If you're in the transcribing business, you probably use counting software to generate billing counts. The '97 July-Aug issue of the JAAMT magazine did a comparison of the counting behaviour of various line counting programs (the same files were used with different line counting programs to generate counts). What they found out was that, depending on the line counting software you use, the line totals could vary by as much as ten to fifteen percent.
What does this mean? At the least you should give yourself and immediate raise and make sure you are using the line counting software that generates the highest line counts.
Obviously, not even the line count program makers can agree on common billing definitions.
(Reproductions of the cited article are available from the AAMT, 209-551-0883)