Hourly Charges....

[JWLPlumbing]

Hi All,

Firstly, apologies I am putting this in here as I don't have Arms access as yet.

For arguments sake, how do you charge per hour?

1) Charge X amount for the 1st hour followed by a reduced rate for the rest
2) Charge X amount all day

Just curious to see how you structure it.

Thanks

 

[Millsy 82]

I charge 1st hour at a slightly higher price to cover diesel and travel time then drop down to my normal rate. A full day is charged at slightly less than my hourly rate as the way I look at it I'm not using fuel etc.

 

[woodytheplumber]

its that rare I work on hourly rate I don't honestly remember what I charged I price as many jobs as I can and because I sub to regular I just charge them what I think is correct for the job and am yet to have any quibbles on the job I find many span jobs out when on the hourly not that all do mind!

 

[JWLPlumbing]

Agreed, it's very rare I charge hourly hence the question.

Most of my jobs are charged daily or fixed fee.

 

[Deleted member 64964]

I charge an hour £25.00 plus service charge of £25.00 for the first hour
Then a standard hourly rate after that of £25.00
+ VAT

 

[lame plumber]

I charge an hour £25.00 plus service charge of £25.00 for the first hour
Then a standard hourly rate after that of £25.00
+ VAT

how do you hit the vat threshhold on those rates, its been a long while I charged that hourly figure. By the way twice my hourly rate for the first hour.

 

[townfanjon]

As far as I know you can charge vat without hitting the threshold .

as long as the job is fairly local I charged £ 30 no vat, but if there's major travelling involved the charge starts from when the van starts moving until I get home or the next job.

 

[lame plumber]

why would anyone bother going vat registered if you dont need to??

 

[townfanjon]

It could work lame, recovering the vat on purchases etc, personally I keep well away from vat it's what my customers prefer .

 

[Atouchofgas]

As far as I know you can charge vat without hitting the threshold .

as long as the job is fairly local I charged £ 30 no vat, but if there's major travelling involved the charge starts from when the van starts moving until I get home or the next job.

https://www.gov.uk/vat-businesses/how-vat-works
You cannot charge vat unless you are vat registered

 

[Ch4 plumbing]

https://www.gov.uk/vat-businesses/how-vat-works
You cannot charge vat unless you are vat registered

I think he means you can reg VAT before hitting the threshold, and then go on to charge it.

which is true.

 

[townfanjon]

Of course you have to be registered, what it said is as far as I know you don't have to hit the threshold to be able to charge vat, you could turn over 30 k , register and still charge vat

 

[Atouchofgas]

Of course you have to be registered, what it said is as far as I know you don't have to hit the threshold to be able to charge vat, you could turn over 30 k , register and still charge vat

Aye, just did a quick glance of your post. Yes you can do voluntary vat registration but why you would is beyond me

 

[hammers4spanner]

https://www.gov.uk/vat-businesses/how-vat-works
You cannot charge vat unless you are vat registered

In theory no but if your like me then you make it up as you go along

 

[stussy]

There are all sorts of incentives for being VAT registered.

 

[lame plumber]

There are all sorts of incentives for being VAT registered.

and...........

 

[Irish]

and...........

...................?

 

[lame plumber]

...................?

just wondering what the incentives were, I know your Irish, it's difficult, but c'mon, flip to the front man

 

[stussy]

You can claim the VAT back on goods and products bought for your business, such as Vehicles, tools etc

 

[lame plumber]

against most domestic customers hating the fact you wack another 20% on your labour and the 20% on the 20% you put on materials which wacks up your bill. I did some calcs with my accountant and it can really hurt you unless you drop your hourly rate such that you arent increasing your prices over what you currently charge and there was b all difference in actual income once everything was taken into account, accept the imbuggerance of filling in quarterly returns and being inspected.

Its only worth hitting the vat side if the bulk of your work is commercial, then you have customers who arent losing the 20% and can also claim it back.

 

[Deleted member 64964]

how do you hit the vat threshhold on those rates, its been a long while I charged that hourly figure. By the way twice my hourly rate for the first hour.

I run a team of 13 plumbers/engineers

We also charge 30% on all materials, do you add anything to materials?

 

[stussy]

against most domestic customers hating the fact you wack another 20% on your labour and the 20% on the 20% you put on materials which wacks up your bill. I did some calcs with my accountant and it can really hurt you unless you drop your hourly rate such that you arent increasing your prices over what you currently charge and there was b all difference in actual income once everything was taken into account, accept the imbuggerance of filling in quarterly returns and being inspected.

Its only worth hitting the vat side if the bulk of your work is commercial, then you have customers who arent losing the 20% and can also claim it back.

Maybe for yourself, but for others in different circumstances, it might not.

 

[lame plumber]

if your running 13 lads I am stunned at your hourly rates, only my opinion but Bournmouth is a darn sight richer than N devon and only the lads in rust buckets are charging below 25 an hour

 

[Deleted member 64964]

how do you hit the vat threshhold on those rates, its been a long while I charged that hourly figure. By the way twice my hourly rate for the first hour.

I personally only do servicing, breakdowns and GSIs, so I rarely go over an hour but I can fit in 6 to 8 jobs a day on average.

 

[Deleted member 64964]

if your running 13 lads I am stunned at your hourly rates, only my opinion but Bournmouth is a darn sight richer than N devon and only the lads in rust buckets are charging below 25 an hour

would you pm me your rates just out of interest?

 

[lame plumber]

would you pm me your rates just out of interest?

they are on my website, 3 years out of date though havent had time to update, they will be tidied up a bit and simplified soon

 

[Deleted member 64964]

they are on my website, 3 years out of date though havent had time to update, they will be tidied up a bit and simplified soon

Nice I like your breakdown of prices.

We need to look at ours to be honest they have been that for a while now.

 

[lame plumber]

check out pimlico plumbers prices and rate down accordingly

 

[Deleted member 64964]

check out pimlico plumbers prices and rate down accordingly

Yeah I've looked before lol nice rates!

 

[Millsy 82]

To be quite honest I can't see how anybody can be under the vat threshold without taking a lot of cash. Unless out don't buy materials. I'm only in my first year and not busy really but I am halfway there, if you do a couple of boiler changes a month your looking 30k at least unless your really cheap then you have all the other jobs as well.

 

[Deleted member 64964]

To be quite honest I can't see how anybody can be under the vat threshold without taking a lot of cash. Unless out don't buy materials. I'm only in my first year and not busy really but I am halfway there, if you do a couple of boiler changes a month your looking 30k at least unless your really cheap then you have all the other jobs as well.

Your right it's not that difficult to hit the threshold

 

[hammers4spanner]

Have done a lot of commercial work and now mainly domestic , the players in commercial won't even look to see if your VAT or not its just not considered.

However in domestic works people simply don't like paying that extra 20% down here i have been asked many a time if i am VAT reg if i am they will get someone who isn't.

And its incredibly easy in domestic to stay away from VAT threshold in domestics they pay for big materials simples . Them you can disguise your hourly rate and crank it up more so you don't loose out on your material mark up .

Its a doodle just bought a £500 drill via a cust without them knowing tis easy peasy

 

[Taffman]

charge per job

 

[Taffman]

Easy to difficult

 

[JWLPlumbing]

Snap, I usually do too - It was just general question