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Counting Copies

We print out a large number of color outputs from our two color printers (Epson Stylus Color 3000) each month and attempt to bill them to the clients.

Currently, we have handwritten logs by each printer where the artists are supposed to write down the job number and quantity of outputs they have printed. Needless to say, this is a very unreliable system and we are unable to bill a large amount of copies run each month.

How are other agencies handling this issue? I have been unable to find any software or hardware which can be added to the printers. Any suggestions?

I greatly appreciate any input you can provide.

Catherine Colangelo
The Phillips Agency

I stopped billing clients for 'incidentals' long ago. Tracking the expenses, then entering them into C&P, took too much time. Artists were notorious for not logging output, and dogging them was futile. An administrator spent the better part of a day finding logs and entering expenses. Then determining a 'standard cost' for incidentals was just too crazy.

Now we tack on a small "fee" on every single invoice to cover a multitude of incidental expenses, (media files, CD burns, color output etc, etc.). After almost 3 years of doing this, not one client has pushed back. One invoice might have a couple CD burns and another might have none, but it all seems to even out over time.

I monitor closely O/H costs (and certain line items) compared to revenue. So far, I find this way works pretty darn good!

Roxanne Cowan

We are trying to do the exact thing with our HP 8500 laser color copier. In lieu of a log sheet, we may have software that will prompt when someone selects "print".

Your vendor who sold you your color printer may have a suggestion (or a product) to help count copies.

Anna Parisi
GBL

if your printer has a Fiery rip, it keeps a log of all printouts. we have a rule of naming all files with the job number first, so the log will show the job number and how many prints of each size.

our database guy created a filemaker thing on our Intranet that then collects all this data and our bookkeeper just types in a job number and it tells her how many color prints there were for each job.

the hard part is remembering to download the log often enough to get the data into the intranet.

mindy mcCain
Miller Brooks, Inc.

Cool, something I can put in my 2 cents worth.

We enter the costs for prints and cds as expenses. I did some analysis looking at paper cost, ink, and equipment depreciation and came up with a per page cost. You would also enter the gross. After you post the expense it does not effect the G/L but allows us to bill for the print or CD and also shows as an expense in the job ticket.

Hope this helps

Ray Williams
CFO
Robert Rytter & Associates, Inc.

We actually have a copier counter as part of our Canon copier features. I just run a report off of the copiers each month and bill the clients. When people make their walk-up copies they have to key in an access code. For print files sent from their desks (for color copies) they need to add a job number to the job notes field in the print set-up info.

A law firm I worked at used a company that actually came and installed copy counters onto the copiers. The user would have to key in an access code. This counter would works only for walk-up copies. The company info is as follows:

The counters are called Infortext, and the company who services them for the Law firm I worked at is called Network Financial Services, Inc., Their rep. is James( Jim ) Tomlin @ 631-2934 OR pager # 952-908-0207

Hope this helps.

Dawn Jaworski
Gabriel deGrood Bendt
Advertising Agency

Catherine:

I would recommend you contact Canon directly and ask them for a suggestion.

It is possible that Sue at Copyguard can help you. You can contact her at 800-755-9544.

Christine Nowak
Minolta Corporation

Our agency also prints out quite a few copies. Our time sheets have a column for "hard costs" and the person making the copies enters the amount which then reminds him/her to enter the expense when entering his/her time.

Sharon Walker
The Wallace Agency

Catherine,

We tried a hand log also with abysmal results. We were making nearly 10,000 copies per month at one point, and the log showed 100 to be rebilled for an entire month.

Our solution, unfortunately, does not apply to you -- we use larger copiers attached to Fieries, so we installed the Fiery Spooler software to look at the copier logs. Everyone is supposed to put the job name at the front of the file name so that it shows in the log, which we gather weekly and input to C&P. Sure, some get missed, but I was just reviewing it last week and we're covering the cost of the copiers.

So the question becomes: Is there and internal printer log or a network printer log from which you can extract this data? You'd have to check the documentation at the printer level, but my guess is it's not likely. Networks are more likely to have something like this, but whether your network can save and spit out the results is a question for your IT folks.

BTW, when we investigated, we found that someone had started a rumor that only the final output shown to the client should be logged -- i.e., if someone went through 100 drafts of something for a client, only 1 final output would be charged. (And we do corporate identities, so 100 could be a conservative number.) So you might also refresh everyone on the educational aspect of the issue.

Good luck.

Brent A. Byrd
Point Zero, Inc.

We build in to our up-front client estimates a modest fee to cover everything from zip discs to photocopies to color output. We find this much more cost effective than the huge amount time it takes to track every internal expense item.

Sondra Jones
SWG&M Advertising, Inc.

We charge a $50.00 project materials fee on all jobs which would include copies, supplies, cds, etc.

Mary Henry
Kleier Communications

We've considered doing the same and are thinking that maybe a percentage of the art fee would be the way to do it. Obviously more art intensive jobs have more color output, disks etc.

What is a modest fee? How do you hide it on the invoice? We already hide a $75 job origination fee.

Your input is appreciated.

Thanks.

Ann Adams
J. Stokes & Associates

We don't hide it. We charge $10-$25 per invoice for something called a 'media fee'. That media could be anything (cd's, color output, bandwidth to support a customer online platform...). I let the A/E decide what level seems appropriate for the proposal.

Nobody has ever pushed back - in 3 years. Multiply that by approx number of invoices you generate a year, you should cover your art supplies line item on the income statement (or whatever line item you pick).

We were 5 employees grown to 25 employees using this system. I thought it was better use of admin time than to track, enter, and analyze standard costs for incidentals. No extra dollars required for counters and special software.

Question for you:
Do you charge $75 per invoice for job origination fee? Where do you bury it?

Roxanne Cowan

We have a project fee based on the gross amount of the project and then put it into our Creative Time/Agency Services.

Laura Pacino

Yes, I charge $75 per job. I hide it in design fees. The idea was that it would cover the cost of someone setting up the job. No one has pushed back because they never see it.

I also contemplated adding a fee on one-time jobs for UPS / courier charges. These charges always seem to come in after I have billed the job and they tend to be very difficult to collect. Sending a bill out for a $10.70 UPS charge seems silly, but these amounts add up.

Ann Adams

In estimate options, we select the option to "show group totals, tasks, hide item amounts". We have a task called "materials" that we use for discs, copies, etc., which shows up on the estimate. Since we estimate up front, the client knows exactly what they're going to pay - unless of course, major changes are made.

The way we figure the materials estimate varies from client-to-client based on the knowledge we have of their habits regarding revisions and the type of job we are doing. For example, if we are creating a newspaper ad that we do every week and know that we'll show the client one proof and burn one disc, it becomes very simple to estimate.

For more complicated jobs, it is usually a ballpark estimate determined by a per printout cost. I really like your idea of charging a percentage of the art fee. We will consider this for more complex jobs.

We can also periodically compare the cost of materials for the agency to our total client charges for materials, to make sure that our estimating is on target.

Modest fee would be anywhere from $25 to $100.

Sondra Jones
SWG&M Advertising

We charge a flat rate for courier too.

But we do post actual costs to the job. If the job is closed we put it on any open job for that client (we try not to bill more than we quoted flat rate - we just make it up on the next job! We usually make out in the long run).

Roxanne Cowan

Ann,

With regards to shipping charges that come in after the job has been billed, we generate POs for them when the packages go out. That way it will show up on the Job Progress Report in the Open PO column and can be included on the client's invoice, even though the invoice from the shipper has not been received. By accessing the FedEx Web site, we can determine the exact cost to ship the package when generating the PO. This simple process has significantly increased our client billings for shipping.

Shannon Ellis
Business Manager
Tackett Barbaria Design Group

While recouping the cost for color copies can be difficult, the courier charges are quite easy to recover -- we issue a PO for all couriers and shipping vendors with either quoted or estimated costs assigned. That way, it appears in the job and the billing department can include it in the invoice to the client before the vendor invoice ever comes in. Until employees understand that an agency's inability to recover the cost for color copies represents potential lost of income to them...it will never be resolved. Good Luck.

Jean Millner
Veritas Advertising

We use FedEx's website to generate all of our air bills. Before you choose the "print air bill" option, you can get a courtesy rate quote that is accurate 98% of the time. That cost is put in C&P under a TEMP expense so it shows up if I do a round of billing before the FedEx invoice comes in. Our local couriers are trained to give us the cost of anything at the time the pick up is called in. These expenses are also entered under TEMP. The TEMP cost is verified when the vendor's invoice comes in and then put under the actual vendor's task we have set up. The TEMP costs are entered by our receptionist, so I don't have to stop to generate POs all the time. The controller verifies everything and then removes the TEMP costs twice a month. This has worked as a good system of double checks for us, and I haven't missed billing a shipment yet (knock on wood).

Our overhead expenses are a line item we call Studio Expenses, which is a small percentage of whatever our design fees end up to be. This fee can range anywhere from $10 to several hundred. We haven't had any objections. The description calls out archiving, telephone, local travel, CD-R replication, US Mail, email correspondence, etc.

Our color outputs that we provide to clients as final product, are logged on special sheets that are given to the receptionist to log in as expenses under the respective task codes, and marked up accordingly. All the designers know to fill these out. Just like time sheets, it is not an option to neglect this task. They do their job, and I do mine to keep the billing train on track and make sure they still have paychecks coming. ;)

Melissa Dantz
Production Manager
p11creative

We have an HP DesignJet 3500 and an HP Color LaserJet 8500, etc. We researched cost per page at Hewlett-Packard's website. Full details regarding printing with color, coverage and print cost calculations are detailed at the website. We used their calculations with our measurements and mark-up to bill our clients.

Karen Cupp
Controller
p11creative