Looking for some Arch-Viz advice
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I do a bit of side work on occasion. I finished a quick project for a client nearly a month ago and have yet to be paid. I emailed him about it and his response was that his client (the homeowner) has been billed and my services are included in that invoice. So presumably I'll get paid when he gets paid.
I'm not quite sure how to respond to that. Any advice?
-Brodie
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Dear Brodie,
Your contract is with the architect and not with the home owner. If it were with the home owner then you would have billed him/her directly. What you do next is another matter.
If the arrangement was 'casual', and without terms and conditions being agreed before you started the work, then I would suggest you wait and hope that all goes well. It is what is written down before you start the job that counts.
Regards,
Bob -
I didn't write up a formal contract. I've done business with him before so I'm not too concerned about being stiffed, I just don't want to set a precedent of being paid 1 month+ after my work is completed.
-Brodie
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Then you have little choice but to -politely- tell him his pay check isn't your problem. Of course, there's the risk of him taking it badly.
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In a situation where you haven't set out the terms in advance (1.e. payment due upon receipt of invoice etc) then I would advise you to learn from this one and set yourself up a "terms" document for use from now on.
In most cases, a business to business transaction is a 30 day process, but if this doesn't work for you then set your terms, I'm sure if your client doesn't like them they will let you know. -
If you want to keep it informal, just let him know your not happy being paid so late. If your doing repeat work for him he probably isnt too much of an arse and may well listen.
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As others have mentioned unless your agreement or your invoice specifically states "Payment due upon receipt of invoice" or something to that effect. It's common business to business time table to make payment within 30 days. Depending on the amount owed sometimes if a client I do work for is waiting on payment I might ask for a partial payment. My advice is to let this one slide since you had no formal agreement on payment terms and it's more important to maintain a good working relationship. After you receive payment for this invoice you could have a conversation with this client and mention that for future projects you will be requiring payment upon receipt of invoice. Again if it's not imperative that you get this money I'd opt for maintaining a good relationship. If money is tight and getting this invoice paid is critical A simple phone call and a discussion about your needs and letting the client know that sooner rather than later for payment would be appreciated.
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Everone gets paid one month after the work is finished... except for plumbers.
It sucks, but it's just the way it is. The better you know the client the later they usually pay you- it's always easier to make excuses to a friend ("Sorry, kids' school fees are due this week, I'll get it to you next week") than to a stranger.Most important thing is to set a precedent right as soon as the approach you with a commission. Be friendly, but don't be afraid to talk seriosuly when it comes to $$$. If payday has been and gone and you let it slide for too long the first time, the excuses will just roll out ever more frequently for every project after that. Make it very clear from the outset that if they haven't got the capital to pay you for completed work at the time that they commission you, then you are unable to do the work. It won't get you paid on time (only big guys with big fists get that), but it'll speed things along when it's billing time. Also, if you've been paid late in the past and the client approaches you again with work, don't be afraid to say you'd rather not accept if they are going to be late in paying again. Chances are they'd rather agree to pay up pronto that have to go searching for another consultant to do work for them.
As Phil says, as this agreement has been informal so far, best to keep things amiable and try to tighten it up the next time. For new clients, lay down the law straight away, in writing.
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hi Brodie
As others said it's very important to specify all the terms for the project before anything starts, and this goes not only for money but deadlines, whats supost to be delivered, image resoltions etc, etc.
But i feel your pain, i also hated to just be paid days (somtimes almost 2 months!) after in the beggining, so now normally after i finish the work i send the client tha images in a smals resolution 640x480 with my watermark just for him to see that everything its done and correct any error that may miss me, and if everything it's good i send him the final work AFTER i get paid (that's normally in the same day or at most 2 days after). And i discussed all of this with the client before anything starts, to avoid confusions or discussions like "but i really need the pics today" and such...
David
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Thanks everyone for the helpful advice. It's good to know that 30 days seems fairly standard and I'm still a bit under that. So I can relax a bit there knowing my expectations maybe were a tad high. Thanks for the advice on what to do in the future as well. What do you think of 1/2 payment up front and 1/2 after? Not sure if that'd work for me as I don't always know the price on day 1 but it's another thought.
-Brodie
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Ive always asked for half at the start and half on completion, its a good safeguard if nothing else.
Aditionally, id be quite wary of a client if they werent willing to do half and half, so i suppose its also a good way of judging how serious the client is.
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That 30 days is normally only 15 days here but of course these are the so called "disposable" rules and the parties can agree on other. Worst is when a big body (let it be a bog company or government organisation) forces different rules (even 60 days and such) on smaller enterpreuners.
My "longest" was also about 2 months but I had known it previously (out of business, the guy I was modelling for as a subcontractor, is also a friend of mine) and he frankly told me at the beginning that he could only pay when he gets the money for the whole job. But that's fair since I didn1t have any other expectations.
Another good strategy can be to agree on partially finished models and split payment. Say you finish with modelling, show it to the client, he pays half and only when he has paid you go on with rendering and such since you can always tel him that you need to focus on the clients who pay and cannot afford working for free. This way you can only lose (or wait longer) for the very last payment.
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Brodie, as others pointed out it's important to establish the rules beforehand, especially who pays you. It's not unusual for an architect to pay consultants after they've billed the client for the services, but if there is a billing dispute between the client and the architect, you don't want to be left out in the rain. If the architect hired you, then he should agree to reimbursing you within a set time.
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