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How to create an invoice
Thread poster: mopc
mopc
mopc  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 12:11
Member (2006)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Dec 23, 2006

A translation agency I just worked for required me to send them an invoice so they can pay me. I never did this before, what exactly would an American translation agency expect from an invoice? What should it contain? Can you give me examples? Thanks!
 
Henry Hinds
Henry Hinds  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 09:11
English to Spanish
+ ...
In memoriam
Simple Dec 24, 2006

There are no specific legal requirements in the US, so just put what appears to be essential, as Kornelija has shown.

But don't you and Kornelija work for US$ 0.04 per word, you deserve much more, and so so the rest of us!
 
Anna Villegas
Anna Villegas
Mexico
Local time: 09:11
English to Spanish
GRAPHIC Dec 24, 2006

http://traducciones-mexico.com/PROZ/invsample2.jpg
 
Kornelija Karalic
Kornelija Karalic  Identity Verified
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 17:11
Member (2006)
English to Bosnian
+ ...
It's easy! Dec 24, 2006

It's easy! Dec 23



Posting not yet approved

Hi!
You just put the name of the project, name of the agency how meny words/hours you have for the translation, rate and the final price, time when you have started and finished the job and your personal data. That's it.

Here is the examle:

Your personal data



Invoice issued to:



Date (it's the date when you are finished)
... See more
It's easy! Dec 23



Posting not yet approved

Hi!
You just put the name of the project, name of the agency how meny words/hours you have for the translation, rate and the final price, time when you have started and finished the job and your personal data. That's it.

Here is the examle:

Your personal data



Invoice issued to:



Date (it's the date when you are finished)




Payment Due :
Job Description: translation
Purchase Order No.:
Project Manager:


Units: Words

Document Comments Quantity Rate Currency Amount
Sub total:
Total:


Thank you! ▲ Collapse
 
Saskia Steur (X)
Saskia Steur (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 17:11
English to Dutch
+ ...
microsoft templates Dec 24, 2006

Have a look here. It might be useful to you.

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/results.aspx?qu=invoice

Best regards,
Saskia
 
William [Bill] Gray
William [Bill] Gray  Identity Verified
Norway
Local time: 17:11
Member (2006)
English
+ ...
Invoicing program... Dec 24, 2006

William [Bill] Gray wrote:

If you are expecting to have many invoices (are we all?!), I recommend (and use) Practicount and Invoice.

This program counts the words in your file(s) (yes, it does multiple counts for the same client; also, it accepts a very large number of different formats), and then allows you to create an invoice from the gathered information.

It retains a database of clients, with many useful fields. The invoices themselves are fully cus... See more
William [Bill] Gray wrote:

If you are expecting to have many invoices (are we all?!), I recommend (and use) Practicount and Invoice.

This program counts the words in your file(s) (yes, it does multiple counts for the same client; also, it accepts a very large number of different formats), and then allows you to create an invoice from the gathered information.

It retains a database of clients, with many useful fields. The invoices themselves are fully customisable, including the templates which the program uses (Word-based). This means that I have two main invoicing templates which I use, one for my Norwegian speaking clients and one for my English.

And just to warn you, all counting programs seem to count words in a different way: just try the same document with counts in Word, Trados and Wordfast!! Practicount is no different, but it DOES allow you to tweak the total before or after you create the invoice. I find that useful if I have already agreed a word count with my client based on Word or Trados, etc.

The only drawback is that it doesn't produce an automatic invoice counting system with an incrementing invoice number on each file. That would have been extremely useful. But you just enter your own, which requires some organising, but has worked fine for me so far. I'm going to suggest an automising to the publishers, though. Maybe others would add their weight and voices to that request?


Take a look at the website here:

http://practiline.com/




A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE!



Bill



[Edited at 2006-12-24 11:02] ▲ Collapse
 
Kornelija Karalic
Kornelija Karalic  Identity Verified
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 17:11
Member (2006)
English to Bosnian
+ ...
Kornelija Dec 24, 2006

I have and use PractiCount & Invoice. Very good program.
 
Paul Merriam
Paul Merriam  Identity Verified
Local time: 11:11
Russian to English
+ ...
Talk to your client Dec 27, 2006

If this is the first time you have ever submitted an invoice to this particular client (and that appears to be the case), you might add a note along the lines of "Do you have all the information you need?" when you send it in.
 
Veronica Coquard
Veronica Coquard
France
Local time: 17:11
French to English
+ ...
You've never sent an invoice??? Jan 4, 2007

Kornelija Mujkic wrote:



Your personal data



Invoice issued to:



Date (it's the date when you are finished)




Payment Due :
Job Description: translation
Purchase Order No.:
Project Manager:


Units: Words

Document Comments Quantity Rate Currency Amount
Sub total:
Total:


Thank you!


Hello mopc,

I agree with Kornelija on this, but just wanted to add that you will have to consult your country's laws about value-added tax and include that information on the invoice. In France, if you don't show that you have added it to the price, you must cite the reference of the legal text which allows you to be exempted from it.

I have no idea what the laws are in your country, but watch out for visits from the tax inspectors. They are the main reason why your clients need an invoice, and if you are not in the habit of keeping a paper trail of your activity, you could be in trouble yourself. It is your responsability to be able to show them, on demand and with great precision, how much you have billed, when you did so and to whom.

For your own sake, you should get into the habit of always sending an invoice, whether the clients ask for it or not, and keeping precise records on your activity. If you don't, what will you do when a client doesn't pay or is late paying? No fancy software required (although now I'll be looking into Practicount, thank you for the tip, Bill)... You can easily make up an invoice on Excel. Personally I keep my database on one big spreadsheet and link it to my invoice model. When I save the changes to my general spreadsheet (work done, important dates, notes on pricing, information on the client, etc.), I also save the new copy in a folder for that client. This is an old habit that suits me, but everyone has their system. The important thing is to have one.

Good luck!



[Edited at 2007-01-04 09:33]
 


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How to create an invoice







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