| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Late payment of invoices Thread poster: Julie Barber
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Yasutomo Kanazawa wrote:
... I suggest you tell them that if they are not going to pay on time, you would decline to do jobs for them.
And if the problem still persists, the only solution would be to dump them.
I look at it this way: either the agency wants to maintain a decent working relationship for the future, or it doesn't.
If it doesn't, you're going to struggle to get paid whatever you do or say.
If it does, why aggravate them by telling them that you are considering not working with them in future? Personally, I'm not convinced this idea works, unless you know you offer a service they would really struggle to find elsewhere.
I'd just decline future work for the usual reasons people give (already busy, on holiday, sick relatives, etc.) and see how payment for the current outstanding balances pans out. If payment is acceptably prompt, act accordingly. Otherwise, yup, I'd probably dump them.
Meanwhile, does Hungary have provision for adding late payment interest? If so, maybe send a fresh invoice with interest added - it might provoke payment of the original invoice. (This worked for me once with a French client )
Good luck.
[Edited at 2024-04-22 11:04 GMT]
| | | | Julie Barber 
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:21
French to English
TOPIC STARTER | I agree with the partial agree! | Apr 22 |
Charlie Bavington wrote: Yasutomo Kanazawa wrote:
... I suggest you tell them that if they are not going to pay on time, you would decline to do jobs for them.
And if the problem still persists, the only solution would be to dump them. I look at it this way: either the agency wants to maintain a decent working relationship for the future, or it doesn't. If it doesn't, you're going to struggle to get paid whatever you do or say. If it does, why aggravate them by telling them that you are considering not working with them in future? Personally, I'm not convinced this idea works, unless you know you offer a service they would really struggle to find elsewhere. I'd just decline future work for the usual reasons people give (already busy, on holiday, sick relatives, etc.) and see how payment for the current outstanding balances pans out. If payment is acceptably prompt, act accordingly. Otherwise, yup, I'd probably dump them. Meanwhile, does Hungary have provision for adding late payment interest? If so, maybe send a fresh invoice with interest added - it might provoke payment of the original invoice. (This worked for me once with a French client ) Good luck. [Edited at 2024-04-22 11:04 GMT]
It's a shame it's come to this because I really liked the agency. BUT my young son only gets 3 chances! If he hasn't acted by the third time, I step in It seems that I can no longer count on the agency to change from their side.
| | | | | More than half of invoices over 50 days late? | Apr 24 |
Julie Barber wrote:
Hi
I have worked with an agency on and off for many years, and they have always paid me.
Recently they have started paying late - up to 2-3 weeks late.
I know from the Blueboard that they were banned from posting at one point, then reinstated.
I am based in the UK and the agency is operating out of Belgium but is legally registered in Hungary (offices in Brussels, Frankfurt and Budapest).
No reasons are provided for the delays and the communication is rather sketchy at times.
The admin staff apologise, but no real input from the finance team.
Does this usually signal that an agency is in financial trouble? Is there any way of recovering money from a Hungarian entity while I am UK based?
Thanks
Julie
Under a definition of "slow payment/late payment" (80 days + more than half of invoices) found on the Internet yesterday, using "30 net" the agency would not be slow or late unless MORE THAN HALF of my invoices sent to that agency are 50 days past due (80 days).
Using "45 net", under this definition the agency would not be "slow/late" unless more than half of my invoices are 50 days past due (95 days). That doesn't happen. The agency even pays many invoices early. I am starting to keep more detailed records on actual payments (not only the bank statement) in addition to actual invoices. Basically, it's my own internal audit.
An agency that uses such a definition is most likely NOT in any financial trouble at all. This is standard practice. This particular definition is from the UK. The agency has flexibility. That might be a reason for the lack of communication.
There might be different reasons for delays. My work might have been a part of a large (huge) project involving many translators and there were quality issues caused by a different translator. That happened to me. There might be internal issues in the agency's accounting department. I was told about that by two different agencies. And on and on..... It's a risk. I hope it is fixed soon.
Late payment interest is not allowed under my contract, which is the same boilerplate contract used for every one of the agency's translators and proofreaders. There is no leverage here. Sometimes a program manager or accounting staff or both can resolve a major problem if they care. In 20 years, only one agency has failed completely to pay and they claimed it was due to their financial difficulties.
[Edited at 2024-04-24 16:42 GMT]
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Charlie Bavington wrote: Yasutomo Kanazawa wrote:
... I suggest you tell them that if they are not going to pay on time, you would decline to do jobs for them.
And if the problem still persists, the only solution would be to dump them. I look at it this way: either the agency wants to maintain a decent working relationship for the future, or it doesn't. If it doesn't, you're going to struggle to get paid whatever you do or say. If it does, why aggravate them by telling them that you are considering not working with them in future? Personally, I'm not convinced this idea works, unless you know you offer a service they would really struggle to find elsewhere. I'd just decline future work for the usual reasons people give (already busy, on holiday, sick relatives, etc.) and see how payment for the current outstanding balances pans out. If payment is acceptably prompt, act accordingly. Otherwise, yup, I'd probably dump them. Meanwhile, does Hungary have provision for adding late payment interest? If so, maybe send a fresh invoice with interest added - it might provoke payment of the original invoice. (This worked for me once with a French client ) Good luck. [Edited at 2024-04-22 11:04 GMT]
"If it does, why aggravate them by telling them that you are considering not working with them in future? Personally, I'm not convinced this idea works, unless you know you offer a service they would really struggle to find elsewhere."
If it does, then why does Julie's client give her a hard time with payment? Isn't late payment a bad sign that the client has no respect for the translator whereas on the other hand they insist you on delivering the finished product by the deadline? If they are a day or two late once in a while, I think that's acceptable, but not 2 to 3 weeks as Julie mentioned in her initial post. Maybe the agency wants to maintain a decent relationship, but late payment is certainly not the way to do it.
I understand and agree that aggravating your client who wants to maintain a good relationship with you is not a good idea, but as I wrote earlier, if they keep on doing so, I would take this as a sign as not being serious and would stop working for them because I don't need the hassle to chase my payment knowing that they would not pay on time.
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Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 22:21
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
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Yasutomo Kanazawa wrote:
If it does, then why does Julie's client give her a hard time with payment? Isn't late payment a bad sign that the client has no respect for the translator whereas on the other hand they insist you on delivering the finished product by the deadline? If they are a day or two late once in a while, I think that's acceptable, but not 2 to 3 weeks as Julie mentioned in her initial post. Maybe the agency wants to maintain a decent relationship, but late payment is certainly not the way to do it.
You are right, but...
I have at least 2 good long-established (+15 years) clients that were late payers during the first years I worked for them. 2 or 3 weeks late and I always had to send 2 reminders and in some cases even a third one in which I threatened to stop the collaboration (after which they immediately paid). After a few years they changed their internal procedures and became timely payers.
Sometimes it might be worth it to tolerate late payments to a certain extent. In the course of the years these clients have generated a lot of money for me (and eventually paid every single one of my invoices).
| | | | Julie Barber
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:21
French to English
TOPIC STARTER
Lieven Malaise wrote: Yasutomo Kanazawa wrote:
If it does, then why does Julie's client give her a hard time with payment? Isn't late payment a bad sign that the client has no respect for the translator whereas on the other hand they insist you on delivering the finished product by the deadline? If they are a day or two late once in a while, I think that's acceptable, but not 2 to 3 weeks as Julie mentioned in her initial post. Maybe the agency wants to maintain a decent relationship, but late payment is certainly not the way to do it.
You are right, but... I have at least 2 good long-established (+15 years) clients that were late payers during the first years I worked for them. 2 or 3 weeks late and I always had to send 2 reminders and in some cases even a third one in which I threatened to stop the collaboration (after which they immediately paid). After a few years they changed their internal procedures and became timely payers. Sometimes it might be worth it to tolerate late payments to a certain extent. In the course of the years these clients have generated a lot of money for me (and eventually paid every single one of my invoices).
Yes, I agree with this. I have worked with the agency on and off many times over the years so I don't actually want to lose them as a client. However, I do think that it's disrespectful to pay so late without giving a reason or without advanced warning. Thankfully, I was paid yesterday - 3 weeks late, which is too long for me. A day or so is one thing, but not three weeks. I suspect a cashflow issue because they promised it last Friday, then didn't send it till mid-week this week. In any case, going forward, I will speak to them about it in advance of any jobs. Thanks for your help.
| | | | | Possibly, but not only | Apr 26 |
Yasutomo Kanazawa wrote:
Isn't late payment a bad sign that the client has no respect for the translator whereas on the other hand they insist you on delivering the finished product by the deadline?
Lack of "respect" is not the only reason clients fail to pay, of course
Cash flow and forgetfulness (or rubbish internal procedures) are the main reasons, I would think. (Excluding downright fraud.)
I suppose one could equate forgetfulness with a lack of respect....
Yasutomo Kanazawa wrote:
If they are a day or two late once in a while, I think that's acceptable, but not 2 to 3 weeks as Julie mentioned in her initial post. Maybe the agency wants to maintain a decent relationship, but late payment is certainly not the way to do it.
Consistently late payment is not ideal, certainly. It might indicate an underlying issue. Certainly given the recent state of things, I'd be more cautious about working with a consistently late payer now than I was 5 years ago.
Yasutomo Kanazawa wrote:
...if they keep on doing so, I would take this as a sign as not being serious and would stop working for them because I don't need the hassle to chase my payment knowing that they would not pay on time.
Very fair point & I agree, it is a hassle none of us needs.
| | | | Oriol VIP
Spain
Local time: 22:21
English to Spanish
+ ...
| Only 2-3 weeks late? | Apr 29 |
I think that is nothing to worry about. If an agency takes 6 months to 1 year to pay something -then you should worry.
On the other hand, I don't know how do you manage to control payments per week. So far I have only had the time to control payments twice per year, every six months -I guess I am a bit busier!
My suggestion is, don't worry, 2-3 weeks delay is nothing. Don't be scared!
Have a happy one!
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Julie Barber
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:21
French to English
TOPIC STARTER
Oriol VIP wrote:
I think that is nothing to worry about. If an agency takes 6 months to 1 year to pay something -then you should worry.
On the other hand, I don't know how do you manage to control payments per week. So far I have only had the time to control payments twice per year, every six months -I guess I am a bit busier!
My suggestion is, don't worry, 2-3 weeks delay is nothing. Don't be scared!
Have a happy one!
Hi Oriol
I couldn't disagree more! People depend on incoming payments and 2-3 weeks late is too much for me. If we worked in a company and the payroll was late it would be considered as totally unacceptable. I work for agencies and other translators. In turn, I also allocate jobs to other translators. I wouldn't dream of paying them late. It's a sign of mismanaging money and not respecting our colleagues.
| | | | Zea_Mays
Italy
Local time: 22:21
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
| how can a professional NOT control on-time payments? | Apr 29 |
Oriol VIP wrote:
On the other hand, I don't know how do you manage to control payments per week. So far I have only had the time to control payments twice per year, every six months -I guess I am a bit busier!
I am busy too and can check my payments with ease every week or more often if required, thanks to online banking and an Excel file with all figures and formulas that tell me weekly, monthly and expected yearly income, average monthly income, taxes I will have to pay, net savings after taxes and expenses... Paid invoices (with payment day next to them) are just highlighted in a different colour, overdue ones are red.
The easiest way to stay on top of your payments is issuing all invoices in the same period. In my case it is end of each month, with 30 days payment term. So payment check needs to be done only around the beginning of the month after next.
| | | | finnword1
United States
Local time: 16:21
English to Finnish
+ ...
I don't have an expected schedule. As long as the customer eventually pays, I am OK with it.
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