What are your terms for payment?

[Greg Ball]

This is the reason why EVERY project needs a signed agreement. Also, for EVERY project, we require full payment before we send the client their video. Yes, if it’s a large client that we do lots of work for, we have some flexibility. Most large companies have a way of paying invoices quickly.

I worked for major corporations for many years, and would always pay our freelancers immediately. We’re not in the business of financing a company’s video project.

So far we’ve never been stiffed on a project, and have not needed to chase down payment.

Greg Ball, President
Ball Media Innovations, Inc.
https://www.ballmediainnovations.com

[Grinner Hester]

30 day net.
I offer no monetary incentives for paying on time but do add late charges.
Now that said, I did have a client that was a full time gig for several years. They paid net 90 or more to collect interest on my money. Not very cool of em but it was a 300k a year contract and once the late checks made their rotation, I felt no burn as all the other late checks would follow. This is the only client I have made this exception for and it was non negotiable with them. Vendors either agreed or passed more work to me.

[Todd Terry]

Interesting that people suddenly started adding to an almost six-year old thread….

[grinner hester] “I offer no monetary incentives for paying on time but do add late charges.”

All well and good, and while we haven’t ever added late charges before, we have considered it.

BUT… be aware that you can’t just do that at will. I think in most states in the US (if not every state), you may only impose a late fee or a finance charge if your original contract spells out that you do that, and what the details are. And then you are still bound by your state’s laws as to the maximum allowable.

I got an invoice in from some voice talent last week, an actor we had never worked with before. I noticed at the bottom of his net/30 invoice that delinquent payments would be subject to an 8% monthly late fee.

Well, not that it matters to us (because we immediately paid him, as we do all talent), but he can’t do that. There was never any discussion of late fees when we hired him, so he is not legally able to do that after the fact. Nor can he impose an 8% monthly late fee. That adds up to almost 100% annually, which is not legal in our state. Here, the max is 25% annually, or just a tad over 2% monthly.

Your mileage may vary, check your local laws. Your CPA should know.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com