| User | Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff Poll: In general, how often do you invoice translation companies? |
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ProZ.com Staff 
United States
Local time: 02:11
 Member (2011)
SITE STAFF |
This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "In general, how often do you invoice translation companies?".
View the poll here
A forum topic will appear each time a new poll is run. For more information, see: http://proz.com/topic/33629
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Gianluca Marras
Italy
Local time: 11:11
 Member (2008)
English to Italian
| | different agreements | Nov 30, 2009 |
I have different agreements with all my clients, translation companies included.
Anyway, invoicing can be:
- at the end of each project
- at the end of the month for all the projects done in that month
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Mary Worby
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:11
Member
German to English
+ ...
| | End of month | Nov 30, 2009 |
I generally invoice new customers on delivery of the first project, just to get the payment wheels in motion sooner. But as a rule I invoice at the end of the month for all projects completed within that month, unless specifically asked to do otherwise.
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Interlangue
Belgium
Local time: 11:11
English to French
+ ...
| | Once a month | Nov 30, 2009 |
As a rule, who ever the client, except for private individuals who want their birth certificate translated, for instance.
Sometimes (intercontinental customers) upon reaching a certain amount, in order to keep flat rate bank costs as low as possible.
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Christine Andersen
Denmark
Local time: 11:11
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
| | Depends on the company and their pay terms. | Nov 30, 2009 |
I tend to gather invoices and send them at the end of the month. I have an agreement to bill one agency monthly, and have had similar agreements with others, so I often tidy up all outstanding invoices in one session. (Guess what I'm doing today. )
One agency pays me within a week for the last month's work, which is nice. Most pay me after 30 days, but some have a clause about paying at the end of the month AFTER the month when they receive the invoice. I invoice them immediately after delivering the job, to make sure no extra months end in between!
I sometimes bill new clients immediately, especially if they send the job in the first half of the month. If their score is less than 5 overall on the Blue Board, and I have decided to work for them anyway, I do not wait too long before sending the invoice either.
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Tim Drayton
Cyprus
Local time: 12:11
Turkish to English
+ ...
| | Upon completion of every project | Nov 30, 2009 |
Unless the translation company requests otherwise, I send the invoice as an attachment along with the translated file when I deliver the work.
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Sophie Dzhygir
France
Local time: 11:11
Member (2007)
English to French
+ ...
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Mary Worby wrote:
I generally invoice new customers on delivery of the first project, just to get the payment wheels in motion sooner. But as a rule I invoice at the end of the month for all projects completed within that month, unless specifically asked to do otherwise. |
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Michael Harris
Germany
Local time: 11:11
Member (2006)
German to English
| | At the end of the week | Nov 30, 2009 |
or when I have time (sometimes every two weeks)
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Rebecca Garber
United States
Local time: 05:11
Member (2005)
German to English
+ ...
| | It really depends on the client | Nov 30, 2009 |
Two agencies use automated systems to invoice after each project.
One agency requests collected invoices at the end of the month, but since I don't always work for them enough to justify the bank fees, I sometimes go two months before invoicing.
Several other agencies prefer collected invoices bi-weekly, or weekly.
I work intermittently for a number of other clients/agencies, so I invoice on a project basis.
I *always* invoice a new client immediately.
Upon successful payment, we negotiate the payment schedule.
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Rebekka Groß
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:11
Member (2001)
English to German
| | it depends on various factors | Nov 30, 2009 |
- on the size of the project: If a project runs over several months, I'll probably receive a number of purchase orders and will invoice at least once a month. If projects are small and I can reasonably expect other projects from the same company within a few days, I wait to invoice several projects at once instead of sending invoices for very small amounts - chances are that they pay such invoices together anyway.
- the payment date of the company: If companies pay after 30 days and do not have just one or two payment rounds a month, I invoice after every project (depending on project size)
- agreements with companies: I've only ever come across one company that specifically asked for invoices to be sent by a certain date at the end of the month only. Naturally, I would respect their wishes (though depending on the date I deliver a project, probably only grudgingly )
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Maria Drangel
Sweden
Local time: 11:11
Member (2007)
English to Swedish
+ ...
| | Depends on the client and on how much time I have | Nov 30, 2009 |
My biggest client send me once assignment every week and I invoice him once every 3-4 months.
If it is a new client I will send an invoice togehter with the first delivery to quickly learn if they are good payers or not.
Apart from that I tend to send invoices when I have time, after the client owes me a large enought sum to send an invoice, or in case it has been a long time since I last sent an invoice (I seldom wait more than 3 months in that case).
Sometimes I send invoices so that the inflow of money shall be convenient for me if I plan to buy expensive equipment or go on a long holiday.
I rarely send an invoice each month to the client, but it depends. At the moment I am "holding" several invoices, waiting for next year where it will be better taxwise to have a larger income than this year.
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DianeGM
Greece
Local time: 12:11
Member (2006)
Dutch to English
+ ...
| | Depends on the agency | Dec 1, 2009 |
Depends on the agency's perference, some per job, some monthly, some quarterly.
But at least quarterly ... otherwise my book-keeper might start to shout ....
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