T&M BILLING BACKUP KIT
Free from FieldTimesheet - fieldtimesheet.com/templates/tm-billing-backup-kit

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WHAT THIS KIT IS FOR
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A T&M invoice asks your customer to take your word for it. When they
can't reconstruct the charge, they don't decide they must be wrong.
They decide they're being padded.

The charge was fair. The explanation was missing.

These four forms produce the explanation. Filled out in order, they
turn "43.5 hrs - $3,764.00" into a document a property manager can
read, follow, and sign without calling you first.


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WHAT'S IN HERE
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Each document comes two ways:

  .csv                  opens in Excel or Google Sheets
  -printable.html       opens in any browser, click Print, or
                        save as PDF from the print dialog

01-tm-work-authorization
    Signed BEFORE the first hour. Scope, exclusions, bill rates by
    classification, what else is billable (travel, supply house
    runs, material markup), how T&M billing works, and the dollar
    threshold where you stop and check in.

02-daily-field-report
    One page per crew per day, filled out on site before anyone
    leaves. Crew, hours, what each person worked on, materials,
    delays, visitors and inspections, signature. This is what
    answers "you were never there Thursday."

03-change-order-log
    A running line for every out-of-scope request - including the
    ones you said yes to on the spot. Who asked, what they asked
    for, the drawing or contract line showing it wasn't included,
    estimated hours and cost, who authorized it. Prints landscape.

04-tm-labor-backup-sheet
    The page that goes out with the invoice. Date, worker,
    classification, what was done, hours, bill rate, amount.
    Customer-facing - it carries BILL rates only. No payroll cost,
    no burden, no margin.


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THE ORDER MATTERS
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  BEFORE the job    01 - Work authorization, signed
  EVERY day         02 - Daily field report
  AS IT COMES UP    03 - Change order log
  WITH the invoice  04 - Labor backup sheet

Sheet 04 is assembled almost entirely from sheet 02. The line your
foreman writes in "What They Worked On" is the same line your
customer reads in "What Was Done." Collect it once; it does two
jobs.


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THE ONE RULE THAT MAKES ALL OF THIS WORK
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Write the work description so someone who was never on site can
picture it.

  Weak:    Electrical
  Weak:    Rough-in
  Weak:    8.77 hrs

  Strong:  Pulled and terminated circuits 12-18, second-floor
           east wing
  Strong:  Hung and wired 14 2x4 LED troffers, updated panel
           directory
  Strong:  Megger test with building engineer present, tenant
           walkthrough and punch

Name the room. Name the panel. Name the circuit numbers. Give the
count. A description that specific is almost never argued with,
because there is nothing left to wonder about.

Get it the same day. By Friday nobody remembers Tuesday.


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BEFORE YOU USE 01 ON A REAL JOB
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Have your own attorney review the work authorization terms and
adjust them for your state, your license, and your contract forms.
It's a starting point for the conversation, not legal advice.


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IF THE PAPER STOPS KEEPING UP
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Everything here works with a clipboard and a pen, and it will keep
working. The part that usually breaks first is sheet 02 - getting a
written note out of every worker every day, on every job, without
chasing anyone.

FieldTimesheet captures that note at clock-out on the worker's
phone and prints sheet 04 from it. Same documents, nobody
retyping. fieldtimesheet.com
