How Much Should I Charge For Typing?

Zoetoes

Hi

I seen an ad for typing from home and phone the bloke, quantity surveyor working from home himself, and he asked what rate I charge.

I said I hadn't thought about it as I assumed he would have set a rate.

I'm not sure how much typing is involved as he has only just started off and doesn't know yet himself.

Obviously it's no good charging by the hour as it depends on typing speed, should I charge per word? per page? what?

Haven't got a clue!

real1314

you could charge per word - that would be easy to calculate based on an average wpm?

so if you think you should get £10 per hour and you can do 60 wpm then it'd be 3600 words per hour = roughly 28p per 100 words.

I've no idea how much typists get paid / what the typical wpm is?

Astaroth

Subject to where in the country you are I would say that £8-£10 would be reasonable assuming you are a touch typer. It may be worth considering charging this rate and slightly reducing the time taken aspect if you are slower... if I wanted a document typed that should take someone 1 hr but the person doing it was exceptionally slow and was going to take 5 hrs but they were only charging £2 per hour, even though it was the same cost I would be concerned... obviously dont cut the hours by too much otherwise you may get "emergency" docs to type up within the hour which you will not be able to do.

Zoetoes

Thanks for the replies.

I live on the Wirral and have word processing quals at level 3, currently on diploma, so can type fairly quickly.

I think the per word idea is probably best, although will have to count the words everytime!

I don't actually how many wpm I can do either so will have to time myself!

kathyd_2

zoeleigh wrote:

Thanks for the replies.

I live on the Wirral and have word processing quals at level 3, currently on diploma, so can type fairly quickly.

I think the per word idea is probably best, although will have to count the words everytime!

I don't actually how many wpm I can do either so will have to time myself!

This is how it used to be charged years ago.

If you count the words say on the first 10 lines and use this as an average guide for the amount of words every 10 lines - you won't be too far wrong - what you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabout - and it saves counting every single word, eg 10 lines = 200 words; 20 lines = 400 and so on (although computers are equipped to do the counting for you these days.)

Have you also considered how you will charge for doing spreadsheets and setting out of work if required?

tranmererovers

If you are using Microsoft Word then there is a 'WordCount' under tools which will calculate it for you.

3plus1

In my area, the going rate for typists would be anything between £5.50 and £7 per hour.

I do 86wpm, i.e. 5160 words per hour. 15p per 100 words would net me £7.74/h, which isn't bad. But if you think about it, a 2000 word report would only cost £3, and I don't know if I would want to type up a 2000 word report for only £3! More like a fiver. So I would have to charge 25p per 100 words to get this.

When negociating, I would ask for 25p per 100 words, but be prepared to go down to 15p. That's just me though. You need to figure out your typing speed, make a few similar calculations, and decide what you would be happy with. Take it from there.

It's standard practice to type up in Word these days, and it comes with an inbuilt word count, so it would be really easy for you to work out how much to invoice the QS for. I think it would be far more normal to charge per X number of words, than per hour. Makes it much easier for the other party to budget for your services.

(By the way, there are loads of free typing tests online. Just ask Google.:))

mirandab

If it helps I work as a legal secretary and get paid £1.40 per page, sometimes the work can only be a few sentences othertimes could be almost a page but I suppose it averages itself out over time.

HTH
Miranda

new_home_worker

real1314 wrote: »

you could charge per word - that would be easy to calculate based on an average wpm?

so if you think you should get £10 per hour and you can do 60 wpm then it'd be 3600 words per hour = roughly 28p per 100 words.

I've no idea how much typists get paid / what the typical wpm is?

Thanks to the ideas in the messages above. I too have decided to start word processing from home for various reasons after working in Administration for nearly 20 years.

Besides wondering how to charge and what to charge there are other things to take into consideration eg;
1. Do I pick up the material to be word processed or do I let the client deliver it to me?
2. Do I set up a Business Bank account or do I do it as a side line?
3. Do the charges include ink etc?
4. Do I charge VAT as I will have to pay VAT when purchasing the printer ink, paper etc?

I am trying to design some business cards - where do I start distributing and how do I choose my target market?

These and many more questions are going through my head.

regards

N

Weirdlittleman

new_home_worker wrote: »

Thanks to the ideas in the messages above. I too have decided to start word processing from home for various reasons after working in Administration for nearly 20 years.

Besides wondering how to charge and what to charge there are other things to take into consideration eg;
1. Do I pick up the material to be word processed or do I let the client deliver it to me?
2. Do I set up a Business Bank account or do I do it as a side line?
3. Do the charges include ink etc?
4. Do I charge VAT as I will have to pay VAT when purchasing the printer ink, paper etc?

I am trying to design some business cards - where do I start distributing and how do I choose my target market?

These and many more questions are going through my head.

regards

N

Oh dear
Are you seriously suggesting registering for VAT:rotfl:

Horace

N - get yourself some free advice from business link on how to set up a business, they offer free courses too in sales & marketing etc which you will find useful.

I am not sure how my friend gets her work as she is a virtual assistant - I think her clients send her work over the internet but I know that she actually goes and sits in some clients' offices during the week as well.