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Invoice Issue
Hello,
I work as the full time employee for “Company A”.
“Company A” did $22,000 worth of work for “Client B”
My side company, “Company C”, provided a service totaling $650 as part of the work “Company A” provided to “Company B”.
The work I did as “Company C” is paid separately by “Company A” from my salary as a full-time employee of “Company A”.
“Client B” has gone over 3 months without paying “Company A” for the $22,000 in work “Company A” provided. “Company A” does not have the funds to pay “Company C” and other vendors for the services they provided. These vendors will not get paid until “Client B” pays “Company A”. “Company C” has already discussed the unpaid invoice with “Company A”.
Is it unethical for me to go over the head of “Company A” directly to “Client B” and press them to pay “Company A” for the service they provided? There are many vendors, including myself, that are waiting on the money “Client B” owes “Company A”.
Thanks,
Aaron
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24 Replies
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No, you, “Company C,” should NOT go to “Company B.”
“Company B” is not your client. They owe you nothing, at least not directly.
In that scenario your only client is “Company A,” which makes things more complicated since you are also their employee under a separate deal.
Going directly to “Company B” will get you nothing. Not only is it improper to do, but you’d likely get no money out of it (they’re not going to write you a check directly, because you are not their vendor, your boss is). Furthermore, it’s only going to hack off your employer.
Aside from your work as an employee, if I were you I would hesitate to do any more outside work for them (Company A) as a separate vendor unless they paid you for the work in advance. That might make your relations with them as an employee strained, but you are in a situation with unusual dynamics and I don’t think that can be avoided. They are obviously one of those clients who expect vendors to “be the bank” and take the “you’ll get paid when we get paid” attitude. I try to stay away from those types whenever possible.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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That seems a bit weird to begin with – freelancing for your own full time employer. What were you doing for them that is outside your regular job duties?
Mike
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Well, in this particular instance, the client wanted the shoot done in HD. My employers have been reluctant to get on the HD train, and have not invested in an HD camera. They rented my HD camera from me for this production. I rent my HD camera to them for cheaper than they’d pay at a rental house. I don’t worry about the camer being mistreated, because I am there on the shoot, and I would trust our usual shooter with my life. My employers also go through me for DVD duplication.
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Not sure why you are waiting for a check..if the company wants to rent your camera..they write you a check. I have yet to rent a camera and say “oh..just bill me..I’ll pay when I can”
Frank
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[Aaron Cadieux] “I might as well say who the client was on this production… If you want to be paid on time, don’t do work for … They love to demand the finished video ASAP, but then they don’t want to pay for it.”
I can tell you this…everyone is having difficulty keeping up financially. Most of us have clients that are behind in paying, and not all of them are bad customers or business people.
I hope for your sake that you employer doesn’t read this forum, because if you were my employee posting online about my client’s business, their fees, their payment practices and mentioning their name when you’re owed a lousy 650 bucks…
…I’d write you the check immediately.
…then I’d fire you so fast you’d be out the door with the ink on the pink slip still wet.
Keep in mind that anyone using Google to track down this company for even a street address has the potential to get this post come up in the results. It’s almost inevitable that posting this name will come back to haunt you. You may very well lose your employer the client.
TimK,
Director, Consultant
Kolb Productions, -
When I Google the company name as you typed it, your post comes up on page ten of the Google results. (I was curious)
Most companies this size have marketing people who track web instances of the name…
TimK,
Director, Consultant
Kolb Productions, -
Let’s hope it gets to page one.
Maybe the marketing people will also realize what kind of company they are working for.
Seriously I am really getting tired of “times are tough..lots of companies just can’t be responsible like they should be…”
If a company sets up a big shoot and then does not pay in a timely manner, like they said they would, they should realize word will get around. The more we gently prop them up with the “oh its the economy” crutch, the more it will escalate.
Do me a favor and run over to your window and shout, “I’m not going to take it anymore!”
Wait..that might be from a movie…
Frank
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If nobody ever bothered to blow the whistle on a company for bad business practices, then there would be no such thing as a company with a bad reputation. $650 may not seem like much to some people, but for others, it means a lot. Why should a company stiffing people out of hard-earned money be allowed to do so without being called out about it?
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Amen dude.
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Ditto to Mr. Kolb’s thinking. Aaron may be ticked off by this late payment but this could EASILY cost you your job as well as freelance/side income.
Hey, Ron: Is there a possibility that you could redact the client name from the post?? That would certainly be a favor to all parties concerned.
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