Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with freelance and payment

Help with debt collection

little cow make small moo — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 07:10:21 -0800

About a year ago I did a contract translation project and have yet to get paid, despite many promises. Is there any way I can collect? About a year ago I signed a contract for a translation job (and I was so enthused at first: http://ask.metafilter.com/211076/Do-I-sign-this-contract), and have since finished the work and invoiced them but have not received payment.

I've been in touch with the company (both my original contact there and then later the founder/CEO, who is apparently the contact person for payment-related stuff) for months now, always receiving assurances that I will eventually get paid, but of course I have not. It actually sounds like the company is unable to pay its own debts and may be going bankrupt. (At the end of March?)

Is it worth trying to get a collection agency or lawyer involved? If so, any recommendations?

To complicate things, I am in the U.S. but the translation company is in the UK. If it were a few hundred bucks, I would let it go, but they owe me almost $9K and I would like to get at least some of it.

Getting paid for writing?

ranglin — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 18:03:19 -0800

Should I expect to get paid for the writing I do for newspapers and periodicals? Hi All.

I'm an academic that has recently submitted a couple of OpEd articles to publications in my area (technology and education). At first I was so excited to publish these that I was happy to just send them to the editor, but now I'm starting to branch out I'm wondering whether I should be asking to be paid? I found this article which gives some great tips on how to approach editors and get items published, but just wondering how the payment system works (this is good too, but more focused on a full-time career)? In the academic field, where I come from, you usually don't get paid for publications (and sometimes have to pay them!), so this is all new to me.

Appreciate any help you can give. Thanks MeFi!

Freelance payment...

cartoonella — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 12:47:04 -0800

I have a day job, and I also freelance as a graphic artist/illustrator. I've only been getting paid for my work for the past few months, and I haven't had a problem getting compensated. Until now. For a couple of years I've been posted my art on a web site that connects artists with potential clients. I've been on there without much activity for two years. I'd never had reason to doubt that this site was on the up and up - there are thousands of other artists registered, and they send out a weekly newsletter congratulating this or that person on having scored a paying gig with someone who wanted one of their drawings.

Two weeks ago I got a message from the moderator of the site, saying that a German publication wanted to publish one of my cartoons. I instantly said yes! They asked me to email them a high-res file. They asked for my email address so I can receive payment from them via Paypal. Sounds good to me, though the amount isn't specified.

I emailed them the file. Heard nothing for a couple of days, but figured it's okay - times zones are different. Another email from them: the publisher wants to use my art in a print publication, so they need an even bigger file than what I gave them originally. And they need it NOW.

Unfortunately, this email hits my inbox at 3:00 in the morning, when I'm asleep. I didn't even get the message until 7:00 am my time.

I emailed them again, asking if they still want the file - or did I miss the paper's deadline? Didn't hear anything for a few hours, so I sent them the larger file anyway (went to a lot of trouble to do that, too, since it was on my home computer, not the one at my day job).

So I get a message from another site mod, telling me she's sorry, but I've missed the deadline, and the paper went with another artist. I figure easy come easy go, and that's that.

Days later, one of my fellow artist pals on the site, who lives in Germany, tells me my cartoon was published in a local newspaper there. I'm happy they used it, but miffed that I haven't been paid yet, and never received word from the web site that my art was going to be used after all.

A flurry of emails since then, with promises from three mods so far that I'm going to get paid. It's been two weeks, though, and I figure each day that passes halves my chances of getting paid anytime soon. I feel I'm going backwards by Xeno's paradox-type increments here. Not looking good.

So - I haven't had any problems with the site until now. It's been nothing but a good-karma place for me. I've built up scads of contacts with other artists that have been valuable for me. My work is neatly arranged in an easy-to-navigate online gallery that anyone can access, and I enjoy being a part of their community. But I feel burned, and I'd like to know how to approach this next time (if there is a next time).

If they approach me again with promise of a paying opportunity, I'm thinking I need to make sure of a few things: The name of the publication, the fee they're paying me, and the date I should expect payment. I would also like to ask them for a contact name at the organization, but other artists on the site have said that it's verboten to contact the site's partners. I suppose it would also make sense to simply refuse to send the file until I get something in writing from them. Sending a watermarked file doesn't really do anything for me in this case.

What else should I ask for or make sure of next time? Am I leaving anything out?

Also, I'm unsure how to approach the non-payment issue. How long should I wait before bringing it up again, or should I? I've been on friendly terms with two of the mods, who've asked for my help in translating some of their press releases into English. I don't want to start a fight, but I could use some answers. Any thoughts appreciated.

Working for American clients in Ecuador

jason9009 — Sun, 16 May 2010 11:18:07 -0800

I'm going to be living in Cuenca, Ecuador this summer with some travel to Quito, Guayaquil and other cities. I'm a software developer and plan to work for my American clients from Ecuador. Any tips or advice on receiving payments? Or tips on my working from Ecuador in general? I plan to have clients deposit money into my American bank accounts and just using an ATM to retrieve it in Ecuador. Any better solutions ?

How to pay someone I freelance with

eightball — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 14:08:00 -0800

How should payment be handled when freelancing with another person? I'm a web developer and occasionally I get some freelance work on the side. I usually work with a designer I know. In the past, I've had the client write a separate check in the designers name for his amount. I'd like to stop doing this - it just seems kind of unprofessional and I'd like everything to go through me.

I'm kind of clueless as far as taxes - I've got an accountant to handle them for me since they've gotten more complicated. I do maybe 2 or 3 freelance projects a year and have always used the self-employment tax form, or gotten a 1099.

My question is, if the client pays me the full amount and I then pay my designer out of that, am I responsible for paying taxes on the full amount?

I know there are a lot of people here who freelance and I'm wondering what's the best way to do this.

No, Virginia, there are no perfect clients.

kaseijin — Thu, 06 Apr 2006 19:14:45 -0800

[FreelanceFilter] I need a lawyer's advice! (or other freelancers) I work as a freelance web/Flash developer, and getting money from clients after the job is done is always a huge pain in the ass... I have come to the conclusion that there are 6 basic types of clients out there:

1) The client who wants to pay you hourly...and runs up hour after hour after hour, with you reminding him that time is money, and he's running up quite a bill...and then gets sticker shock when his job is done, and refuses to pay.

2) The client who makes *tons* of out-of-scope changes and additions after the job is done (but before you have your check), and demands that they be made, or he's not going to pay you at all.

3) The client who feigns ridiculous outrage over something utterly trivial, which you likely either suggested changing weeks prior only to have your suggestion snubbed, or which was a change specifically requested by the client himself...and refuses to pay on grounds of his "outrage."

4) The client who pitches a massive fit if you try to push back even an internal review conference call...then never pays you, instead giving you a "check's in the mail" runaround for months.

5) "No... I don't have any examples of designs I like. I don't even really know what I want, but I'll know it when I see it. I dunno, just make it fun. (5 stabs at "fun" later) No...that's still not fun enough. Can you add some starbursts? What about comic-sans? That's a fun font! Why don't you make it look more like a PowerPoint presentation, but use that font to fun it up some?"

6) Wonder-client. This one's rare.

Anyway, I'm in a sticky predicament with a client of the 4th variety. So, here goes:

Prior to leaving for grad school and starting my (now second) extended stint of freelancing, I was working at a prominent advertising agency here in town. After my departure, some friends at the agency needed some Flash work done, and contracted me.

They handled all interaction with the client, sent estimates, received purchase orders, etcetera, and did the visual design of the site. I did the build, programming, and sound work, and offered a lot of extraneous web advice -- some taken by the client, and some not.

I was to bill the client directly rather than bill the agency, despite my minimal contact with them, and the agency had all of my estimates approved.

Because of this, I never had in my hands a purchase order, never got to draft a contract, and never recieved a deposit up-front for work to be performed. I *do*, however, have a lengthy e-mail paper trail involving both the agency and the client detailing what was to be paid, to whom, and for what services.

Upon completion of the job, I invoice the client in two parts - each with a note explaining that payment is expected within 30 days. The client agrees to this term via email, and tells me that they have put the information "in the system" to be mailed out on a certain date (30 days exactly after invoice).

30 days pass. 40 days pass. 50 days pass. After many calls and several emails of escalating urgency on my part, and after several claims of "oh, it's in the mail," and, "I'll send it out first thing in the morning," on their part... I finally get my check for the first invoice. They tell me the second one will be on time (it was invoiced a few weeks after the first).

Now, it's been 60 days since they got the 2nd invoice, and I have no sign of payment. I have not heard back from emails I have sent. The project manager at the advertising agency called them and was told that the person responsible for mailing the checks was "out for a few weeks."

What is my recourse, here? What are my options? I need the money, obviously, or I would have done the work. Can I take down the site for non-payment? Would that be legal? Would it be ethical? It would certainly piss them off, and it would probably piss off the agency that acted as intermediary. That might equate to a real cost in terms of potential work down the road (and they might turn into the client that flat-out refuses to pay at all), but then.... the client is also currently using goods that have not been paid for in full.

What should I do?

How to open a bank account abroad?

altolinguistic — Tue, 28 Jun 2005 04:40:21 -0800

Does anyone have any experience opening a bank account in a country in which they are not resident? I live in Britain and would like an account in France. I work freelance as a translator, and have several clients in France and Belgium, who pay by bank transfer. I'm registered self-employed in Britain, and pay my taxes here. I realise I probably can't escape transfer expenses of some sort, but I'd rather not be at the mercy of the exchange rate more than I can avoid. So I'd like a euro bank account.

I'd be interested to hear others' experiences of this. Would I need an address in France? (I don't have one, but I know people who do...) I used to have an account with the Caisse d'Epargne when I lived there (pre-Euro) but stupidly closed it when I came back to Britain as I needed the money contained in it.

I guess I wouldn't necessarily need an a/c in France, any Euro country would do, but I speak and understand French better than any other European language apart from English.

Reputable Collection Agencies?

o2b — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 12:04:42 -0800

I did some freelance work for a company last year and have a number of unpaid invoices. It's been too long, it's time to cross over to Bad Guy. Unfortunately, I'm a terrible Bad Guy, so I need someone else to do it for me. Does anyone know of a reputable collection agency? How does one evaluate them?