Charging your clients by their credit card.....

[J-Luv]

i am automatically billing two clients for web hosting every month, i got their signatures on paper for paying for the website i designed for them but i didnt mention web hosting although they agreed to it.

should i make something in writing and have clients sign it? or is it not a big deal?

[GMF ™]

just to be on the right side i would have them to sign the papers. depends on how its set up .

[danthomas]

I would definately get something signed, even if its not official it'd be more official than a good ol 'gentlemans agreement'. You should also consider things such as length of agreement, change of service, cancelling etc.

[J-Luv]

great point, i'll add that in tonight but how long is the standard hosting agreement? until they cancel or what?

[Loyal Rogue]

The "standard" hosting agreement is yearly.
I would personally like to have money coming in every month, but it's alot less work (and processing fees) to bill once a year.

I agree that a contract is in order.
It should definitely state any early cancellation penalties as well as a provision for the cost of upgrading to a larger package before the year is up, as was mentioned above.

We don't use anything fancy, just a proposal/invoice that the client signs and keeps a copy.

[J-Luv]

great info, i'll get working on this tonight! so in your experience do u think billing quarterly can be a pain as well as monthly?

[Loyal Rogue]

I guess that depends on how many clients/statements you are planning to send out every quarter and how much your processing fees are on your merchant account.

By billing once a year instead of monthly, we save $3.30 per client in processing fees.
I know that doesn't sound like much but it starts to add up as you get more accounts.
Plus, the one thing I have a hard time getting the wife to understand is that your time is worth $$$.
How much time are you saving on "office clerk duties" by billing less often?
Depends on how many statements you have to prepare and mail/email out.

Nothing says you can't start on a quarterly basis and change it at a later date if you decide it's too much hassle.

[J-Luv]

great advice. thanks a lot!

[danthomas]

We stagger our recurring charges, E.g. if you pay for a years hosting it'll cost you 100 whatevers or you can pay 10 whatevers per month for 12 months, make sure the extra they pay covers extra admin costs. Gives them the option then.

[OddDog]

nice point danthomas, i think thats what i am gonna do