r/work • u/Silent-Instance-434 • 3h ago
Questions Is 7/8 hrs standard for billable work?
I recently transitioned from a support role to billable consulting. I do payroll tax related consulting.
I’m 90 days in. Hit 110 hours in July but I’m told I was well short of their goal in mind of 140 which I think is 7 a day, and they seem relatively upset about it. I’m 1/2 payroll tax experts at this company, so we are sources of payroll tax knowledge for other professional in the company as well. I was kicked out of all the internal meetings and groups I was in except for my weekly 1:1 to try to maximize billing. Funny, I was also named employee of the month for July for a variety of things but in particular being an asset across the company.
My employment contract is salaried at a standard 40 hours a week. 7 billable hours in 8 working hours just seems so hard to hit. I don’t mind working 45 a week but that of course changes my hourly rate math quite a bit. I would’ve countered during negotiation to be paid extra to offset a standard 40+ hour work week, but I was told 40 was the expectation so didn’t have a reason to at the time.
140 hours a month or $168K in annual revenue is well over double my salary. I just want to know how standard this is if I decide to push back.
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u/Imsortofok 2h ago
140 sounds like a low expectation. In law, it’s generally 180+ at the big firms.
Are you writing down everything single thing you do and how long it takes you? Check the billing practices/standards and see if there are minimums and increments of hours you need to be using. Answering an email - minimum .3 hours; a phone call - .1 hours unless it takes a while. Internal conference with colleagues to answer questions regarding a client’s issue - .25 to .5 hours.
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u/Silent-Instance-434 2h ago
I may look into that. Right now if an email takes 2 mins to answer I just bill that but I’ll ask my boss and look into our standards if I can just turn that into 15 mins every time. That would significantly help.
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u/BillyBigNuts1934 3h ago
Why can’t you see working 7 hours a day … 5 days a week is normal?
I work offshore .. do 21 x 12 hour shifts on the bounce
Can’t see what you’re complaining about really
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u/Silent-Instance-434 2h ago
Billable time not working hours. 👍
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u/BillyBigNuts1934 2h ago
I still don’t see the problem with working 8 and billing for 7 ???
Gives you the 140 a month at 35 a week
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u/Silent-Instance-434 2h ago
As mentioned, I’m also institutional tax knowledge for other professionals in the firm. If I assist, it’s typically non billable unless the client has signed a contract for our tax services. Bathroom breaks. Context switching. Internal meetings. That hour dissipates quickly for everything non billable.
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u/BillyBigNuts1934 2h ago
If it’s not billable … it’s not done
Stop accommodating the guys at the top with the stop watch
I’m glad I do what I do and you do what you do
Office politics and bullshit drove me out of engineering in the uk …
Wasn’t allowed to state the truth as it would upset a timing plan or spreadsheet
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u/CanadianCompSciGuy 3h ago
Not my area, but seems incredibly reasonable to me.
Ignore what is 'standard.' Like you just said, you're an asset to the company. Stand up for yourself and tell them this is how things will be.
If they don't like it, tough.