How much should I charge per hour?

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How much should I charge per hour?

Greg Snidow

SSCoach

Points: 16108
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May 4, 2012 at 10:49 am

#261036

Greetings all. At my old job (that I left a year ago) I ran a couple of SQL Server 2008 databases. After I left they did not get anyone able to maintain them. Now they need to bring in someone to do some work, so I offered to come in for a side job and do what ever they need done with respect to repairing the damage that happened after I left. My old boss said that he would like to do that, but that I would have to offer my services through one of their existing contractors. My questions are, how much should the contractor bill my old boss, and how much should I be getting paid per hour? I guess I really don't care what they bill, only how much I should be getting gross per hour. If it matters, I live in Richmond, VA. Thank you.
Greg
Greg
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The glass is at one half capacity: nothing more, nothing less.

Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)

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Lynn Pettis SSC Guru Points: 442467 More actions · Answer 1

It depends. What were you making when you were there? How much do you think they will pay?

Geoff A SSChampion Points: 11511 More actions · Answer 2

Geoff A

SSChampion

Points: 11511

May 4, 2012 at 12:17 pm

#1483711

$55 an hour W2 or $75 an hour 1099.

Matt Miller (4) SSC Guru Points: 124210 More actions · Answer 3

Keep in mind that you will likely end up owing "self-employment taxes" on anything you do, usually above and beyond usual taxes.

You might care to take a read on what the IRS will expect:

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/selfemployed/index.html

VA will no doubt also want to tag you, so do a litte research on their revenue site.

A lot of questions come up which drive what to charge:

- is he planning on treating you as a true contractor? If so - you would need to work out with the firm contracting you whether you need to carry your own insurance (and which kinds), or whether the contracting firms plans on carrying that on you. Some of that gets VERY expensive.

- will there be some form of SLA expected? best clearly define what the boundaries are (speed of delivery, responsiveness, guarantee of work, expected hours of service).

- will this require you to be on-site only? If so - how many hours do you anticipate being there at a time? (lots of short visits tends to get expensive, especially with gas at almost $4)

- what is the prevailing rate for this in your area (check the paper or dice for local jobs/offers)

- if you basing your base on what you USED to make - don't forget to take into account the fact that they gave you benefits (which as a contractor you are providing for yourself).

This may sound like a lot of moving parts, but not ironing out the specifics ahead of time often leads to you getting mistreated in the long run. The worse would be to find him holding you liable for something (if it can't be fixed or you somehow make something worse), so don't skip checking on the insurance issue.

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Your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency on my part...unless you're my manager...or a director and above...or a really loud-spoken end-user..All right - what was my emergency again?

Greg Snidow SSCoach Points: 16108 More actions · Answer 4

Thank you all so much for the feedback. I did not realize there were so many things to consider.

Greg
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
The glass is at one half capacity: nothing more, nothing less.

Thomas Stringer SSCarpal Tunnel Points: 4038 More actions · Answer 5

Matt Miller (#4) (5/4/2012)
Keep in mind that you will likely end up owing "self-employment taxes" on anything you do, usually above and beyond usual taxes.
You might care to take a read on what the IRS will expect:
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/selfemployed/index.html
VA will no doubt also want to tag you, so do a litte research on their revenue site.
A lot of questions come up which drive what to charge:
- is he planning on treating you as a true contractor? If so - you would need to work out with the firm contracting you whether you need to carry your own insurance (and which kinds), or whether the contracting firms plans on carrying that on you. Some of that gets VERY expensive.
- will there be some form of SLA expected? best clearly define what the boundaries are (speed of delivery, responsiveness, guarantee of work, expected hours of service).
- will this require you to be on-site only? If so - how many hours do you anticipate being there at a time? (lots of short visits tends to get expensive, especially with gas at almost $4)
- what is the prevailing rate for this in your area (check the paper or dice for local jobs/offers)
- if you basing your base on what you USED to make - don't forget to take into account the fact that they gave you benefits (which as a contractor you are providing for yourself).
This may sound like a lot of moving parts, but not ironing out the specifics ahead of time often leads to you getting mistreated in the long run. The worse would be to find him holding you liable for something (if it can't be fixed or you somehow make something worse), so don't skip checking on the insurance issue.

Very detailed post, and definitely some great information.

Twitter: @SQLife
Email: sqlsalt(at)outlook(dot)com

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1004406 More actions · Answer 6

If you're worth your salt as a DBA or a Hybrid Application DBA, the Geoff A's recommendations are just about spot on.

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

Matt Miller (4) SSC Guru Points: 124210 More actions · Answer 7

Jeff Moden (5/5/2012)
If you're worth your salt as a DBA or a Hybrid Application DBA, the Geoff A's recommendations are just about spot on.

Agreed - as long as I don't have to carry a lot of additional E & O insurance, and that I have a fair amount of control over timing (I develop remotely and deliver completed packages of work, etc...). They also would get my "best effort" SLA (will look at it that day, but don't expect me to drop everything and run.)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency on my part...unless you're my manager...or a director and above...or a really loud-spoken end-user..All right - what was my emergency again?