Large job with lots of repetition - how to charge? Thread poster: Libero_Lang_Lab
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I\'ve been asked to quote on a largish job - the main part of which is two manuals coming in at around 40,000 words. That\'s straight forward enough. But also with the job are some certificates. There are two standard documents (I\'ve not actually seen them yet) each around 2000 words. Again straightforward enough. The trick bit is that there are several thousand different products, each of which needs to have it\'s own version of one of the two certificates. So in each of several thousand cases... See more I\'ve been asked to quote on a largish job - the main part of which is two manuals coming in at around 40,000 words. That\'s straight forward enough. But also with the job are some certificates. There are two standard documents (I\'ve not actually seen them yet) each around 2000 words. Again straightforward enough. The trick bit is that there are several thousand different products, each of which needs to have it\'s own version of one of the two certificates. So in each of several thousand cases, the certificate will have to be tailored throughout. It could be fairly simple, using a CAT tool, or slightly more complex, not sure yet. But in general I\'m undcertain how to calculate the rate for this job. 4000 certificates x 2000 is what - 8 million words...
Any clues or suggestions as to how to calculate the rate so as to be fair to all parties involved would be greatly appreciated!
Dan ▲ Collapse
| | | | Dave Greatrix 
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:34
Dutch to English
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| I am sure the ........ | Apr 15, 2003 |
client has a vision of how they expect to pay for this. Ask them, you may get a pleasant surprise. Anyway if you ask for their opinion, you then have two choices take the job on, or refuse it. Remember also, that these large jobs can be a pain, as your bread and butter clients often have to take the back seat for some months, forcing them to look elsewhere.
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It\'s hard to say without the specifics, but maybe you can charge per word/line for the manuals and then hourly for \"adapting\" the certificates, especially if it\'s a CAT tool job. I prefer hourly for picky changes - counting that sort of thing is usually a PITA!
| | | | | I made good experiences... | Apr 15, 2003 |
by breaking rigid calculation rules and simply explaining which effort it would take me and how much I would charge accordingly. 
And don\'t forget to recommend the additional steps of proofreading and finishing for marketing. 
The client will probably think them to be not necessary, but nevertheless you can get rid of a piece of responsibility this way ![]() ... See more
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Eva Blanar
Hungary
Local time: 02:34
English to Hungarian
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| A master document? | Apr 16, 2003 |
You might perhaps prepare two master documents for the certificates, with fields inserted: it is not complicated in Word at all. In this case, the fields will be automatically set for printing - or saving to a file - and the data for these fields(product names, numbers etc.) can be provided in a separate document: a clear case to calculate the number of words, plus you might charge some extra fee for the trouble. Usually I use a table format for the purpose, where the column headings are the... See more You might perhaps prepare two master documents for the certificates, with fields inserted: it is not complicated in Word at all. In this case, the fields will be automatically set for printing - or saving to a file - and the data for these fields(product names, numbers etc.) can be provided in a separate document: a clear case to calculate the number of words, plus you might charge some extra fee for the trouble. Usually I use a table format for the purpose, where the column headings are the field names: it\'s very convenient! ▲ Collapse
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