| 주제 내 페이지: [1 2] > | 60 day post invoice payment terms 스레드 게시자: Karin Speedy
|
|---|
Hi everyone,
I have returned to professional translation after years in academia and am trying to gauge what is the norm nowadays. I have received a request to quote for a job and it seems legit. However, they (an agency in the UK) state that payment terms are 60 days after the submission of the invoice. This seems quite crazy to me. Is this normal? Negotiable? Thanks for your input. Karin
| | | |
I don't like it either but 60 days is the maximum limit according to EU regulations - although not all countries have implemented those regulations in the same way. I actually have one client that pays me at 100 days from the date on the invoice. I would drop them but they're a good and regular client in every other way. They were one of my very first clients, many years ago when I was inexperienced and anxious to get work, so I let them impose that ridiculously long period on me. At least th... See more I don't like it either but 60 days is the maximum limit according to EU regulations - although not all countries have implemented those regulations in the same way. I actually have one client that pays me at 100 days from the date on the invoice. I would drop them but they're a good and regular client in every other way. They were one of my very first clients, many years ago when I was inexperienced and anxious to get work, so I let them impose that ridiculously long period on me. At least they always do pay.
One way to get around this is to specify - the first time you ever work with a new client - that the payment terms are set by you, not by them. That's what I do now, when I can.
[Edited at 2021-03-17 20:15 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | |
Hi Tom, thanks for that info. In New Zealand (where I live), the max terms of payment are 30 days. I might reply to them and state that 30 days would be my terms.
| | | | Dan Lucas 
영국
Local time: 21:30
회원(2014)
일본어에서 영어
| Negotiate, but later | Mar 17, 2021 |
Karin Speedy wrote:
However, they (an agency in the UK) state that payment terms are 60 days after the submission of the invoice. This seems quite crazy to me.
Sounds long to me. Mine are nearly all 30 days from end of month. In practical terms, if they become a regular client with reliable flows every month then it isn't really an issue. You get money flowing in every month.
I would say something like "60 days is too long, and if we do more that this one job I'm going to have to reconsider", but I wouldn't reject the job. If you're good, and they have regular flows of work, then they'll want to use you frequently. That puts you in a better negotiating position. Right now you're an unknown quantity to them, so they aren't likely to perceive you to require special treatment.
Clients very unwilling to budge from initial rates, I have found, but may be prepared to talk about payment terms.
Regards,
Dan
| | |
|
|
|
Karin Speedy wrote:
I might reply to them and state that 30 days would be my terms.
Well, even if they accept your terms now, and they then send you work, along with a purchase order that states *their* terms, and you then go ahead and do the work, then it means that their terms apply, not yours. Also, the fact that a PM states that he/she accepts your terms is not binding on the agency's accounting department, so while you can *try* to impose your own terms, YMMV.
As for your original question: 30, 60, 90 or even 120 days is not unheard of. What determines your flexibility in the end is whether you enjoy the work that they send (and whether you can earn a good living from it). I understand that this may be a bit of a shock to a "new" translator who doesn't have that many clients yet.
| | | | Dalia Nour
이집트
Local time: 23:30
회원(2018)
영어에서 아라비아어
+ ...
| Only some agencies! | Mar 17, 2021 |
I think the normal that the payment time should be after 30 days! Although, some agencies contacted me and said that their payment time is after 60 days! Honestly, I found it crazy as well!
| | | | | Demand 60-day deadlines | Mar 17, 2021 |
That's only fair, isn't it?
--
Virtually all my customers pay within 30 days from date of invoice.
This 60-day business seems to be common only with international agencies (the worse the fee, the longer you have to wait for it).
[Bearbeitet am 2021-03-17 20:56 GMT]
| | | | | Not normal, but not uncommon | Mar 18, 2021 |
Thirty days is very common, 45 days is quite common, followed by 60 days. I don't think I've ever accepted 60 days, but we all have our own limits. I've actually always invoiced most clients monthly. I send invoices on the last day of the month, with payments due the end of the next month, so effectively payments for individual jobs during the month are due anywhere from 28 to 61 days (I think) later.
| | |
|
|
|
Sadek_A
Local time: 00:30
영어에서 아라비아어
+ ...
The payment clearance period is NOT for them:
- To get paid by their client first. This is neither your problem nor their norm. The norm is that the agency gets paid in cash, or otherwise, upfront before start of any job.
- To use your payment for other expenses and/or costs they're having, until they receive new cash and start looking into clearing yours.
- To keep it in the bank and generate interest on it.
The payment clearance period IS simply for them and the ... See more The payment clearance period is NOT for them:
- To get paid by their client first. This is neither your problem nor their norm. The norm is that the agency gets paid in cash, or otherwise, upfront before start of any job.
- To use your payment for other expenses and/or costs they're having, until they receive new cash and start looking into clearing yours.
- To keep it in the bank and generate interest on it.
The payment clearance period IS simply for them and the end client:
- To review carefully and make sure product is good and warrants the payment.
***Allow 1 day per every 500-1000 words, depending on complexity, and you only decide the range.***
It's absolutely ridiculous, and borderline insane, that you would have to wait 60, or even 30, days before receiving payment for, say, a 500w project you completed and delivered in an hour or so!
When YOU, not them, feel like it, you can always extend the period by a few days, as a gesture of good faith.
If, however, your cooperation with them is constant and not one-off, then:
- In any given month, you start your first project on, say, 1st day of the month, and deliver your last project on, say, last day of the month, and you get paid on the 5th or 7th day of the immediate following month, nothing beyond that should be acceptable. This way you waited up to 38 days to get paid for the first project which could've been 200w or less, they got up to a week to review your last project and their constant cooperation with you enables them to get back to you on that last job in the following month, should the need arise!
With the immediate above said, if cooperation isn't constant, then you apply the 1d/500-1000w rule, only with exceptions YOU feel comfortable with. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Long time no see money | Mar 18, 2021 |
Dan Lucas wrote:
.....if they become a regular client with reliable flows every month then it isn't really an issue. You get money flowing in every month.
Yes, but it irks me that the translation I'm working on this very minute will not be paid until July.
| | | | | Agencies' end clients | Mar 18, 2021 |
So are those paying in 30 days have clients that pay them in less than 30 days, while those paying in 60 days have clients with longer payment terms? What is the point in prolonging the inevitable (i.e. paying the translator in the end)?
I know for a fact that some of those agencies paying in 60 days have very healthy cash flows, so that's not the only issue.
There is also 'running month plus 30 days', which is another euphemism for 60 days...
| | | |
First of all, my invoices reflect my own terms, not my client's and my payment terms are 30 days after the end of the month in which I submitted the invoice. There’s an exception that proves the rule: I have been working with a very regular customer since 2011 who has been paying like clockwork at 60 days. I also have two very dear clients (one of them is a long-standing regular customer) who always pay the day after receiving my invoice.
| | |
|
|
|
| It doesn’t matter but it does matter | Mar 18, 2021 |
For me as an established translator, it doesn’t really matter whether I get paid now or in six months. I don’t need the money to pay my bills and I’m going to lose bugger-all interest.
For them as an established agency, it doesn’t really matter whether they pay in 10 days or 180. They shouldn’t need to wait for their client to pay first. And they’re going to earn bugger-all interest.
So it’s just a stupid, misguided game they play.
Although it... See more For me as an established translator, it doesn’t really matter whether I get paid now or in six months. I don’t need the money to pay my bills and I’m going to lose bugger-all interest.
For them as an established agency, it doesn’t really matter whether they pay in 10 days or 180. They shouldn’t need to wait for their client to pay first. And they’re going to earn bugger-all interest.
So it’s just a stupid, misguided game they play.
Although it makes no difference to me financially, I feel warm fuzzy feelings towards my customer who pays the instant I send my invoice, and like Tom I am irked by any that are slow to pay.
Who am I going to do the better job for next time?
Who is going to get squeezed in when I’m busy?
Honestly, slow-paying agencies are idiots. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Sadly not uncommon | Mar 18, 2021 |
The basic business idea is that the agent, as an intermediary, is paid by the end client before having to pay the (other end) freelancer. The intermediary reduces or cancels the length of time it has to "cover" the value of the work signed for.
In France, when I started out in 1994, it was absolutely standard and I hated it. "60/90-days end of the month", the end of the month in which the invoice was received. And even that last part would be defined in different ways according to ... See more The basic business idea is that the agent, as an intermediary, is paid by the end client before having to pay the (other end) freelancer. The intermediary reduces or cancels the length of time it has to "cover" the value of the work signed for.
In France, when I started out in 1994, it was absolutely standard and I hated it. "60/90-days end of the month", the end of the month in which the invoice was received. And even that last part would be defined in different ways according to different agents. People argued that if you have a steady flow of work, past the first few months, then you're fine. This is risky...
Between the time you supply the work, send your invoice and the payment actually falls due, the agency, a lot can happen:
- the agency can run into cashflow problems or worse
- the agency may not respect the deadline anyway as their practice is to argue that the end-client has not yet paid them and they cannot pay you
- you may also close or suspend your business activity (temporarily or permanently) and by the time your money comes in, how do you treat that?
I have experience of all three situations and it can put you in an awkward situation. You have to chase people up, which requires time. You find yourself explaining the doctrine of privity of contract (your contract is with the agency, not the end client, so the agency still has to honour its contractual obligations with you). There are generally administrative provisions for this, but it means time taken to sort it out. In financial terms, this can also make things tough. By the time you find out that the agency is not willing and/or able to pay, you have lost a month or two in terms of reactivity.
Samuel makes the very valid point that even if you state your terms, it is highly likely that the agency will impose its own. However, all is not lost.
If you have specific skills or knowledge that the agency needs, then you may be able to ensure that your payment terms are agreed to.
Final note, bear in mind that in these global times, if you do have payment issues, recovery may be complicated and costly from the other side of the world. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | It does matter... | Mar 18, 2021 |
Chris S wrote:
They shouldn’t need to wait for their client to pay first.
It helps with the cash flow... have you heard of it? 
| | | | | 주제 내 페이지: [1 2] > | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » 60 day post invoice payment terms | TM-Town | Manage your TMs and Terms ... and boost your translation business
Are you ready for something fresh in the industry? TM-Town is a unique new site for you -- the freelance translator -- to store, manage and share translation memories (TMs) and glossaries...and potentially meet new clients on the basis of your prior work.
More info » |
| | Trados Studio 2022 Freelance | The leading translation software used by over 270,000 translators.
Designed with your feedback in mind, Trados Studio 2022 delivers an unrivalled, powerful desktop
and cloud solution, empowering you to work in the most efficient and cost-effective way.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
Translation news
