If you get 600 lines that is only .03 a line - sm
Posted By: on 2008-12-23
In Reply to: Taking a chance - Misha
pretty crappy....I would not take less than $60 for a 60 minute tape
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Gross line, also including blank lines because my line rate is so low. It all works out in the wash.
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So you do 15,000 lines per week at $.10+ per line?
That's $1,500 per week, or $78,000 per year. How many hours do you put in per week? Do you have a life outside of work? Kids, S/O, hobbies, family, friends? Not being snotty, I just find it hard to believe that anyone can do that many lines without other aspects of their life suffering.
I'd go for at least $60 a tape; if 600 lines then .10 a line - sm
but I would not go any lower than that. If you can get a sample and do a count that would be the best way of course to figure out a fair rate so you don't get the short end of the stick. Obviously try to use an Expander to its best ability so you can maybe get your time down to 4 hours, which would be a reasonable time to do 60 minutes of work. Plus printing and delivery, yeah, no lower than $60. Think I'd go for at least $72 since you are doing printing and delivery.
Gross line is actual lines. sm
9 cpl if count is by 65 chars is not too much, IMO, for an experienced MT. If counting by gross lines, 7.5 c on a gross line equals about 9 cpl on a 65-char line, so if they use gross lines, it might sound low per line but it equals out in the end. A gross line is any line on the page. In other words, you can use your finger and count each line on the page that has words on it, and that's your line count. Most don't count blank lines. However, a lot depends on what they are including in that line, regardless. Are spaces included if 65-char line? Does the line count software count formatting changes (such as bold, underline, etc) If so, that will increase total line count. If not, it will decrease it. Gross line is usually a better deal unless the company is using a size 9 font or something or decrease the side margins. 11-12 size font with 1" margins is good with gross lines. The only thing that affects gross lines is the side margins or the font size. With 65-char line, font and margins don't affect it, which is why most go with that now. You take total characters (incl spaces if they pay for them, as someone else said) and divide by 65 to get total lines. Another thing to ask, if they use templates or normals, are the lines in those included? If not, that decreases total line count, too.
It's really hard for someone to say "this is the rate you should ask for" though, because there can be so much variability from company to company as far as what they count as a line. Also, is it clinic or acute care work? If clinic, generally easier and same docs all the time, so even at a lower line rate, you might make more in the end if you use expander, normals, templates, etc. Is there a platform or can you use Word and your own expander? If acute care where you have different docs all the time, a lot of ESLs, clunky platform, no Expander program, etc., it might slow you down so even with a higher line rate, you might not make as much in the long run. Therefore, you have to take all of that into consideration to arrive at what line rate you should charge or ask for ... almost have to adjust to each different company or client, really. For clinic work, 8-9 cents per 65-char line can net some good pay. For acute care, you might want more like 10-11 to get the same pay. Hope this all makes sense!
1500 lines per day? Is this a realistic line
count to be able to make daily in the current MT climate? I have been in MT field for 30 years, with last 10 as QA. I hate it, and can't wait to transcribe again. I am still really fast, never lost my skills thankfully, and can easily hit 1500 lines per 8 hour shift IF the work is there, though. That is the target I would have to hit to even come close to what I am making currently as QA - things are tight on this salary, and can't get much tighter! Do you think most companies have this sort of workload to offer MTs? I used to work for 2 companies 15 years or so ago. Maybe do you think it would be more realistic for me to try to work for 2, or is 1500 lines steadily daily not a big deal? I'm just so used to getting paid hourly, and never having that gut-wrenching fear of running out of work. I don't need benefits at all, so IC is a big possibility. I hope you understand, and I really appreciate your thoughts.  I'm so scared, but have to get out of my current situation at "you-know-where" before I lose my "you-know-what"...  Figured I'd peddle myself off as an MT rather than QA - worry about that down the road at a good company.
How about 1 cent a line being cheap. That equals only $10. for 1000 lines which
is really not an incentive to work either. Why not make it more like time and a half, i.e., if you normally make 10 cents a line when you would get 15. They could even offer 1/4 pay incentive so you could make an extra $25 to work a holiday but the $50 would certainly make me think more about working a day when I usually wouldn't. Yes, it would cost the company more but I'm sure more people will be working that weekend for such an "incentive."
what is the .065 cents per gross line equivalent to in 65 character lines?
Would it be about 8 cpl 65 characters or higher?
Line rate isn't the only factor -- your lines/hour average is key, too.
Even at 7 cpl, keeping about 275 lines/hour average keeps you at $19.25 an hour and that is $40,000 a year.
It is a myriad of factors involved. You have to have the knowledge, be decisive, self-sufficient and very focused. Then, you need to negotiate as high a base rate as you can and look toward the incentive plan to increase your paycheck.
With our incentive, it was not worth it if I couldn't hit high lines in a day. So, I changed my schedule to hit those lines.
I am tired after my work days but having the 4 days a week off and a good income makes it worth it for me. It allows me to spend my days off doing things I want to.
Chars aren't counted in gross lines. If you have a 4-line paragraph...sm
you have 4 gross lines, no matter how long or short the sentences are. A heading on it's own line is 1 gross line. A signature on it's own line is 1 gross line. The date at the top of a document on it's own line is 1 gross line. Anything on a line going from margin to margin is 1 gross line, no matter how few or many characters, or if there are spaces or not, even if there's only 1 character on that line like 'A' for instance. Does this help? :)
Paid hourly, req'd 1000 lines, anything over 1101 was 0.04 cents a line
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Two companies, both 65 char lines including spaces, one pays 0.10/l and the other 8.5/gross line. n
x
The phone line has to support DSL signals. Most rural lines don't due to distance from central of
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65 character line versus gross lines versus pay by word
I am checking into other options for transcription. Can anyone tell me how to compare all of these types of lines & also payment per word? I know companies use different scales, so I wondered how they compare. I have been paid on a 65 character line with spaces, but I may be making a change in the future - don't want to get burned.
Thank you in advance!
A gross line is anything on a line is a line. A line set at 65 characters means it sm
has 1-inch margins on each side. The maximum number of characters on that line would be 65 and that includes spaces. If there is 1 character on that line it is a line.
A standard 65-character line usually consists of 65 characters with spaces unless, of course, the employer does not pay for spaces and then it would be 65-characters without spaces.
Aaahhhh, now I get it. Gross lines vs. Character lines. I guess I've just been conditioned to
think in terms of character lines. One of the perils of working as an IC for somebody who defines what a line is versus owning your own company and defining it yourself. After working for someone else for 15 years, maybe it's time to bust out on my own.
Anything on the line makes up a line even if just one letter or number. Every line of print is a
s
Gross line = each line on page counts as a line, even if it's only 1 word. nm
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That is a lot of work/lines for 2 people. I do 3000 lines per day sm
if you times that by 30 days that only comes to 90K lines a month, that is working 7 days a week including weekends. I don't think 2 people can handle that.
900 lines is below 1100 lines, where the bonus starts.
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Gross line means anything on a line is counted as a line.
You can get an idea in the difference using documents you have already created, assuming you're working in Word. Simply open a document and check the properties. Click on the statistics tab and you will see the number of lines as well as characters with and without spaces. If you're currently getting paid by the line and a line is 65-characters with spaces, do the math and see how that number of lines compares with the number of lines in your stats.
One thing to keep in mind: if you have a blank line between paragraphs, instead of hitting the enter key twice, format your document to give the appearance of blank lines between paragraphs.
Gross lines include all lines containing
printable characters, so a full line and a line with one word on it are charged equally. Straight lines are basically the same as gross lines, but with this method of counting the blank lines are counted as well (again, equally). I have only had one company pay this way, and they are a middle man. I would think the charge would be about the same as for gross lines, and that not too many offices will want their lines counted this way (the one I worked on was probably inherited from someone who had counted the lines that way, so just continued).
The norm is 1 minute = 10 lines; 10 min = 100 lines - sm
granted this varies per dictator. More lines if a fast talker, less if a slow talker.
I went from 2400 lines to 1800 lines
a day when I switched from clinic (through an MTSO) to hospital work. Not only was the clinic work easier with more macros (and less providers to learn, 12 vs 300+), but I was typing in straight Word (as opposed to Softmed/Chart Script). So you see, it really varies depending upon the type of work as well as the platform used. That said, I am so much happier typing the 1800 lines per day (I make over $15 per hour plus an incentive for any lines in excess of 1200 per day) plus a great health package/benefits, AND approximately 5 weeks of paid time off per year. In my opinion, hospitals really are the best employers WHEN they appreciate the work we do.
My advice for you is not to judge a job by any one criterion but rather the entire picture. The 'extra's can really add up.
Good luck in your job!
Which is the one where they are sc*&ing us the standard lines or the qualified lines? SM
Mine show up as STD when I pull up my transcription log. But I see now there is STD/QT.... So which is the one where they are ripping us off, standard or qualified? Need to know. I am about to switch companies and I will not do if they are actually taking lines from me. Thanks guys.
Question versus gross lines versus 65-character lines....
I have always charged or been paid by 65 or 60 character lines or per letter or space typed, but have never been paid or charged per gross line.
What is the advantage of this? If I were to charge 11 cents per 65-character line including spaces, what does this figure out to for an average line rate and how do you do this calculation?
I'm wondering if it is financially beneficial for me to bill by gross line or to keep it the way I have it. I do know some accounts will only pay per 65-character line, as this was the deal my first own account I recently acquired. They were adamant on a 65-character line, but didn't specify with or without spaces and I personally would never not charge for spaces.
Thanks for explaining this. I appreciate it and hope everyone has a speedy day.
$.06 gross line / .70 = approximately $.0857 cents per 65 character line.
A gross line is anything on a line versus 65 gross characters per net line the other way. You make more money working for the gross line than for the 65 gross character line, as long as the line rate's OK.
A gross line is any line with typewritten characters on it - no matter how long or SM
how short. So your gross lines may be longer than 65 characters, but you get credit even for a line as short as "Sincerely,". If your gross lines are not being counted that way, then you are not being counted on gross lines and are probably getting screwed. I'd look into that if I were you.
Yes if gross line or 65 character line with spaces....Good Deal!!! nm
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Word count: 824 lines. DocuCount count: 897 lines.
I just counted the same file in Word and then in DocuCount, and DocuCount was higher than Word.
Just as an aside.
1) do you have a contract stating line counting and line rate,sm
if you look at the IRS website it's pretty clear what constitutes IC versus SE versus employee. You might want to photocopy that along with a copy of your contract with your next invoice and also put on the invoice any monies due from past invoices they "changed"...maybe catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Good luck!
New England, 16.50/hr, 8 cents a line after minimum line count..
full benefits available with general contribution by the hospital before you start paying for them, retirement, 403b, all benefits, and working at home as an employee, BUT, you have to live local to the hospital.
I changed my line to a business line, talked to a supervisor sm
at SBC, told him what I was using the service for, and got the okay to use it -- $49/month unlimited.
I have also used The Neighborhood, and their unlimited is truly unlimited. I also explained to them when I signed up what I was using it for and their comment was "unlimited means just that -- unlimited, no matter what." I cannot remember how much they were, but it might be worth checking into for you. (www.theneighborhood.com)
Good luck!
What is the average line/hour for a 65 character line with spaces? NM
.
Curious, do most IC's usually charge by the gross line or 65 character line?
Thank you~
it certainly is not pay worthy at 4.5 line or 3 line. I know the companies cram it down our throats
nm
That still is not a paid line rate. If your base is $0.10 per line, it will be $0.08 cpl.
Considering other companies pay 4 or 5 cents per line for VR - you are still making out.
Question about what is PAID for a line and what is BILLED for a line
Does the MTSO actually bill for headers, footers, and other things the transcriptionists are not paid for? I worked for a company a while back and their copy of what each Transcriptionist typed the day before and our copy was a lot different, about 30% different. Their copy was the billing copy. So, double their enhanced amount and subtract our 9 cents a line, it comes to a bigger profit than what I thought.
What's the diff between a gross line and a 65-char line?
Mebbe just got my first OWN ACCOUNT YAY! He said to charge him the "going rate" since I pay him that. This could be the start, baby! (I hope)
A gross line is any amount of characters on a line
for instance...
MEDICATIONS:
Effexor
Prevasid
A 65 character line without spaces is black marks on the page only and 65 w/spaces is everything... tabs, spaces, numbers, letters, bold, etc.
that should be "up .02/line" NOT up "to" .02/line. geez. nm
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Gross line versus character line....Sm please
I am thinking of taking a job that pays by the gross line and not a 65-character line. I have never worked this way. Does this literally mean if there is one little word on a line you get paid for it? I have not pinned her down on a line rate but I am just thinking I am going to be comparing apples to oranges and am wondering how to accomplish that.
Thanks for any help!
gross-anything on line counts as line,even one word
xx
gross line is anything on a line, even just your initials. sm
spaces really don't matter in a gross line count.
But that's a GROSS line, not a 65 character line.
So a newbie would have no problem at all hitting 150 lines per hour. A gross line is any line with a printed character on it.
Which is better? Gross line or 65 character line? It's
nm
I don't make 0.08/line.. I work for no less than .13/line. nm
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IC, by line, 68-72 character spaces/line
@
I would go with the line rate. At less than 9.5 cents per line sm
I make $30 an hour. I would never transcribe for $15 an hour, for anyone.
7.5/gross line or 10/65 char line?
Anyone have any idea which would come out to more? TIA
A gross line may be close to 65 ch.pl but she said line
z
Anything on a line (even just initials) is considered a line.
I prefer to use the 65-character line count (including spaces).
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