TimeTrackers - for British and Australian Family History research, teaching, publication and film making

How we work with our clients

Our terms of business

Our fees are based on time spent

We charge $50 an hour for all time spent on your research, or any other tasks, such as writing reports, creating charts, etc.

Because family history is detective work, we can never be certain how long it might take to find someone. So we can't quote you a firm price to research your family; our fees are based on the time we spend on the task, not the results we get. Most times we find what we are looking for, and our clients are delighted. But sometimes our clients' ancestors don't want to be found and many frustrating hours can be spent searching through records for an elusive ancestor. That time costs money…your money.

It's best to agree a budget at the beginning

One way to minimise the shock of big bills is to agree an initial budget at the onset. We like to work in four-to-six hour batches, so that gives us both a chance to assess how successful (or otherwise) we're likely to be with your research. We like to keep you informed of progress in any event, so frequent smaller bills suits us too.

Here's what takes time (and therefore we charge for)

• Creating and maintaining Client Data Base (so that we can print out charts and reports and keep track of your research)
• Searching Civil Registration Indexes
• Ordering and receiving Certificates
• Visiting repositories and looking through microfilms and microfiches (eg Parish Registers, passenger arrivals, etc)
• Searching for Wills
• Searching census and other records on Internet sites (often paid sites)
• Analysing data and planning next steps
• Designing, preparing and producing family charts
• Scanning, cropping and enhancing images
• Writing client reports
• Meeting and discussing progress with clients
• Contacting, briefing and overseeing overseas agents to carry out research on your behalf
• Getting up to speed after a lengthy respite

Expenses are extra, such as:

• Certificates (England and Wales, $30 each, others at cost)
• Wills and other documents obtained on your behalf
• Internet time and fees (we subscribe to many paid sites, and charge clients a proportion based on usage)
• Photocopying (LDS Centres charge $1 a copy for microfilm extracts)
• Print-outs from our system: A4 copies (eg census downloads) $0.50 each
• Charts: A3 print-outs $2 each
• Microfilm hire: LDS Centres charge us $5 a film

We've published the above to avoid any possible misunderstanding with potential clients. Rest assured that our clients are usually delighted with the work we do! We've only ever had one bad debt!