ProZ.com Translation Forums

ERP, TMS, TBMS, CRM. What do you use in your work? | Training for independence, choice and stability

Diana Hager — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 13:33:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Project / Vendor Management
Topic: ERP, TMS, TBMS, CRM. What do you use in your work?
Poster: Diana Hager
Post title: Training for independence, choice and stability

With the number of choices already available on the market (sorry Artem), compatibility between older tools and newer resources, along with learning curves, etc., needs to be taken into account.

@William, @Li-Hsiang, and others who use similar approaches,

I have followed several of these threads on freelancer autonomy and problems using different tools (and have also experienced different technical issues). Though I could not, at present, start over with my own templates and models, I would be interested in learning about your more independent workflows to profit from your experience and skills.

Have you ever considered proposing a training course to ProZ? Or is there already one I did not find when searching?

ERP, TMS, TBMS, CRM. What do you use in your work? | Daryo and Li-Hsiang Hsu reply

Artem Denisevich — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 08:58:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Project / Vendor Management
Topic: ERP, TMS, TBMS, CRM. What do you use in your work?
Poster: Artem Denisevich
Post title: Daryo and Li-Hsiang Hsu reply

Ok, now it makes sense. I don't like subscriptions either.

ERP, TMS, TBMS, CRM. What do you use in your work? | Or ...

Daryo — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 17:35:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Project / Vendor Management
Topic: ERP, TMS, TBMS, CRM. What do you use in your work?
Poster: Daryo
Post title: Or ...

[quote]Li-Hsiang Hsu wrote:

If you have your old perpetual licenses for Excel or Word, hold onto them. They are your sovereignty. With them, no one can force you to pay a €30 monthly subscription fee, or hit you with a 30% price hike from one year to the next whenever the company is looking to raise funds. [/quote]

You also have the latest open-source software [like LibreOffice] that can do for completely free and without any limitations 99% of what paid software can do. Most people use barely 5 -10% of what Word or Excel can do, so they'll NEVER need the missing 1% anyway.

I still use my very old version of Word for some intricate formatting you don’t get with LibreOffice - but most people don't bother with the level of customising I love to indulge in, so LibreOffice would be a perfect 'free alternative' for them.

ERP, TMS, TBMS, CRM. What do you use in your work? | I have nothing against new TMS tools.

Li-Hsiang Hsu — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 16:38:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Project / Vendor Management
Topic: ERP, TMS, TBMS, CRM. What do you use in your work?
Poster: Li-Hsiang Hsu
Post title: I have nothing against new TMS tools.

I am simply opposed to a production or work tool based on a subscription model. With a subscription, you no longer own your tool - you become a "subscriber" and are potentially exposed to all the uncertainties that come with that arrangement.

For instance, while a ProZ membership isn't strictly necessary - I don't mind being a "subscriber" or a "member", but having a TMS or an editing tool is essential for my work. I prefer to have it at my disposal, to own it, even if my tool is 10 years old.

ERP, TMS, TBMS, CRM. What do you use in your work? | I use a template

Li-Hsiang Hsu — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 16:00:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Project / Vendor Management
Topic: ERP, TMS, TBMS, CRM. What do you use in your work?
Poster: Li-Hsiang Hsu
Post title: I use a template

[quote]Artem Denisevich wrote:

But what if you work in a team that has several projects at the same time with many clients? Every translator uses their own Excel file with unique formatting and structure, sends different versions on email. Isn't it a problem for management? [/quote]

ERP, TMS, TBMS, CRM. What do you use in your work? | Thank you Li-Hsiang Hsu

Artem Denisevich — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Project / Vendor Management
Topic: ERP, TMS, TBMS, CRM. What do you use in your work?
Poster: Artem Denisevich
Post title: Thank you Li-Hsiang Hsu

But what if you work in a team that has several projects at the same time with many clients? Every translator uses their own Excel file with unique formatting and structure, sends different versions on email. Isn't it a problem for management?

ERP, TMS, TBMS, CRM. What do you use in your work? | Yes, your perpectual Excel licence is your sovereignty. You are in control of your production tool.

Li-Hsiang Hsu — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 12:59:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Project / Vendor Management
Topic: ERP, TMS, TBMS, CRM. What do you use in your work?
Poster: Li-Hsiang Hsu
Post title: Yes, your perpectual Excel licence is your sovereignty. You are in control of your production tool.

If you have your old perpetual licenses for Excel or Word, hold onto them. They are your sovereignty. With them, no one can force you to pay a €30 monthly subscription fee, or hit you with a 30% price hike from one year to the next whenever the company is looking to raise funds.

ERP, TMS, TBMS, CRM. What do you use in your work? | Thank you for your message, William

Artem Denisevich — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 12:39:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Project / Vendor Management
Topic: ERP, TMS, TBMS, CRM. What do you use in your work?
Poster: Artem Denisevich
Post title: Thank you for your message, William

I can definitely imagine how horrible it is when your data suddenly disappears. And I wish you luck with Excel.

ERP, TMS, TBMS, CRM. What do you use in your work? | TGHOW

William Tierney — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 15:26:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Project / Vendor Management
Topic: ERP, TMS, TBMS, CRM. What do you use in your work?
Poster: William Tierney
Post title: TGHOW

Hi Artem,

After serious disappointment from corporate TBMS products, I am a translator going his own way.

I used BACCS through my Proz account and was very satisfied. RWS then bought out BACCS, and all of a sudden I couldn't get access to my vendors in the "new-and-improved" Trados Business Manager. The program also had a funny habit of deleting my information and forcing me to re-enter it. :evil:

It just so happened that RWS had a more expensive version available. Come to your own conclusions.

After putting up to this for too long, I took a deep dive into Excel and VBA. I am just finishing my study of userforms and plan to do my management system myself, I am going my own way.

I would suggest young translators learn Excel and be master of your own universe. The subscription prices are not worth it.

[Edited at 2026-07-22 15:29 GMT]

ERP, TMS, TBMS, CRM. What do you use in your work? | No bells and whistles

Sergei Leshchinsky — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 13:53:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Project / Vendor Management
Topic: ERP, TMS, TBMS, CRM. What do you use in your work?
Poster: Sergei Leshchinsky
Post title: No bells and whistles

Native CAT-tool's features for TMM/TBM.
Excel for CRM and TMM/TBM.

ERP, TMS, TBMS, CRM. What do you use in your work?

Artem Denisevich — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 13:20:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Project / Vendor Management
Topic: ERP, TMS, TBMS, CRM. What do you use in your work?
Poster: Artem Denisevich

Currently, there are a lots of management tools for translators and translation agencies. I wonder which ERPs, CRMs, TMSs, TBMSs you use in your workflow?

Some ideas for discussions:
What tools you like and what not?
What would be cool to see and what annoys you?
Which features are must-have and which ones are missing?

P.S. I want to be honest with you, I am working at Awtomated TBMS and we are striving to know how we can improve our own platform.

Welcome 2026! What will change in translation? | If it's all down to price...

Maria Laura Curzi — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 22:03:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Project / Vendor Management
Topic: Welcome 2026! What will change in translation?
Poster: Maria Laura Curzi
Post title: If it's all down to price...

[quote]Peter Motte wrote:

It's a myth that only the good ones will survive.
In reality it's the price/quality ration which is important, which means that often the good ones disappear, because they need time to check the translation thoroughly and that means their price is higher per volume.
Often it are the bad ones which remain, because they deliver quick-and-dirty work, but the client has no problem with subpar quality.
That means that everybody in the field has to try to find another job.
Teaching is a possibility. [/quote]

If the only thing in consideration is price (worth noting the difference between price and value), then I think not even the bad ones will remain, because AI can do an equally dirty, good-enough job faster and cheaper (or even for free!).
The growing problem, as I see it, isn't that many clients have no problem with that, but also that many greedy agencies/LSPs not only have no problem with that, but also embark on the current tech hype that encourages the use of GenAI.

Greedy people who are unwilling to think outside the tech hype will sink everybody in the translation industry, whether they are good, bad, or valuable experts.

Welcome 2026! What will change in translation? | Pivotal year

Lieven Malaise — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 15:04:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Project / Vendor Management
Topic: Welcome 2026! What will change in translation?
Poster: Lieven Malaise
Post title: Pivotal year

To nobody's surprise I don't know what will change in translation.

I do have a feeling though that 2026 will be a pivotal year, in which I either:

- Will finally go down with so many others (meaning having to give up my fulltime occupation), or
- Once again will stand my ground and even reinvent myself within my occupation to continue for several more years until AI really improves significantly.

I really believe it can go both ways and at this exact moment I've got no clue what it's gonna be, other than that this first week of the year has given me no reason to start being more worried than I normally am.

Welcome 2026! What will change in translation? | It's a slow day, so…

Mario Chávez — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 14:32:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Project / Vendor Management
Topic: Welcome 2026! What will change in translation?
Poster: Mario Chávez
Post title: It's a slow day, so…

…I'll keep it short.

Nothing and everything will change in translation. See how that sounds? Another banal affirmation, like the ones we see in social media or in motivational posters.

Whatever happens (or not) to a bunch of colleagues on the other side of the world doesn't affect me. It's their lives, their circumstances, not mine.

Can we stop and think of other translation-related topics we'd like to discuss? Maybe a novel translated into our language that we'd like to talk about? Or what we think about the relationship between what we read and how we translate? You know, relevant topics?

MC

Welcome 2026! What will change in translation? | It’s high time to bail out!

Peter Motte — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 14:26:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Project / Vendor Management
Topic: Welcome 2026! What will change in translation?
Poster: Peter Motte
Post title: It’s high time to bail out!

It's a myth that only the good ones will survive.
In reality it's the price/quality ration which is important, which means that often the good ones disappear, because they need time to check the translation thoroughly and that means their price is higher per volume.
Often it are the bad ones which remain, because they deliver quick-and-dirty work, but the client has no problem with subpar quality.
That means that everybody in the field has to try to find another job.
Teaching is a possibility.

Welcome 2026! What will change in translation? | High time to bail out

Daryo — Sun, 04 Jan 2026 16:29:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Project / Vendor Management
Topic: Welcome 2026! What will change in translation?
Poster: Daryo
Post title: High time to bail out

Translations will always be needed. No doubts.

To which extent and for how long translating - in the unadulterated meaning to the term - will still be a profession for real competent people, well that's another story altogether. That may go away entirely, or at best shrink to a tiny minority.

Even without waiting for my crystal ball to quit sulking, it's easy to predict the outline of what lays ahead, even if details are less predictable. And it's not good for the vast majority of translators.

For most, it’s high time to bail out!

Welcome 2026! What will change in translation? | STOP DOING TRANSLATIONS!!!

Novian Cahyadi (X) — Sun, 04 Jan 2026 11:21:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Project / Vendor Management
Topic: Welcome 2026! What will change in translation?
Poster: Novian Cahyadi (X)
Post title: STOP DOING TRANSLATIONS!!!

[*] WORDS WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE UNDERSTOOD BY EVERYONE
[*] YEARS OF TRANSLATING yet NO REAL-WORLD USE FOUND for speaking a foreign language other than WEEBSPEAK ON ANIME FORUMS
[*] Wanted to speak a foreign language anyway for a laugh? We had a tool for that: It was called "CHATGPT"
[*] "Yes please give me a QUALITY translation. Please make it as if it was originally written in the TARGET language" - Statements dreamed up by the utterly Deranged

LOOK at what Translators have been demanding your Respect for all this time, with all the dictionaries & termbases we built for them

(This is REAL Translation, done by REAL Translators):

[img] [url removed] [/img]
???

[img] [url removed] [/img]
???????

[img] [url removed] [/img]
??????????????

"Hello Dear"

They have played us for absolute fools

Welcome 2026! What will change in translation? | what

Gregor Trebec — Sat, 03 Jan 2026 10:52:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Project / Vendor Management
Topic: Welcome 2026! What will change in translation?
Poster: Gregor Trebec
Post title: what

There are like dozen discssions about AI and you opened a new one?

[Edited at 2026-01-03 10:54 GMT]

Welcome 2026! What will change in translation?

MassimoA — Sat, 03 Jan 2026 08:02:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Project / Vendor Management
Topic: Welcome 2026! What will change in translation?
Poster: MassimoA

Happy New Year to everyone from Milan, Italy.
What will happen in the world of translation in 2026?
I remind you that it's impossible to get everyone to speak the same language, so translation is a profession that will last forever!
But the risk of AI looms, that is, of leaving everything in the hands of AI...will humans still be needed?

Percentage and hour-based PM fees and charges | Many jobs don't pan out

Joakim Braun — Tue, 02 Sep 2025 20:09:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Project / Vendor Management
Topic: Percentage and hour-based PM fees and charges
Poster: Joakim Braun
Post title: Many jobs don't pan out

To judge from my own bids, a lot of jobs don't pan out, even for PMs/agencies.
So if you're on percentage you'll do a great deal of your work for nothing - perhaps even most of it. And there's not very much you can do about it, even if you're good, except crank up processing volume. The fee has to reflect that.

7% of a typical project cost... Well, that depends on project size and market niche. Most agency inquiries I get are for jobs of a few thousand words at most. You'll handle many jobs of only 2-3 pages and end-customer cost of a few hundred euros tops. When adjusting for jobs that don't pan out, yielding zero income, maybe 7% at a decent rate doesn't leave you with all that many minutes per job. Just sayin'...

Percentage and hour-based PM fees and charges | hourly rate

Zea_Mays — Tue, 02 Sep 2025 09:41:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Project / Vendor Management
Topic: Percentage and hour-based PM fees and charges
Poster: Zea_Mays
Post title: hourly rate

I do not accept PM jobs, but if I did, I would charge my hourly rate like an employee, plus surcharges for evening/weekend work, also like an employee.
This way I know exactly what I'm earning, and rules are clear for both parties. I wouldn't rely too much on percentages, as this could be very unfavorable for you. And how would you know what's the actual value of each project? Would they show you the contract with the final client?

Percentage and hour-based PM fees and charges

Kanstantsin Loichyts — Tue, 02 Sep 2025 08:46:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Project / Vendor Management
Topic: Percentage and hour-based PM fees and charges
Poster: Kanstantsin Loichyts

Hi colleagues,

I’d like to hear your advice on setting fair PM fees. I was offered a contractor role as a Project Manager with teams handling Middle Eastern and European languages for both translation and interpretation.

The role typically includes:

* Coordinating multi-language teams
* Handling frequent urgent requests
* Being on weekend email standby at least once a month (rotation)

I’m trying to figure out whether it’s best to charge a flat % of the project budget, a per-hour rate, or build the PM fee into per-word/minute pricing. FYI, I was offered 7% of the total project cost. From what I’ve seen, however, industry averages suggest 10–20% of the total project cost for PMs, and with the urgency and weekend standby, it feels like 7% is not even remotely enough for this role.

My questions to you:

1. How do you structure your PM fees in similar situations?
2. Do you apply a higher percentage for urgent/after-hours coordination?
3. For recurring clients, do you charge a retainer for standby availability, or keep it project-based?

I want to stay competitive but also make sure the PM work (especially in high-pressure conditions) is valued fairly. Would really appreciate hearing how others in the field approach this!

Thanks in advance!

[Edited at 2025-09-02 09:10 GMT]

Best PM solution for micro business | Awtomated TBMS

Artem Denisevich — Sat, 19 Jul 2025 10:19:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Project / Vendor Management
Topic: Best PM solution for micro business
Poster: Artem Denisevich
Post title: Awtomated TBMS

You can look for Awtomated for the project management. Its light weight, and built for small and medium sized LSP. You will have a ll the necessary feature from Task to Vendor assignment to file management.

Looking for a lead tracking tool | Labels

Anne-Virginie Lerat — Mon, 07 Apr 2025 11:50:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Project / Vendor Management
Topic: Looking for a lead tracking tool
Poster: Anne-Virginie Lerat
Post title: Labels

You are right, I always forget about the labels in lsp. I will investigate this! Thank you again for the tip!

Looking for a lead tracking tool | Labels + Activities (notes) is enough for my purposes

Michael Beijer — Fri, 04 Apr 2025 15:39:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Project / Vendor Management
Topic: Looking for a lead tracking tool
Poster: Michael Beijer
Post title: Labels + Activities (notes) is enough for my purposes

[quote]Anne-Virginie Lerat wrote:

I already use lsp, I find it very useful for job tracking and invoicing.

However, when it comes to tracking the agencies/potential clients I have contacted in order to offer my services, I am not sure lsp offers this functionality. [/quote]

I make extensive use of the very handy labels functionality, plus the Activities feature.

It's not a full lead management system, but enough for my purposes!

[Edited at 2025-04-04 15:42 GMT]

Looking for a lead tracking tool | Google Workspace Streak Add-On

Ricardo Aries — Fri, 04 Apr 2025 14:37:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Project / Vendor Management
Topic: Looking for a lead tracking tool
Poster: Ricardo Aries
Post title: Google Workspace Streak Add-On

It is available on Google Workspace as an add-on with a free trial. You should give it a try. Lead tracking tools are typically difficult to find outside the translation industry. Alternatively, you might try this tool instead: [url removed]

Looking for a lead tracking tool | Thank you for your reply

Anne-Virginie Lerat — Fri, 04 Apr 2025 12:34:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Project / Vendor Management
Topic: Looking for a lead tracking tool
Poster: Anne-Virginie Lerat
Post title: Thank you for your reply

I already use lsp, I find it very useful for job tracking and invoicing.

However, when it comes to tracking the agencies/potential clients I have contacted in order to offer my services, I am not sure lsp offers this functionality.

Looking for a lead tracking tool | LSP.expert

Michael Beijer — Fri, 04 Apr 2025 12:24:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Project / Vendor Management
Topic: Looking for a lead tracking tool
Poster: Michael Beijer
Post title: LSP.expert

I highly recommend: [url removed] (ps: this is an affiliate link)

I use it for invoicing, business expenses, reporting and lead tracking.

[Edited at 2025-04-04 12:25 GMT]

Looking for a lead tracking tool

Anne-Virginie Lerat — Fri, 04 Apr 2025 12:12:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Project / Vendor Management
Topic: Looking for a lead tracking tool
Poster: Anne-Virginie Lerat

Hello,

I am looking for a solution to track my leads/prospects. The CRM all seem a bit too complex to me.
I mainly want to follow prospects and know when to recontact them.
Thank you very much in advance!

Becoming a translator for publishers | what i know ....

edward o loughlin — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 19:59:00 +0000

Forum: Translation Project / Vendor Management
Topic: Becoming a translator for publishers
Poster: edward o loughlin
Post title: what i know ....

trying to get a book contract for .....2 years now....
sent off sample chapter for 4 or 5 different books and all the elements eg what is the intended market,
titles of all chapters , and so on.. i used the manuscript template publishers provide on their site as a structure. Sadly , replies were very few and no one was interested. Yes , i scrolled through their titles to match what i would like to work on, still no joy . Find a publisher who does bi lingual titles or
separate german _ english editions of one book. I think biggest block is that publishers much prefer to select their own titles from other publishers lists , and are not open to suggestions from outside.
Most likely because they dont " know you " they will say NO.
How you ' get into their networks ' is the crux.... if you find out , pls let me know !