Working in Teams - invoicing Thread poster: Doron Greenspan MITI
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We are considering creating a team, and wonder how the invoicing of the clients is dealt with in team situations?
I assume each member use their own invoice, but then how are the invoiced amounts split between team members?
Thanks for any light you may shed on this,
Doron
| | | | | Matter of Negotiation | Nov 29, 2006 |
Doron Greenspan wrote:
We are considering creating a team, and wonder how the invoicing of the clients is dealt with in team situations?
I assume each member use their own invoice, but then how are the invoiced amounts split between team members?
Thanks for any light you may shed on this,
Doron
Like with any "partnership", it's strictly a matter of negotiation between the parties, based on each party's respective contribution.
| | | | | It depends what you are looking for... | Nov 29, 2006 |
If you want to keep it informal, then you have one of the team submit an invoice each time [in a rotation that you will decide before you start your collaboration], and then split the money evenly, calculating taxes, expenses and so on.
Or you can go the formal way and create a company [with the accompanying costs], in which case the company invoice will be submitted each time and the company will employ you all as salaried staff, or pay you on invoices issued by whoever did the jo... See more If you want to keep it informal, then you have one of the team submit an invoice each time [in a rotation that you will decide before you start your collaboration], and then split the money evenly, calculating taxes, expenses and so on.
Or you can go the formal way and create a company [with the accompanying costs], in which case the company invoice will be submitted each time and the company will employ you all as salaried staff, or pay you on invoices issued by whoever did the job.
Either way, it is a matter of trust. Undocumented in the first case, documented and legally binding in the second. Does this help? Hope so!
Regards,
Lina
[Edited at 2006-11-29 12:00] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Peter Linton (X) 
Local time: 20:38
Swedish to English
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| Like an agency | Nov 29, 2006 |
You also need to resolve in advance what happens in tricky situations -- for example, the customer rejects the translation and refuses to pay, or a fellow-translator is not feeling well and does a bad job, or someone makes a bad mistake and the customer threatens to sue.
That has always struck me as one of the disadvantages of working in teams -- someone has to act rather like an agency and shoulder the responsibility. Should that person get paid extra? If so, you are no longer a t... See more You also need to resolve in advance what happens in tricky situations -- for example, the customer rejects the translation and refuses to pay, or a fellow-translator is not feeling well and does a bad job, or someone makes a bad mistake and the customer threatens to sue.
That has always struck me as one of the disadvantages of working in teams -- someone has to act rather like an agency and shoulder the responsibility. Should that person get paid extra? If so, you are no longer a team, but a bunch of translators working for an agency.
Perhaps I am being too pessimistic? I would be interested to hear how existing teams manage such issues. ▲ Collapse
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| Thanks for your replies | Nov 29, 2006 |
Thanks, Lina, Lawyer and Peter, for your useful information. I'm starting to get the picture now.
Since being a company is definitely something we DON'T want, we'll simply have to define the rules from the start, and see how it goes.
I guess I was also expecting people who are in teams to also tell me how things are done in their teams in that respect.
Thanks, Doron
| | | | | Friends and colleagues | Nov 29, 2006 |
We are a team that have worked together for around 10 years. The core of the team have known each other for over 30 years, and the rest have eventually become members through someone in the core team.
All in the team have their own clients, and most of the time works on independent projects. However when a larger project comes along, someone needs help or somebody gets an offer that they’re not interested in, or that they know someone else in the team would do better/really enjoy... See more We are a team that have worked together for around 10 years. The core of the team have known each other for over 30 years, and the rest have eventually become members through someone in the core team.
All in the team have their own clients, and most of the time works on independent projects. However when a larger project comes along, someone needs help or somebody gets an offer that they’re not interested in, or that they know someone else in the team would do better/really enjoy, we pass them on, either by recommending the other translator, or having the work go through the approached translator (all depends on the circumstances, client, etc).
It is always the translator who is offered the job from a client that does the invoicing. Then the rest invoices that person. In most cases this person also acts as the project manager, and also edit and proof-read, and is paid for this.
The benefits of this system is that we can take on very large projects. It also means that we can divide the tasks between us so that everybody gets to do what they like best, and are best at (organise, keep track of terminology, translate, talk to clients, etc).
This has worked really well for us, but the secret might be that many of us were friends before we became colleagues. Complete trust is the key.
Best regards,
Cecilia ▲ Collapse
| | | | chinesetrans
Netherlands
Local time: 21:38
English to Chinese
+ ...
| Different Inovices, then you channel | Nov 30, 2006 |
Hi, Doron,
You might try to ask the group to invoice you and then you invoice the client, i.e. to find the a chief and to use the same invoice form. You can create a standard invoice form to the group with unique reference to each, then when the group invoice you, you would know who and which job. And then you put all the amount of the job together to invoice the client. Finally you split the amount to the group in accordance with their invoice. Well, this might make you work more, but giv... See more Hi, Doron,
You might try to ask the group to invoice you and then you invoice the client, i.e. to find the a chief and to use the same invoice form. You can create a standard invoice form to the group with unique reference to each, then when the group invoice you, you would know who and which job. And then you put all the amount of the job together to invoice the client. Finally you split the amount to the group in accordance with their invoice. Well, this might make you work more, but give a cleint a good impression of you.!!! ▲ Collapse
| | | | David Earl
United States
Local time: 13:38
German to English
| Lead & Sub-contractor(s) | Nov 30, 2006 |
Doron Greenspan wrote:
We are considering creating a team, and wonder how the invoicing of the clients is dealt with in team situations?
I assume each member use their own invoice, but then how are the invoiced amounts split between team members?
Thanks for any light you may shed on this,
Doron
Another option: Whoever finds the customer is automatically designated "lead" or point of contact. They bill the customer and accept the ultimate responsibility for the job (or at least their letterhead is used). Other team members (sub-contractors) then bill the "lead". I've seen similar constructs in the construction and software development fields.
Google "virtual company"+ (one term I've used for that, but not sure if that's current).
For internal work (database maint., bookkeeping chores, etc.), I'd ask the team to agree to pre-set rates for such tasks, before the task started. We used an hourly rate in 15 min. increments, when I was developing software.
HTH,
David.
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follows the procedure described by Cecilia, David and chinesetrans describe it and it has worked fine so far.
Of course complete trust is key such collaborations.
| | | | | Thank you all! | Dec 2, 2006 |
Many thanks to all the contributors to this thread - now we can really work out the best way to go about it.
Trust is definitely there.
Doron
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