Worked scenario
The client paying least takes the longest
Fixed-fee practices stop recording time precisely because it is not billed, which removes the only evidence that a fee is wrong.
3 min read
Under an hourly model, time recording is a billing necessity. Under a fixed fee it looks like paperwork with no purpose, so it stops — and with it goes any ability to tell which accounts work.
Everyone knows and nobody can prove it
Staff can name the difficult clients immediately. That knowledge cannot support a fee increase, because it is an impression, and the client will have a different impression.
Recording light enough to survive
Half-hour granularity, against a client and a task type, entered the same day. Precision beyond that is not needed to identify a loss-making account and is what makes people abandon the practice.
What it is really for
Not billing, and not performance management. Deciding which kinds of client to take more of, and which fee to revise at renewal — both of which are strategic decisions currently being made on feel.
What changes
- Time recorded against clients even where the fee is fixed
- Effort per client compared with the fee it earns
- Loss-making accounts identified rather than sensed
- Fee reviews based on measured effort
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