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<h1 id="billing-for-one-css-change">Billing for One CSS Change</h1>

<p>2019-11-29</p>

<p>Every second you spend working as a designer should be billed back to the client. A simple button color change? Bill them. Additional links added to an existing menu? Send that invoice over. Some basic typeface changes? Don&#8217;t do it for free.</p>

<p>You need to be charging for <em>all</em> design work, regardless of difficulty or time required.</p>

<p>This concept might seem extremely obvious to more senior level workers but I have seen a good amount of junior devs make the mistake of &#8220;working for experience&#8221; or better yet &#8220;strengthening the client relationship&#8221;. Early on in my career I was just as guilty of doing this kind of thing. It was and still is a very foolish practice.</p>

<h2 id="do-you-really-bill-for-one-css-change">Do you really bill for <em>one</em> CSS change?</h2>

<p>Absolutely. From the client&#8217;s perspective it may seem like they are being billed for one CSS change and 30 seconds of a designer&#8217;s time. In reality, they are paying for the designer&#8217;s years of experience to be able to solve that problem in <em>only</em> 30 seconds.</p>

<p>Would the client be happier with a significantly less qualified designer charging the same amount of money but taking 3 <em>hours</em> to complete the task? In the end, what&#8217;s the difference?</p>

<blockquote>
<p>If it is a simple change that they believe should cost nothing, then why aren&#8217;t they doing it themselves?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>We as developers and designers work in an odd industry. A lot of people (read clients) outside of our bubble tend to think they have a much better understanding of the work we do. Because of this, they tend to preface work requests with phrases like:</p>

<ul>
<li>&#8220;This should be a simple change&#8221;</li>
<li>&#8220;This shouldn&#8217;t take more than a couple of minutes&#8221;</li>
<li>&#8220;This seems like an easy fix&#8221;</li>
</ul>

<p>Most of the time these comments are harmless, but other times they are a subtle way of downplaying your skill and experience required to complete these work items. That skill and experience shouldn&#8217;t ever come free. It makes you wonder if these same people expect free work from trades-people (electricians, plumbers, etc) when they need what they think is a &#8220;simple&#8221; fix in their house.</p>

<p>Do you think workers in <em>most</em> other industries travel out to someone&#8217;s home and fix &#8220;small&#8221; issues for free? Hell no.</p>

<p>So why are developers and designers doing work for free? I truly don&#8217;t know - but it needs to stop.</p>

<h2 id="a-simple-but-useful-system">A simple but useful system</h2>

<p>You should live by the rule that every <em>second</em> you spend working for someone else is billable. I don&#8217;t mean that you should literally bill per second, but instead round to nearest estimated time slot (whether you are billing hourly, daily, sprint-based or per project). This ensures that your efforts are paid for and that the client will begin to truly value your time. Doing this from the get-go will save you headaches in the future.</p>

<p>I&#8217;m sorry if this comes off as preachy, but I&#8217;m just trying to inspire designers to value their work more. Don&#8217;t sell yourself short - your talent is valuable and shouldn&#8217;t be taken for granted.</p>
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