What is standard in invoicing for fractions of an hour?

[Anonymous]

I just started a new weekend nanny job and have been asked to submit weekly invoices. What is standard procedure in billing or paying for an hour's fraction? Do you pay/bill by the quarter hour or half hour and do you round up or down?


Thank you in advance.

[Anonymous]

Down to the nearest half hour if you actually worked.

Never bill for "chatting" with the parents and talking about your charge.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely wrong, PP. Bill up to the nearest 1/4 and include transition time in the billing. Spending 10 minutes to tell you about your child's day is part of my job, not a pleasantry, and it will be charged for accordingly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely wrong, PP. Bill up to the nearest 1/4 and include transition time in the billing. Spending 10 minutes to tell you about your child's day is part of my job, not a pleasantry, and it will be charged for accordingly.

You don't bill for that time, if you are too stuck up to chat with your employers then tell them that and draw that line in the sane early. Be an adult and say "I need to leave at 6:00pm exactly, we can't chat unless you want to relieve me earlier." Make it clear your intentions and let them decide if they want to pay for that time to chat, don't just hang around and exchange pleasantries and then send them an invoice. That's a sure way to breed ill-will.

Same thing with rounding up. Just because you stayed until 6:02 doesn't mean they owe you an extra 15 minutes of pay. Again, if you wanted to be out of there by 6:00 then ACT LIKE AN ADULT and tell them you have to go. The only exception is if they are physically late and you can't just leave the child unattended, then of course bill for that time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Down to the nearest half hour if you actually worked.

Never bill for "chatting" with the parents and talking about your charge.

Ridiculous. If parr,t wants to chat for 15 minutes, you charge.

[Anonymous]

You need to discuss it with the family to see their preference. I do quarter hour increments. Rounded up. If it's 5:31/5:32, I won't round to 5:45.

Disagree with the PP. If I'm talking about my charge, I can't leave. That's time I can't schedule to do other things. I arrive a few minutes before work to get settled, so I expect to be able to leave within a minute or two of my end time, or get paid for the additional time.
It isn't a situation where I'm tricking them into paying more -- it's in my contract.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You need to discuss it with the family to see their preference. I do quarter hour increments. Rounded up. If it's 5:31/5:32, I won't round to 5:45.

Disagree with the PP. If I'm talking about my charge, I can't leave. That's time I can't schedule to do other things. I arrive a few minutes before work to get settled, so I expect to be able to leave within a minute or two of my end time, or get paid for the additional time.
It isn't a situation where I'm tricking them into paying more -- it's in my contract.

Then you don't say rounded up, you say rounded to the nearest. Rounding up means rounding up to 5:45 from 5:32.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just started a new weekend nanny job and have been asked to submit weekly invoices. What is standard procedure in billing or paying for an hour's fraction? Do you pay/bill by the quarter hour or half hour and do you round up or down?


Thank you in advance.

What rate are they paying you OP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just started a new weekend nanny job and have been asked to submit weekly invoices. What is standard procedure in billing or paying for an hour's fraction? Do you pay/bill by the quarter hour or half hour and do you round up or down?


Thank you in advance.

What rate are they paying you OP?

Why does that matter? The principle is still the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just started a new weekend nanny job and have been asked to submit weekly invoices. What is standard procedure in billing or paying for an hour's fraction? Do you pay/bill by the quarter hour or half hour and do you round up or down?


Thank you in advance.

What rate are they paying you OP?

Why does that matter? The principle is still the same.

Because a professional making $24 an hour doesn't round up and charge for chatting, but also probably doesn't have to keep track of their own hours for their employer. I just wanted to confirm if OP is making like $12/hr because then I would suggest to her to charge for every 15 minutes and be really strict about the hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just started a new weekend nanny job and have been asked to submit weekly invoices. What is standard procedure in billing or paying for an hour's fraction? Do you pay/bill by the quarter hour or half hour and do you round up or down?


Thank you in advance.

What rate are they paying you OP?

Why does that matter? The principle is still the same.

Because a professional making $24 an hour doesn't round up and charge for chatting, but also probably doesn't have to keep track of their own hours for their employer. I just wanted to confirm if OP is making like $12/hr because then I would suggest to her to charge for every 15 minutes and be really strict about the hours.

I make $21 an hour and always invoice my employer. It is the situation we set up that works best for us.

Anyway, OP, I generally round to the closest half hour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just started a new weekend nanny job and have been asked to submit weekly invoices. What is standard procedure in billing or paying for an hour's fraction? Do you pay/bill by the quarter hour or half hour and do you round up or down?


Thank you in advance.

What rate are they paying you OP?

Why does that matter? The principle is still the same.

Because a professional making $24 an hour doesn't round up and charge for chatting, but also probably doesn't have to keep track of their own hours for their employer. I just wanted to confirm if OP is making like $12/hr because then I would suggest to her to charge for every 15 minutes and be really strict about the hours.

I make $21 an hour and always invoice my employer. It is the situation we set up that works best for us.

Anyway, OP, I generally round to the closest half hour.

AND I have always charged for the hand-off and debriefing with the parents - that is part of my job and I get paid for doing my job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just started a new weekend nanny job and have been asked to submit weekly invoices. What is standard procedure in billing or paying for an hour's fraction? Do you pay/bill by the quarter hour or half hour and do you round up or down?


Thank you in advance.

What rate are they paying you OP?

Why does that matter? The principle is still the same.

Because a professional making $24 an hour doesn't round up and charge for chatting, but also probably doesn't have to keep track of their own hours for their employer. I just wanted to confirm if OP is making like $12/hr because then I would suggest to her to charge for every 15 minutes and be really strict about the hours.

I make $21 an hour and always invoice my employer. It is the situation we set up that works best for us.

Anyway, OP, I generally round to the closest half hour.

AND I have always charged for the hand-off and debriefing with the parents - that is part of my job and I get paid for doing my job.

I love when nannies say "debriefing" like it's some kind of military exercise lol. "Little Larla had a huge poop today and we went to the library, she giggled a lot during the story. See you tomorrow!" Takes 30 seconds and you don't deserve to get paid extra for that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just started a new weekend nanny job and have been asked to submit weekly invoices. What is standard procedure in billing or paying for an hour's fraction? Do you pay/bill by the quarter hour or half hour and do you round up or down?


Thank you in advance.

What rate are they paying you OP?

Why does that matter? The principle is still the same.

Because a professional making $24 an hour doesn't round up and charge for chatting, but also probably doesn't have to keep track of their own hours for their employer. I just wanted to confirm if OP is making like $12/hr because then I would suggest to her to charge for every 15 minutes and be really strict about the hours.

I make $21 an hour and always invoice my employer. It is the situation we set up that works best for us.

Anyway, OP, I generally round to the closest half hour.

AND I have always charged for the hand-off and debriefing with the parents - that is part of my job and I get paid for doing my job.

I love when nannies say "debriefing" like it's some kind of military exercise lol. "Little Larla had a huge poop today and we went to the library, she giggled a lot during the story. See you tomorrow!" Takes 30 seconds and you don't deserve to get paid extra for that.

Then you don't deserve to hear it. Trust me, I would be more than happy to have you walk in the door and I say good bye to Larla and leave. I already know what she did, what she ate and what she pooped today - does nothing for me to repeat what I already know.

[Anonymous]

OP here - So there is no consensus on invoicing/payment for fractions of hours?