TE
TechEcho
Home24h TopNewestBestAskShowJobs
GitHubTwitter
Home

TechEcho

A tech news platform built with Next.js, providing global tech news and discussions.

GitHubTwitter

Home

HomeNewestBestAskShowJobs

Resources

HackerNews APIOriginal HackerNewsNext.js

© 2025 TechEcho. All rights reserved.

Ask HN: As a freelancer how concerned are you about how fast you get paid?

4 pointsby michaelfluxabout 8 years ago
Multiple part question for you guys,<p>1) When you submit your invoices, what are your typical payment terms - net 30, 60, 90 etc<p>2) Would you be willing to give your client a small discount (e.g. 2-3%) in exchange for the invoice being paid immediately, so you have the money in your account same day.<p>3) If you have to choose between clients, assuming all else is equal, are you more likely to work with the client who will pay you faster.

7 comments

Torwaldabout 8 years ago
1) I have indivualized this. Before even writing the invoice I will have a long and sup-friendly chat over coffee with the accounting person or whoever takes care of thee billing in that shop. I let them explain in detail their process. I always learn something interesting about how the real world works. I listen. I listen to their woes, I sincerely try to understand them, their problems act everything. I establish rapport with that person. Finally I ask: &quot;OK, now, how are we going to go about this?&quot; At this point I normally have enough of an idea about their process to understand what kind of dates and other terms would make it work. I always highlight mutual respect.<p>2) First of all, normally I do not start to work before I received the money upfront. Well, the money for the current milestone of the project. This is the best way to make sure you don&#x27;t waste time with people who don&#x27;t want to pay.<p>Second, I am not only willing to give a discount, I always use this to sell the offer I want them to buy the most. But I never do an unreal number like &quot;2%&quot;. What is that? Have you ever seen a 2% running in the wild? I don&#x27;t know any bank or corporate office that work so fast that they give you the money on the sam day. Unless you are talking about &quot;small&quot; clients who work via pay-pal and the like?<p>3) I don&#x27;t understand the question?
评论 #14263329 未加载
brudgersabout 8 years ago
For perspective: I started doing contract CAD work in 1990. I started doing freelance residential and commercial design in 2002. I started practicing architecture in 2007. The tl;dr: If I have doubts about a potential client paying quickly or at all I will validate that doubt by requiring a check rather than just hoping I am wrong.<p>Typically, I require a substantial retainer to be applied against <i>final</i> invoice. By substantial, I mean big enough to cover all the billings up to <i>payment</i> of the first invoice. Payment terms are always &quot;Due on receipt of invoice.&quot; I am not in the no-interest short term unsecured loan business. This means:<p>1. I will not be upside down where I am owed money for work I have done.<p>2. I will not discover that the client does not have funds to pay me.<p>3. I will avoid potential clients with a strong propensity not to pay without investing much time.<p>4. I will avoid potential clients who will use me as a bank.<p>5. I will avoid potential clients who believe that since they did not build it, they should not have to pay.<p>The most significant characteristic of a good client is that they pay quickly and well. Here, &quot;well&quot; can mean a lot or regularly, but preferably both. Writing a check before we start is a good indicator.<p>There are exceptions of course. Bureaucratic organizations have their payment procedures. On the other hand, if the person who I am talking to cannot authorize a retainer, then I might not be talking to the right decision maker about the financial aspects of the contract.<p>Good luck.
评论 #14263340 未加载
DamonHDabout 8 years ago
1) I try to have slightly weird terms so that I don&#x27;t slot neatly into any standard way of ignoring invoices.<p>2) Yes, in principle, though (a) it complicated taxes and (b) none have ever taken me up on the offer. You could go to a factor to do it for you though.<p>3) Unless it&#x27;s a huge difference, no.<p>When I started at RBS in 2008, having escaped Lehman Brothers just in time, I was glad that I had been switched to weekly invoicing (without being asked) since RBS&#x27; share price halved live while I watched in the first week and I wasn&#x27;t sure that RBS would be alive to pay me in week 2!
评论 #14237136 未加载
noir_lordabout 8 years ago
1) 30 days.<p>2) Probably<p>3) Always, clients who pay on or before time get priority all other things been equal, cashflow trumps pretty much everything else.<p>If I have more clients than I have time then the clients who get dropped of the list are the ones who pay late, I&#x27;ve done the work I shouldn&#x27;t have to chase you for the money.<p>I just took a full time job though as freelancing is way too much not-programming and I &#x27;just&#x27; want to be a programmer for as much of the day as possible.
评论 #14236487 未加载
antoinevgabout 8 years ago
1. Payment is due on receipt of invoice<p>2. I give a 10% discount for invoices paid on the same day as receipt<p>3. I will not do repeat work for someone who did not pay on time
评论 #14236482 未加载
GrumpyNlabout 8 years ago
1) 7 days 2) nope 3) i do the work on you terms, you pay me on my terms. ( im not cheap, minimum is $80 an hour)
评论 #14237062 未加载
mattbgatesabout 8 years ago
1) net immediate but invoice is sent on the first of every month<p>2) 10% discount if paid on same day and any (Paypal) fees removed<p>3) I document my work and send an invoice to the client - I expect payment within a week and would prefer those clients who see the work is done and want to pay their bill immediately<p>When I send an invoice, I usually put payment due upon receipt, however, for clients that I do daily work for or updates once a month, I only send an invoice once a month.<p>I&#x27;ve never had issues with clients paying because I have showed them purposely what happens when I don&#x27;t update their websites... they actually crash after a while. WordPress is great, and will almost always work to an extent even when outdated, but massive plugins that are database intensive and rely on user input usually start failing after a few months of not being updated.<p>So yeah, if they don&#x27;t pay, I don&#x27;t update their website, and it starts to break, and by that time, I usually charge them more to figure out what went wrong, and they learn that paying my invoices on time, will save them money in the long run.<p>I have only ran into a problem once.. a client forgot to pay me and I let it slide for the entire month. I sent her an email reminding her that she had not paid the invoice and if she would like to continue my services to please pay her invoice. She paid within 24 hours.<p>I also usually offer my clients two options:<p>1) pay me hourly and be sent an invoice every month<p>2) pay me yearly and receive a huge discount<p>So for example, if I build a website for someone, on the invoice, I display separate monthly maintenance pricing and per hour, it might be $30&#x2F;hr, while paying me yearly might only cost them $1000 for the entire year.<p>So what are the benefits and disadvantages?<p>Charging hourly is for clients you know who are going to demand your time and are picky and sometimes want custom work. You can determine how they are going to be when building their website. They will nitpick and probably argue with you more often than you&#x27;d like. These clients will milk you for your time when they can, getting you on phone calls, emailing you, wanting to know everything, asking so many questions, etc., so best not to even offer the other option.<p>Charging yearly is for clients you know who might call upon you once or twice a month, but pretty much you are just providing some support and maintenance. This is for clients who are much more laid back and less demanding. It is best to offer this plan and the other one.<p>I&#x27;ve had a few clients pay me yearly and most of the time, I haven&#x27;t really had a loss. For some, I may have done a little more work than I would have liked, but it is also the gamble I take when offering clients those options.<p>On the bright note of being paid yearly, you get paid immediately upfront so you see the money right away, but you risk your client needing more work and you end up getting paid less than if you had charged hourly. You obviously can&#x27;t take this back. So it is good to know your clients well and their demands before offering such an option.<p>The bonus is that if they don&#x27;t use your services that much.. you made some good money for doing very little work, sometimes no work at all, if they don&#x27;t call upon you for the entire year. Easy money.
评论 #14236498 未加载