Time and Billing Procedures:

Good Service Doesn't Cost...It Pays !

I bill in fifteen minute increments:

From the time I arrive at your building to the time I leave your building, with a minimum charge of one hour. I do bill for the time it takes me to set up my equipment, pack up my equipment before I leave. I also bill for time spent in dealing with circumstances where access to a home, office or business takes a long time due to security, or in cases where I must park several blocks from your home, office or business.

I must bill for my time while at a customer's home, office or business:

Whether cleaning an aquarium, or discussing the aquarium with the customer. I am  available to answer your aquarium questions free of charge when I'm in the store. 

Keep in mind that you are paying for my time while I'm in your home, office or business even if I'm only discussing the aquarium with you.

I have gone to great lengths to ensure accuracy in my billing:

I want to be as fair as possible. I'm only human and I occasionally make mistakes. I have built in safeguards to make sure you do not pay for the time it takes me to correct my mistakes when I'm cleaning or installing your aquarium.

I calculate my billed time as follows:

When I arrives at your home, office or business:

that's when I "TIME IN" on your aquarium service. This is the time I begin billing you for my services.

After I have packed up my equipment:

and  ready to leave your home, office or business,  This is the "TIME OUT" of your aquarium maintenance service. This is the time I stop billing you for my services.

To calculate your billed time:

I subtract the "TIME OUT" from the "TIME IN" from my data log, and using fifteen minute increments to the closest time in your favor, I obtain the time to be billed for the aquarium maintenance service.

I maintain a database for each of my customer:

that shows the average time that it takes to service a customer's aquarium, and I compare the billable time it took to service the aquarium with the average time it has taken to do aquarium maintenance in the past.

If there is a discrepancy between the actual and average times:

indicating the job took longer than usual, I then look at the notes and comments that I recorded on the service sheet to see what problems or circumstances, if any, accounted for the increased time.

If the increase in time was due to something I did:

For example: spilling water and cleaning it up, I subtract the extra time from the billable time. If the increase in time was due to some factor I had no control over or due to a mistake made by a customer, like: over feeding, medicating an aquarium, slow water pressure or drains, installing a new filter, or over stocking the aquarium with fish, I add the additional time to the billable time.