x

Can we charge based on hourly use?

If our business model requires charges by houly rate (... $20 per hour at .3 hrs = $6.00 charge) where and how can we set this up.  Our currant invoicing software computates our total hourly billing this way, and upon multipal charges for different task requiring increses or decreces in time provides us a total for the hourly charges.   

 

The other itemised things such as materials, like nuts or bolts + markup and taxes are also computated and generated within the "Balance Due" total line.

 

any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

Tags (1)
42,044 Views
Message 1 of 62
Report
1 Best Answer
Alumni

Best Answer

Your best bet would be to grab a little desktop timer to track time, and then charge your customer by the hour.

 

 

 

If you need to charge by smaller time quantities than hours, you can select an option from the Precision dropdown:

 

 

It wouldn't be possible to automate this using the Square app or your Dashboard, @Serge1.

I hope this helps, but let me know if questions come up!

 

P.S. Welcome to the Seller Community 

Valentina
Community Moderator, Square
Sign in and click Mark as Best Answer if my reply answers your question.

View Best Answer >

37,011 Views
Message 53 of 62
Report
61 REPLIES 61

Just getting around to setting up my square.  I am trying out different methods for labor.  I have created a single item.  Called it Labor Rates, no Category at this time, and created 4 "Variations" with this item, they are as such:

 

1 Hour

3/4 Hour

1/2 Hour

1/4 Hour

 

This way for me is less tapping on my iphone.

 

i.e.  4 and 3/4 hours .. a qty of 4 of the 1 Hours + 1 qty of the 3/4 Hour

 

**

EDIT .. I'm not sure who this would show on a reciept.  But if it creates multiple line items, I would not like that. 

15,635 Views
Message 22 of 62
Report

We charge hourly rates for design work as well as editing, and sometimes we charge for 2.5 hours or 3.75 hours. We should be able to show that on the invoice and have the software create that calculation. Apparently we can't enter decimals and get a calculation. That needs to be fixed. So I don't want to bill a customer 2 hours @ $40 each and then 1 hour @ $20 each to get a total invoice of $100. That's confusing to the customer. Their contract with me is for $40 per hour or $50 per hour.

15,323 Views
Message 23 of 62
Report
Admin

Hey @Jhillman, welcome to the seller community and thanks for taking the time to share your experience with this as well.

 

I went to check on this request and, while we don't have any updates, I wanted to point out another option that would prevent confusion for the customer: create a variable-priced item. If you leave the price blank, you can determine the appropriate amount for the design or editing work, and add it at the time of the sale. I realize that this would require the additional step of calculating the hourly rate manually, but hope this helps.

 

Keep in touch as we'll circle back with any developments — please don't hesitate to let us know if you have any other questions!

️ Tom | he/him
Seller Community Manager | Square, Inc.
Find step-by-step help in our Support Center
15,310 Views
Message 24 of 62
Report

Dear Square,

 

Please add the ability to input decimals (to 3 decimal points, 0.000) to the QUANTITY field on invoices.

 

It's ridiculous that we can't easily show our customers that we spent .75 of an hour of our time, or that they bought 1.125 yards of fabric or 2.344 pounds of granola using the invoice feature.

 

I resort to inputting the full amount as the price, then explaining the math in the custom note.

 

Thank you!

15,291 Views
Message 25 of 62
Report

Square, please when will we get this simple fix?

14,958 Views
Message 26 of 62
Report
Alumni

Hi @AlanA - I don't have an ETA on if or when this feature will be available at this time, but the Point of Sale team is tracking feedback for it on this thread. We will make sure to announce if there are any changes.

Puka - She/They
Seller Community UX Designer
14,930 Views
Message 27 of 62
Report

Square, please add this simple feature of being able to use decimal points on an item such as an hourly labor rate. Thank you.

 

14,538 Views
Message 28 of 62
Report

Woot woot! Here it is May 2020 and I just found out that this functionality is now available when I set up items. Thanks for letting me charge in fractions of an hour!

12,510 Views
Message 29 of 62
Report

I identify with this SAME problem. 

I'll need to move to a different payment system if I cannot bill my clients by at least .25 hourly rates. I agree with others that this is ridiculaous and extrememly nearsighted by the square team to assume that only people wan to sell whole items (Note: America is a mostly Service industry in the 21st century, and services are not billed in only whole numbers)  

Please step your game up or others will surpase you fast. 😉

12,815 Views
Message 30 of 62
Report

I am currently running an automotive shop and I have the same problem. I have made a Labor category and under that category I have made numerous “variations” for 0.75, 0.50, 0.25 and per minute. This works but creates confusion amongst the customers. I find that I have to constantly tell the customer why there are more than one labor lines on their invoice. This should be a very simple fix to a problem that I see has been going on for years but Square refuses to fix it. 

 

Hope this helps

12,710 Views
Message 31 of 62
Report

Do I understand correctly; At this day, Square have'nt fix that point?
I'm using Square for my boutique. We are selling soap by the weight and I need to enter decimal quantities.

11,103 Views
Message 32 of 62
Report

Still not fixed. 

Hey Square people: is this on the list of improvments that your team is working on?

 

From my view, it seems strange that your tech team hasn't been able to implement use of decimal points in the units field. This limitation keeps me from recommending Square to others. I'm able to use a workaround, but I'm not going to suggest that to my clients who need a payment processor. 

11,090 Views
Message 33 of 62
Report
Square Community Moderator

Hi @kizis1 and @betty

 

Unfortunately there isn't much movement in regards to charging by decimal or fractional numbers. 

 

Check out Liors update in this existing thread for more details on the status of this feature request:

How are others that price by a decimal quantities working their charges?

10,907 Views
Message 34 of 62
Report

Honestly, I do not think they will ever add this feature because it would allow us to, essentually, program our own "Register Keys" -- like the days when we used analog registers. We actually had to manually program a tax chart one incriment at a time. Each year we received a tax chart and prior to using the register, the tax had to be programmed in. It's gruling and extreamly time consuming but you only had to do it once a year, uless the power went out. 🙂

Building an old fasion tax chart (incrimental time chart) will work. The reson square does not allow you to ad a decimal point or percentage markup is that it would result in makeing several of the 3rd party apps obsolite or less valuable and they would not be able to charge us the extra money for this basic service.  Unfortunately, I know just enouf to bypass it and not enough to write my own program that will interface with Square.

Sell time in unites. 1/4 hour 1/2 hour 10 minute or 5 minute intervals, make it work for how YOU do business. Trust me, they are not giving us the upgrade. This is the only way I can see ever bypassing the limited programing square provides with this.

10,088 Views
Message 35 of 62
Report

I just seen something yesterday about a beta program for this...

 

maybe a square employee can point to it....

9,917 Views
Message 36 of 62
Report
Admin

@Dugasmike It sounds like you noticed this thread in the US Seller Community. That beta is currently only for available to sellers located in the US (and using iOS devices).

 

We'll share any updates in this thread if this beta is extended to Canada - or when this feature is available to everyone! Thanks for your patience in the meantime! 

️ Helen
Seller Community Manager

9,902 Views
Message 37 of 62
Report

Please do. I currently bundle my labor with parts but would be nice to separate them for better tracking

9,896 Views
Message 38 of 62
Report

I’m noticing this was asked in 2017. It's 2022 and this still has not been fixed? I'm having the same issue. 

I'm invoicing as a consultant and it looks shady when I have to add a whole separate item of 30 minutes on a single invoice when the item above it says 5 hours. I should be able to add the .5 to my current hours. That seems redundant that this isn't an option. This alone makes me want to pick another invoicing software.

8,796 Views
Message 39 of 62
Report
Square Community Moderator

Hey @ZoulfulLLC, thanks for checking in. I understand that it might be difficult waiting for something to be built out, and might not seem like we are listening or even attempting to try and implement this feature.  We are monitoring this request and as soon as we have movement on this feature we will make sure to update this thread. I know is not ideal but thank you so much for sticking with us while we work to resolve this issue. 

MayaP
Square Community Moderator
Sign in and click Mark as Best Answer if my reply answers your question
8,751 Views
Message 40 of 62
Report

Uh, it works now? And has for quite a while.

 

I set my item to be the hourly price, then I can select a fraction of that as the quantity.

8,707 Views
Message 41 of 62
Report
Alumni

Hey @juchaker and @Yannstlo - thanks to both of you for making your first post to the 👥 community. 

Thanks for taking the time to chime in on this. I'll pass this feedback to our Product Team

12,908 Views
Message 42 of 62
Report