Poll: In general, how would you rate your clients' payment terms and practices? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "In general, how would you rate your clients' payment terms and practices?".
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| | | | Gitte Hovedskov (X)
Denmark
Local time: 07:11
English to Danish
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| Terms agreed | Aug 30, 2020 |
What an odd question.
Terms are agreed between two equal parties, not imposed by one on the other.
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 07:11
Spanish to English
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It varies. My main direct client usually pays promptly at the end of each month. My other direct clients are smaller businesses or educational institutions like universities and tend to pay later, or "when they can". Over the years, I've learned to be patient and suck it up.
I am also occasionally offered work by an agency I did some translations for many years ago, which has (or used to have) a bad Blue Boad rating, mainly for its 90 day payment terms and even later payments, which... See more It varies. My main direct client usually pays promptly at the end of each month. My other direct clients are smaller businesses or educational institutions like universities and tend to pay later, or "when they can". Over the years, I've learned to be patient and suck it up.
I am also occasionally offered work by an agency I did some translations for many years ago, which has (or used to have) a bad Blue Boad rating, mainly for its 90 day payment terms and even later payments, which I usually don't mind, but the last couple of times I've been too busy to take anything on for them. I only really work for one other agency, in Barcelona, and they pay promptly roughly a month after receiving the invoice. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Other (between excellent and good) | Aug 30, 2020 |
Some very dear long-standing customers (4) pay the day after receiving my invoice, most pay at 30 days and one agency pays at 60 days (like clockwork for 10 years). The last reminder I had to send was a few years back.
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I assume average is tolerable, and if clients drop below that, I simply would not work for them.
It surprises me sometimes, how much hassle people will accept to get paid. You have a contract, you deliver your side of the bargain, and you expect the client to deliver theirs - how difficult can it be?
Clients are human, and the best clients, because they are often small agencies with a lot going on at the end of the month, may slip up once or twice. I have no problem wit... See more I assume average is tolerable, and if clients drop below that, I simply would not work for them.
It surprises me sometimes, how much hassle people will accept to get paid. You have a contract, you deliver your side of the bargain, and you expect the client to deliver theirs - how difficult can it be?
Clients are human, and the best clients, because they are often small agencies with a lot going on at the end of the month, may slip up once or twice. I have no problem with that.
Regular delays or 'slips' and frequent 'forgetting to pay' or trouble with banks, staff holidays or other poor excuses are deal breakers. Everyone should simply drop clients like that, and average standards would then go up! ▲ Collapse
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Most of these translation agencies have 90, 60 and 45 days of payment condition and after all you must ask them for the payment. I like to work with agencies who have the automatic system of one click to create your invoice and then the payment is automatically transfer at the end of each month.
| | | | Aline Amorim 
Brazil
Local time: 03:11
English to Portuguese
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Because procedures have been established and adopted between two equal parties.
| | | | | *Clients'* payment terms? | Aug 30, 2020 |
Why would payment terms belong to clients? Where else would we see this in transactions? Well, employment, perhaps, but we're talking about customers.
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Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 03:11
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
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| Other (10 different practices at different levels) | Aug 30, 2020 |
In general, they are OK, because most of them pay within 30 days as of the delivery.
But I have too many clients with too many different terms and conditions for payment, and some of them (thankfully only a few) are a bit worse than expected or below the standard we are used to. For example, clients in Spain want to pay you in 60 to 90 days, some clients in Brazil require an official invoice that take about 15% off your money, and some clients only pay throught PayPal, which takes away 12%... See more In general, they are OK, because most of them pay within 30 days as of the delivery.
But I have too many clients with too many different terms and conditions for payment, and some of them (thankfully only a few) are a bit worse than expected or below the standard we are used to. For example, clients in Spain want to pay you in 60 to 90 days, some clients in Brazil require an official invoice that take about 15% off your money, and some clients only pay throught PayPal, which takes away 12% of your money in Brazil. So replying with a single answer to all "clients" is unfeasible.
[Edited at 2020-08-30 16:38 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Because only my best client pays within 10 days, which I think they all should.
[Edited at 2020-08-30 18:38 GMT]
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Because my literary clients pay me a sizeable percentage of the total price up front, and the rest, usually within a couple days of the submission of the final product. The only agencies that I will work for, although they don't pay anything up front, always seem to pay within a few days, too. And in one case, one of them paid me within 2 hours of submission.
| | | | Felipe Tomasi
Brazil
Local time: 03:11
English to Portuguese
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| Varies from country to country | Aug 31, 2020 |
For example, in Brazil you have some agencies that agree to pay at the beginning of the next month; other agencies require the translator to issue an invoice and only after that you can expect your money to be credited to your account. In some countries payment is due 90 days after invoice is received by the agency. Regarding direct clients, one may ask for early payment if it is the first time with determined client. So there is no simple answer, as clients, agencies and conditions are differen... See more For example, in Brazil you have some agencies that agree to pay at the beginning of the next month; other agencies require the translator to issue an invoice and only after that you can expect your money to be credited to your account. In some countries payment is due 90 days after invoice is received by the agency. Regarding direct clients, one may ask for early payment if it is the first time with determined client. So there is no simple answer, as clients, agencies and conditions are different. ▲ Collapse
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Luiz Barucke
Brazil
Local time: 03:11
Member (2013)
Spanish to Portuguese
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I generally receive my payments about 30-40 days after delivering/invoicing a job, which is fine. It might be a problem at the very beginning, but after some years working regularly, I'm always receiving payments for jobs done a month ago, so everything flows well.
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They all pay when they’re supposed to. I wouldn’t work for them otherwise.
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