Talking to my dentist about his billing software changed how I see my own rates

I was at my checkup in Portland last week and my dentist mentioned he pays a flat $300 a month for his practice management software, no matter how many patients he sees. It made me realize I was still charging hourly for some admin tasks that take the same time every month, like sending invoices. I switched two clients to a small monthly fee for that work and it's already less stressful. How do you handle billing for the boring, repeat stuff?

2 comments

2 Comments

paulperry11d ago

Yeah, that part about the mental load being worse than the work is so true. I used to track every single email for a client, and just stopping that and making it a set monthly thing was a game changer. It felt like I got time back just from not having to write it down and add it up. My brain just treats it as a done deal now, and I can focus on the actual work that changes from month to month.

ray_king11d ago

Honestly, I'm a bit slow on the uptake with this stuff. I was still billing by the hour for monthly reports that took me the same fifteen minutes every single time. Felt like a real genius when I finally switched to a flat fee, just one less thing to clock in and out of mentally. It's not even about the money, it's about not having to think about it. That mental load was worse than the actual work.