Time and Material Pricing in Service Companies:
Learning Objective of the Article:
- Define and explain time and material pricing.
- Calculate and use billing rates used in time and materials pricing.
Contents:
Definition and Explanation of Time and Materials Pricing:
Some companies–particularly in service industries– use a variation of cost plus pricing called time and material pricing. Under this method, two pricing rates are established–one based on direct labor time and other based on the cost of direct materials used. This pricing method is used in repair shops, in printing shops, and by many professionals such as physicians and dentists. The time and material rates are usually market determined. In other words, the rates are determined by the interplay of supply and demand and by competitive conditions in the industry. However, some companies set the rates using a process similar to the process followed in the absorption costing approach to cost plus pricing. In this case, the rates include allowances for selling, general and administrative expenses; other direct and indirect costs; and a desired profit. This page will show how the rates might be set using the cost-plus approach.
Time Component:
The time component is typically expressed as a rate per hour of labor. The rate is computed by adding together three elements:
- The direct costs of the employee, including salary and fringe benefits.
- A pro rata allowance for selling, general, and administrative expenses of the organization.
- An allowance for a desired profit per hour of employee time.
In some organizations (such as a repair shop), the same hourly rate will be charged regardless of which employee actually works on the job; in other organizations, the rate may vary by employee. For example, in a public accounting firm, the rate charged for a new assistant accountant’s time will generally be less than the rate charged for an experienced senior accountant or for a partner.
Material Component:
The material component is determined by adding a material loading charge to the invoice price of any materials used on the job. The material loading charge is designed to cover the costs of ordering, handling, and carrying materials in stock, plus a profit margin on the materials themselves.
Example of Time and Material Pricing:
To provide a numerical example of time and material pricing, consider the following:
Quality Auto Shop uses time and material pricing for all of its repair work. The following costs have been budgeted for the coming year:
| Repairs | Parts | |
| Mechanics’ wages | $300,000 | |
| Service manager–salary | 40,000 | |
| Parts manager–salary | $36,000 | |
| Clerical assistant–salary | 18,000 | 15,000 |
| Retirement and insurance–16% of salary and wages | 57,280 | 8,160 |
| Supplies | 720 | 540 |
| Utilities | 36,000 | 20,800 |
| Property taxes | 8,400 | 1,900 |
| Depreciation | 91,600 | 37,600 |
| Invoice cost of parts used | 400,000 | |
| Total budgeted cost |
The company expects to bill customers for 24,000 hours of repair time. A profit of $7 per hour of repair time is considered to be feasible, given the competitive conditions in the market. For parts, the competitive markup on the invoice cost of parts used is 15%.
The following schedule shows the calculation of the billing rate and the material loading charge to be used over the next year.
TIME AND MATERIALS PRICING
| Time Component: Repairs | Parts: Material Loading Charge | |||
| Total | Per Hour* | Total | Percent** | |
| Cost of mechanics’ time: | ||||
| Mechanics’ wages | $300,000 | |||
| Retirement and insurance (16% of wages) | 48,000 | |||
| ——– | ||||
| Total cost | 348,000 | $14.5 | ||
| For repairs–other cost of repair service. For parts–cost of ordering handling, and storing parts: | ||||
| Repairs service manager–salary | 40,000 | |||
| Parts manager salary | $36,000 | |||
| Clerical assistant salary | 18,000 | 15,000 | ||
| Retirement and insurance (16% of salaries) | 9,280 | 8,160 | ||
| Supplies | 720 | 540 | ||
| Utilities | 36,000 | 20,800 | ||
| Property taxes | 8,400 | 1,900 | ||
| Depreciation | 91,600 | 37,600 | ||
| ——– | ——— | |||
| Total cost | 204,000 | 8.50 | 120,000 | 30% |
| ——– | ——– | |||
| Desired profit: | ||||
| 24,000 hours × $7per hour | 168,000 | 7.00 | ||
| 15% × $400,000 | 60,000 | 15% | ||
| ——- | ——- | ——- | ——- | |
| Total amount to be billed | $720,000 | $30.00 | $180,000 | 45% |
| ====== | ===== | ====== | ==== | |
| *Based on 24,000 hours | ||||
| **Based on $400,000 invoice cost of parts. The charge for ordering, handling, and storing parts, for example, is computed as follows: $120,000 cost / $400,000 invoice cost = 30% | ||||
Note that the billing rate, or time component, is $30 per hour of repair time and the material loading charge is 45% of the invoice cost of parts used. Using these rates, a repair job that requires 4.5 hours of mechanics time and $200 in parts would be billed as follows:
| Labor time: 4.5 hours $30 per hour | $135 | |
| Parts used: | ||
| Invoice cost | $200 | |
| Material loading charge: 45% $200 | 90 | 290 |
| ——– | —— | |
| Total price of the job | $425 | |
|
===== |
Rather than using labor hours as the basis for calculating the time rate, a machine shop, a printing shop, or a similar organization might use machine-hours.
This method of setting prices is a variation of the absorption costing approach. As such, it is not surprising that is suffers from the same problem. Customers may not be willing to pay the rates that have been computed. If actual business is less that the forecasted 24,000 hours and $400,000 worth of parts, the profit objectives will not be met and the company may not even break even.
You may also be interested in other articles form “pricing products and services” chapter:
- Price Elasticity of Demand – Economists’ Approach to Pricing
- Absorption Costing Approach to Cost Plus Pricing
- Target Costing
- Time and Material Pricing in Service Companies
Jennifer edwards 
Rubab Ali 
Sana Ahmed