The Timesheet Trap: How hourly rates are killing your consulting business

If you're a consultant, especially in IT, you're very likely to be charging for your time, and probably are billing by the hour.

This is what is called The Timesheet Trap, because you are getting paid based on timesheets, rather than for the value you give to the end client.

In this book, Australian IT consultant Anthony English explains why you should get paid for the knowledge and value you bring to the end client, rather than for the time you spend.

Charging by the hour can be damaging to the client / consultant relationship because it centres around agreeing (or arguing) about chargeable hours and the hourly rate.

This book would be valuable for you if:

• you are a consultant that has some influence over how much you charge
• you have specialist skills that you feel are not fully recognised
• you are getting penalised for working faster or using your knowledge to save time for end clients.
However, this book is probably not so helpful if:
• you're a full-time employee and happy to stay that way
• you work through agencies and have no real possibility of escaping that consulting model

This book is not a step-by-step guide on how to move away from hourly rates, but it will greatly help you see how much the hourly billing is harmful to your value for your clients.

Anthony English is a husband, father of seven children and an IT guy who is learning how to sell his expertise on IBM Power Systems without being appearing too salesy.