Consultancy rate... No idea where to start!

We baulk at paying £1500 a day for system specialists, but then pay it anyway as they're the only ones with the specialist knowledge.

If you are literally the only person with the knowledge then I would expect that this sort of ballpark figure that you should be looking at.
 
Jokester said:
We baulk at paying £1500 a day for system specialists, but then pay it anyway as they're the only ones with the specialist knowledge.

If you are literally the only person with the knowledge then I would expect that this sort of ballpark figure that you should be looking at.
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I agree, but it takes balls of steel for someone not too confident (or maybe a little young), with just a few years under their belt, to look some client in a big fancy suit dead in the eye and effectively say 'I want £360,000 per year mate - take it or leave it'

..

I've been contracting for 15 years and it'd make me feel embarrassed even asking for such a mental sum even if I thought I maybe could get it. Perhaps that's my weakness!

Wow, £1500 a day, can you imagine it. It'd be Life changing for me even if I just got 6 months outta it ....
 
Based on what our mob are charged at I'd say...

If you're just good I'd go for £1200/day (minimum).
If you're expert or their only hope I'd go for £1500+/day (minimum).
 
The problem is he knows the one thing specifically.
A true consultant that earns £1k+ a day does more than know one thing.
Remember there is no position for a perm head, so they aren't goig to want to pay out too much in total for his services.
I really can't see him getting over £600 a day
 
Well it's then a question of how much does it cost this company if they don't use his services? Do they make do or do they go as far as replacing the system.
 
britboy4321 said:
And Burns .. do your company pay you £52K permie wage (or something) and say they 'can't afford any more'? Hoho .. :( The day I found out my daily (and I was on 22K a year permie wage for a 'consultancy') was the day I went contracting...
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Near enough what I make. I don't spend all day doing consultancey though, I seem to do a lot of general IT lackying at the moment as well so I'm more or less happy.
 
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From my experience of consulting, all be it in a different sector, rates vary depending on the work duration. If for the odd days work as and when required and to do a very specific and specialist task then the rates are very high, if its for a few weeks continuous work then the rates are lower and for a few months continuous work the rates are lower again. My book out rates were £1000, £600 & £450 a day respectively.

Not knowing anything about accounting systems how likely is it that some one can have an almost unique knowledge?
 
OP how will you get in contact with them with the amount? Although they say they want you to say the first sum I'd suggest getting them to set a level first, that way you can quadruple it and try and get somewhere in between.

The worst thing you can do is say a rate and them go "deal" without any haggling, just means you went way under your worth... :(
 
Westyfield2 said:
Based on what our mob are charged at I'd say...

If you're just good I'd go for £1200/day (minimum).
If you're expert or their only hope I'd go for £1500+/day (minimum).
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what a company charges for its own consultants and what you as an individual can charge as a contractor are very different

take what your company charges you out for and halve it - then you've got a more realistic idea of what you'll earn as a contractor
 
dowie said:
what a company charges for its own consultants and what you as an individual can charge as a contractor are very different

take what your company charges you out for and halve it - then you've got a more realistic idea of what you'll earn as a contractor
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They don't in my industry, the price I'm hired out at by my company is the pretty much the same as what a direct contractor gets. Just the contractor pockets the lot minus taxes.
 
philstanbridge said:
If it was me, I'd ask between £300 and £400 per day. Seems more than reasonable if you've got the market sown up.
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There's being reasonable and there's being taken for a mug. If it really is that sweet a position, £300 would be a very low rate to ask for. That's only £72k a year (providing you work every day, which is unlikely)
 
OP
when you say consulting
Exactly what will you be planning to do for them?
How long will it take?
Are you involved in any sort of training of staff?
How many people in their team will be using this software you have 3yrs experience in?
Have they any experience at all with it?


With agencies suggesting £20-30 an hour, I wonder if the word Consulting is remotely appropraite here, either we've all got the wrong end of the stick, or the agencies you've contacted clearly have.
A teacher earns £20 an hour....
 
Lloyds Insurance you say? Seeing as they can't afford to keep the office I work at open for more than another 18 months I'd be aiming around £8.59p/h :(
 
Hikari Kisugi said:
OP
when you say consulting
Exactly what will you be planning to do for them?
How long will it take?
Are you involved in any sort of training of staff?
How many people in their team will be using this software you have 3yrs experience in?
Have they any experience at all with it?


With agencies suggesting £20-30 an hour, I wonder if the word Consulting is remotely appropraite here, either we've all got the wrong end of the stick, or the agencies you've contacted clearly have.
A teacher earns £20 an hour....
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Planning the setup alongside their I.T dept. Providing hands on training to their finance team (more than likely only 2/3 people however will be using this particular software as is for a specific agency within their control). Assisting the documentation of software for procedure purposes.

Probably take a couple of months (considering likely to be only 1 day a week... I do still have a permanent position elsewhere afterall).

As above, will be training a small section of the finance dept.

They have next to zero knowledge of the system... i.e. they are not even sure how to correctly input into the general ledger :eek:
 
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