Poll: Which payment terms are most commonly used in your business? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Which payment terms are most commonly used in your business?".
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Most of my clients pay when the can and I have no say in the matter.
| | | | | Up to 30 days | Sep 20, 2022 |
My payment terms are 30 days, so these are the most commonly used by my clients. Some very dear long-standing customers (4) pay the day after receiving my invoice, one client needs to be reminded every now and then but he pays immediately after that, a new client pays at 60 days…
| | | | Samuel Murray 
Netherlands
Local time: 20:11
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
On my invoice it says "please pay within 14 days" but that is a legal requirement (i.e. it is a legal requirement for me to have those words on the invoice).
Clients pay me on their own schedules. This may be within 1 week, within 1 month or within 3 months. I start chasing "late" payments after 3 months of non-payment. Some clients pay X number of days after receipt of the invoice, others pay X number of days after the job (regardless of the invoice date). I believe some client... See more On my invoice it says "please pay within 14 days" but that is a legal requirement (i.e. it is a legal requirement for me to have those words on the invoice).
Clients pay me on their own schedules. This may be within 1 week, within 1 month or within 3 months. I start chasing "late" payments after 3 months of non-payment. Some clients pay X number of days after receipt of the invoice, others pay X number of days after the job (regardless of the invoice date). I believe some clients also pay X number of days after the start of the month.
Some clients wait until they receive an invoice before the clock starts ticking, others pay even if the invoice hasn't arrived yet. Some clients pay the invoiced amount, others deduct a small percentage (usually per payment) for administrative or transaction costs. Some clients pay the invoice only if the amount on the invoice matches exactly what they have on their books (i.e. even if you give them an unsolicited discount, their accountant refuses to pay the invoice until it says exactly what it's supposed to say), others pay the invoiced amount as long as the amount is more or less what they had expected, and still others pay the amount that they have on their books, regardless of what the invoice says. Some clients pay the invoice only if a specific code word (read: PO number) is somewhere on it.
I use a program called CherryTree to keep track of each individual client's individual invoicing requirement.
[Edited at 2022-09-20 08:41 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 20:11
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
Some pay after 30 days, some after 45 and a few more after 60 days. These payment terms actually only matter when you start freelancing (if you have only clients that pay after 60 days, you won't see any money before 2 months, but of course you should foresee that).
I'm fine with these terms. I'm always paid (more or less) on time, so that's the only thing that really matters.
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Lieven Malaise wrote:
Some pay after 30 days, some after 45 and a few more after 60 days. These payment terms actually only matter when you start freelancing (if you have only clients that pay after 60 days, you won't see any money before 2 months, but of course you should foresee that).
I'm fine with these terms. I'm always paid (more or less) on time, so that's the only thing that really matters.
I prefer those terms if the rate is fine and if the deadline is agreeable, not tight. I just need to foresee that I have enough money to cover the period but I perform due diligence well before agreeing to a job so as to limit unpleasant problems.
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upon receipt of invoice is what it says on my invoices. And some clients adhere to that. My main client pays within 2 weeks.
But unfortunately, many other clients have their own terms and it can be a challenge for me and my accounting system to remember all the different variants of payment terms.
Quite a few pay after 45 days and that is okay, but I am reluctant to accept anything above that.
| | | | Michael Newton
United States
Local time: 14:11
Japanese to English
+ ...
| payment terms | Sep 20, 2022 |
30 days. End of. 60 days oftentimes turns out to be 70, 75, 80 days or more. If an agency cannot afford 30 days, something is wrong with management. Sometimes clients pay right after delivery or in two weeks. Agencies that take longer oftentimes put the funds into interest-bearing accounts. Sometimes they are just lazy. I have a portfolio of clients that pay promptly.
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Michael Newton wrote:
Agencies that take longer oftentimes put the funds into interest-bearing accounts.
To earn 5 cents a year? No, they're just waiting for their clients to pay first for cash flow reasons. It's a bad business model, I agree, and quite why they do it for that extra 5 cents a year I really don't know.
My terms are 30 days.
When I outsourced, I paid freelancers when I got the bill. No skin off my nose and it made them happy. Why would anyone do otherwise?
| | | | Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 20:11
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
Muriel Vasconcellos wrote:
Most of my clients pay when the can and I have no say in the matter.
As a service provider the "say" is all yours. Ir am I missing something here?
| | | | | 30-60 in Spain | Sep 21, 2022 |
I think the law is 30 days now in Spain.
That being said, it is so systemically violated I'm not even sure.
In practice, clients pay in 60 or even 90.
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 20:11
Spanish to English
+ ...
Agency, schmagency. Most of my clients are direct, not agencies. And this being Spain, whatever the letter of the law might be, they pay whenever they can get it together. Putting a due date on my invoices would merely be wishful thinking, so I usually just put the date of issue and leave it at that.
My best client pays me promptly at the end of each month, or at least within the following thirty days. The rest do so when they have the funds or the opportunity.
Before getting ... See more Agency, schmagency. Most of my clients are direct, not agencies. And this being Spain, whatever the letter of the law might be, they pay whenever they can get it together. Putting a due date on my invoices would merely be wishful thinking, so I usually just put the date of issue and leave it at that.
My best client pays me promptly at the end of each month, or at least within the following thirty days. The rest do so when they have the funds or the opportunity.
Before getting into translation full-time, sometimes I would have to wait for over a year to be paid for blocks of business classes by the regional government, but since the hourly rate was several times what a freelance EFL teacher would normally be offered, we used to just have to grin and bear it. ▲ Collapse
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Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 20:11
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Thayenga wrote: Muriel Vasconcellos wrote:
Most of my clients pay when the can and I have no say in the matter. No say? As a service provider the "say" is all yours. Or am I missing something here?
No, you're not missing anything. As the service provider, you have full say in the matter. You can say and say and say, all you like, but ultimately the client decides if they want to do as you say. So you do have all the say, but the client has their way.
| | | | Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 14:11
German to English
| Depends on the client | Sep 21, 2022 |
In the past it seemed that smaller well-run agencies with a limited stable of translators tended to respect payment dates as specified on the invoice, whereas larger clients/agencies tended to have rigid payment rhythms (30/45/60 days after receipt of invoice). As noted by others, 60 day payments often extend into longer delays. Consequently I dropped clients paying after 60 days. I invoice my current customers at the end of each month and receive payment around the end of the following month.
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 20:11
French to English
It says "30 days" on my invoices, but I find that clients do as they will, whatever I say.
Direct clients seem to pay as soon as they get the bill, and prefer to get the bill more or less at the same time as the translation (I wait a few days in case there are any add-ons or questions).
As for agencies, they mostly seem to prefer a bill for all jobs I've taken on that month, and they pay after one or two months. There was one that paid after three, but I've stopped w... See more It says "30 days" on my invoices, but I find that clients do as they will, whatever I say.
Direct clients seem to pay as soon as they get the bill, and prefer to get the bill more or less at the same time as the translation (I wait a few days in case there are any add-ons or questions).
As for agencies, they mostly seem to prefer a bill for all jobs I've taken on that month, and they pay after one or two months. There was one that paid after three, but I've stopped working with them. ▲ Collapse
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