: $120 
Bookkeeper: $80 
Client Manager: $60 
New Hire: $50 
Onboarding Specialist: $50
Operations Manager: $50 
Partner: $150 
Payroll: $50 
Preparer: $50 
Reviewer: $110 
Salesperson: $50 
Training Manager: $100 
Virtual CFO: $300

Userlevel 1
Badge +1

reaction to UK prices:

all looks in line with my expectations except for Bookkeeper and New Hires which are both way higher than what we charge

I’d love to hear if others feel the same way or if we are just way below market charge out rate for these roles

H

Userlevel 5
Badge +3

@heatherdarnell I know plenty of people both in practice and others (e.g. “thought leaders”) that would just say to charge more! :)

 

I think for the New Hires it is really the role they will play. Many link those rates to that of an Onboarding Specialist for an entry role. As for Bookkeepers, it gets increased in value when the Bookkeeper plays both a traditional Bookkeeper role and an Accountant function, so the rate by some denotes the coverage of the two sides (in smaller sized firms, thus a higher rate).

Userlevel 7
Badge +10

I’m curious.  Are firms in Canada using these billing rates in a Time & Billing format or as the foundation for setting up fixed-price contracts?

We estimate the time each role will contribute to an engagement and create a fixed price from there.  When I look at the rates from the survey we seem to be running a little higher but I wonder if that is in part because our clients do not see those rates in their contracts.

Userlevel 5
Badge +9

This is interesting, Ian. Can I copy to share the request with my team and get back to you? We use the value pricing and although we don’t track time for billing, this data may be useful for other decisions. 

Userlevel 7
Badge +19

Yes indeed, and I’m happy to provide our rates and billing methodologies as part of the survey


Hi Ian! I think this might be the answer for which you were hoping. :) If it is, can you mark it as the answer to your question?

Userlevel 4
Badge +10

Very interesting, I’ll definitely share with my team. Does anyone use any pricing tool to offer clients fixed fees based on the different roles involved in a specific service?

Reply