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Subject:Re: Contracting moral dilemma From:Dan Azlin <dazlin -at- SHORE -dot- NET> Date:Sun, 9 Feb 1997 23:40:44 -0500
David,
It is rare indeed to hear someone offer to give money back just because the
job turned out to be easier than you thought it would be. In fact, it is an
issue for every job that we bid, fixed rate or hourly. You are lucky that to
estimated on the high side because most bids tend to work out on the low side
when all is said and done.
My opinion is _no_, you do not need to return the money. Instead, spend the
extra time doing a bid more researching, more polishing, something to make the
fruits of your efforts better than they might have been if there had been
_more_
text than you thought. And, next time, you will have a little more
experience
with the source material from this client to help you zero in on a more
accurate
price and the next contract.
Remember, bids are a form of estimation that we hope will be accurate to the
reality of the job, but rarely are.
Enjoy the prosperity.
-Dan Azlin
--------------------
At 08:03 2-5-97 -0800, David Castro (aka The Tech Writer) wrote:
>I have successfully bid on a fixed-price contract. I signed the contract
>yesterday, and will receive the first payment today. I started working
>on the files last night, and realized that there really is a lot less
>text than I was thinking when I bid the contract (a non-professional
>actually used sufficient white space!).
>
>My potential dilemma is: what if I spend a lot less hours on the project
>than I calculated for my bid? It is a fixed bid, but I still based it on
>how many hours I thought it would take. If I go over the amount of time I
>estimated, I certainly wouldn't expect to be paid more...but should I
>return whatever portion that I didn't work for?
>
>Another contract will follow this one. Should I just adjust the other
>contract to offset any unworked-for income on this one?
>
>-David Castro
> techwrtr -at- crl -dot- com
>http://www.crl.com/~techwrtr/
Dan Azlin ** WORD ENGINEERS, Technical Writing & Publishing **
dazlin -at- shore -dot- net 7 Myrtle Street
ph/fax 508-921-8908 Beverly, MA 01915-3315
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