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Customer Support and Services Guide

OrderFlow Ltd.

Document Version: 4.2.4

Document Built: 2024-02-16

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Time Billing

Billing and Time Booking

Overview

Support and implementation services for customers are a big part of what we do, and we do need to charge for these services. Our policy for billing for work is governed by two principles: that it must be fair, and that it must be transparent.

In this chapter we describe the conditions under which work will be chargeable, and when charges will not apply. We also cover the mechanisms we have in place for obtaining approval for chargeable work. Finally, we describe how we book and invoice for time spent to ensure that the billing is transparent.

When is Work Chargeable?

Our approach to charging for work aims to reflect the degree to which our services add business value beyond that covered through the hosting and/or software licensing arrangements alone.

Customers should not be left that the feeling that they are 'paying twice' for services being offered; when they are charged for support and services, they should also have the sense that value is being provided in exchange.

Support

Support requests can be raised to cover all sorts of situations, many of which will result in chargeable work being carried out.

There are two notable situations in which support work will not be chargeable.

Software Bugs

If a problem is reported and this turns out to be due to a defect in the core software, then the support work undertaken to investigate and resolve the bug will not be billable.

The one exception is when the bug occurs in a part of the system developed as a bespoke feature for the customer concerned, and when the development of this feature was charged to the customer on a time spent rather than fixed price basis.

Note that support work done to address problems caused by the way the system has been configured is typically chargeable. Examples of this include problematic custom scripts and reports, and workflow configurations.

General Enquiries

We normally do not charge for general questions about how parts of the system work and can be used. However, questions that relate to the specifics of how features have been applied or could be applied for a particular customer's business requirements will typically lead to chargeable work.

Project Management

For some projects OrderFlow will charge for project management services.

Two scenarios where this is likely to occur are if OrderFlow is undertaking work to:

  • coordinate or manage the activities of third parties.
  • manage internally the delivery of a potentially complex program of work for a specific customer over a period.

Solution Requests

This type of work involves the request for configuration changes or new features to address specific problems.

We encourage our customers to be creative and proactive in exploring ways to use the software more effectively. Accordingly, we usually don't charge for answering general questions about how features could be applied.

We also very welcome feedback and feature suggestions that could be beneficial for the product and its users, so we won't charge for these kinds of interactions.

However, we do typically charge for detailed or specific responses to individual customer requirements, or for work undertaken to obtain a better understanding of these requirements. The design work that precedes the provision of a solution or development feature will typically be chargeable.

Bug Fixes

As with support, OrderFlow does not charge customers for fixes to defects in the core software product.

When the fix needs to be applied to a bespoke feature developed for that customer, for which the development was not charged on a fixed price basis, the bug fix may be chargeable.

Feature Development

Feature requests that we receive from customers normally fall into two categories:

  • customer-specific bespoke developments
  • roadmap features (that would reasonably be expected to be useful for multiple customers)

Customer-specific bespoke developments will typically be chargeable.

For roadmap feature requests, the situation is a little more complicated. If the customer wishes to expedite the feature, then some charges will be applied for a commitment to deliver that feature by a specified date. The customer will not be charged the development cost for features that are developed simply as part of the OrderFlow Roadmap, where no commitment is provided for the timing of the delivery of these features.

Fixed Price vs Time Spent Development

When quoting for chargeable development work, we usually give customers an estimate of the work on a time spent basis. We can also provide a fixed cost quote if requested.

We encourage customers requiring greater flexibility to allow us to bill on a time spent basis. Fixed cost development is more suitable for customers who have a more formal approach to the approval of chargeable work.

In both cases, OrderFlow will typically do chargeable design work to identify the development tasks and costs involved.

OrderFlow typically does not provide implementation work on a fixed price basis as the scope of the work often varies in ways that are outside of our control.

Project management and support work is always charged on a time spent basis.

Time Spent Development

If development is done on a time spent basis, the costs applied may vary from the original estimate. If the work is done more quickly than expected, the benefit is passed on to the customer. However, the customer also takes on the risk of receiving additional charges in the event of unexpected overruns. As described below, OrderFlow will inform the customer if it becomes clear that this is likely to happen.

If bugs are identified in work that was originally done on a time spent basis, any work done to resolve the bug will be chargeable if the bug is identified within ninety days of the functionality being used in a live environment.
If bugs are identified after the first ninety days, the work will not be charged.

Fixed Cost Development

For fixed price development, OrderFlow takes on the risk of a cost overrun by ensuring that work is delivered within an agreed budget.

We typically go through a more detailed design process for fixed price development work to ensure that the precise scope of the work required is fully understood and agreed beforehand.

Fixed cost development is normally charged on the basis of the estimated work involved, but with an additional 20% contingency charge to cover the risk of a cost overrun.

If bugs are identified in work done on a fixed cost basis, work done to resolve the bug will not be chargeable.

Obtaining Approval

Part of our commitment to transparency involves ensuring that we have approval from the customer for any chargeable work that is undertaken, so that the customer does not get any unpleasant surprises when receiving invoices.

For this we make sure to establish who has authority to approve chargeable work, and to ennsure that approval for chargeable work is obtained at the appropriate points.

Customer 'Approver' Role

At a very early stage in our interaction with a customer we will determine which users within the customer's organisation are entitled to provided approval for chargeable work.

The Two Hour Rule

Any request to the customer for approval for chargeable work will involve some project management overhead, and delay. For this reason, within the early stages of the implementation we normally suggest that we apply a two hour rule to new support requests

If chargeable work is expected to take two hours or less, it will be undertaken without specific approval being requested for the work involved.

The two hour figure may seem arbitrary - it can be changed on request - but in our view this time threshold does allow OrderFlow to be responsive while still giving the customer the control over approval of larger pieces of work.

For support requests, design and development work that is expected to exceed two hours, an estimate will be provided, and specific approval will be requested before the work is undertaken.

Ticket Management

When using the ticketing system, OrderFlow will use ticketing states to indicate that approval is being requested for work.

  • Design Approval Requested: if significant design work is required to arrive at an estimate for quoted work, OrderFlow will assign the ticket to the customer Approver with an appropriate comment, and move the ticket to the 'Design Approval Requested' state. The design work will only begin once the customer has given approval for this work, normally via a comment on the ticket.
  • Awaiting Approval: this state is used to indicate that approval is requested for development or implementation work. Once again, no work will start until the customer has given approval, at which time the state of the ticket is changed to 'Approved'.

Approval for Additional Work

When work is done on a time spent basis, and the amount of time taken is likely to exceed the original estimate provided, OrderFlow will notify the customer of this development. We'll also provide an estimate and request approval for the additional work involved, where possible identifying the cause(s) of the overrun.

In these case, the issue will be moved to the 'Awaiting Approval' state, and no further work will be done until the work is authorised by the appropriate contact within the customer organisation.

Time Booking

OrderFlow's system for time booking helps to ensure that charges to customers are applied in a transparent way.

All chargeable work is backed by individual time booking entries that are provided to the customer as part of the monthly invoice.

Each time entry has the following information:

  • the ticket against which the time is being booked
  • the type of activity (e.g. support, development, implementation, project management)
  • a comment describing the activity covered by the time booking

All non-billable time spent on customer tickets is also recorded, and provided with the invoice, although in this case for information purposes only.

Detailed reports of time booking for the current month are available with the upport portal.