As the freelance economy continues to expand, the practice of billable time and hours continues to be a subject of debate among many longtime consultants.

We at OdeCloud have written numerous blog posts concerning the many problems associated with tracking billable time and hourly rates, focusing on the fact it simply doesn’t make sense for a freelancer to be paid less for efficiently completing a project.

Why should a person with years of expertise in a particular field be financially penalized for quickly completing a project? If I’m one of the few experts in the world that knows a simple solution to a complex problem, then how do I explain the true monetary value of my knowledge to a client?

In the video above, OdeCloud’s Osar Iyamu contemplates those questions, elaborating on why the billable time model is no longer appropriate in the field of information technology.

He also goes so far as to explain how relying on the billable time model can also hurt clients who would actually prefer a task to be done as efficiently and effectively as possible.

In conjunction, we’d also like to mention that we’ve previously made several attempts at suggesting alternatives to billable time and hourly rates, highlighting OdeCloud’s use of an “as a service” (aaS) subscription model to help better define the financial relationship between client and consultant.

Additionally, we’d be remiss to say there’s also a number of other considerable suggestions out there, such as long-term retainer fees, performance-based compensation, and project-based pricing (flat fee).

We’re sure a much more universal solution to billable time will come to light in the near future, but until then, please enjoy what is just our second episode of OdeCloud TV!

(If you missed our first episode about doughnut economics, be sure to click here!)