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Are we becoming interest-free lenders? How far can payment terms go?
Thread poster: Gabriella Vento
Trevino Translations (X)
Trevino Translations (X)
France
Local time: 10:18
French to English
+ ...
Initial payments Jul 16, 2018

Translators should ask each and every new client to make an initial payment before starting work. This should be an industry standard. Until that day comes, why not make it a personal standard?


Trevino Translations


 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 09:18
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Not for me Jul 17, 2018

Trevino Translations wrote:
Translators should ask each and every new client to make an initial payment before starting work. This should be an industry standard. Until that day comes, why not make it a personal standard?

Consumers, i.e. private individuals are used to having to pay for goods and services before they receive them. It's normal practice and I almost always ask them for advance payment - full or partial. If I forget, I send them the work in a state that would take them a lot of effort to sort out before they could use it. When the invoice has been paid, they get a more usable document.

But in B2B transactions you're dealing with a business, and businesses aren't used to paying up front. The risk is that your client will think you're just a hobby translator, rather than running a business yourself. I'd rather act like a business, with a quote, T&C, delivery of the work, and then payment on account. On-time payment, on or before the date I specify on the invoice and by the method specified, of course, not as and when they choose!


Gabriella Vento
Michele Fauble
 
Trevino Translations (X)
Trevino Translations (X)
France
Local time: 10:18
French to English
+ ...
"hobby translator" Aug 27, 2018

Sheila Wilson wrote:

The risk is that your client will think you're just a hobby translator, rather than running a business yourself. ...


No one I do business with thinks me a "hobby translator" because I ask for an initial deposit.

To each his/her own business practices, of course, but if you need your cash flow to pick up pace, there's no harm in asking for better payment terms from your clients, especially new clients.


Gabriella Vento
Christine Andersen
Deborah do Carmo
 
conejo
conejo  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 04:18
Japanese to English
+ ...
It should all be 30 days Sep 29, 2018

What it should be and what it is are 2 different things. 30 days is reasonable. Maybe 45. But as we all know, agencies often can be 2 weeks late even if they always pay. So anybody who says 45 may actually be 60 in reality. And anybody who is 60, they could easily be 75 or more. And people who are using 60-day payment terms, there is a chance they are putting that in the bank and making money off not paying us.

Personally I try to keep it all 30-45 days, but this may not always be p
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What it should be and what it is are 2 different things. 30 days is reasonable. Maybe 45. But as we all know, agencies often can be 2 weeks late even if they always pay. So anybody who says 45 may actually be 60 in reality. And anybody who is 60, they could easily be 75 or more. And people who are using 60-day payment terms, there is a chance they are putting that in the bank and making money off not paying us.

Personally I try to keep it all 30-45 days, but this may not always be possible. Generally speaking, if it's a large amount of work I don't do 60 days, because it's too much risk and too long to wait.

Unfortunately usually agencies have their own payment terms and they won't work with you if you don't agree with them. So it's up to you to decide not to work with them, or to work with them. I try to keep 60-day payers to agencies with good BB ratings, for small projects only.

If you're working with an agency that keeps stretching out the payment longer and longer this would be a red flag for me. It's highly suspicious and not a normal situation.
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Are we becoming interest-free lenders? How far can payment terms go?







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