For Freelance Translators: Standard Payment Terms and Methods in Translation Business

In translation business the most common payment terms when freelance translators work for translation agencies are that the agency will pay you within 30 days of the date of your invoice, referred to in the industry as Net 30. These payment terms are good for translators (or at least better than Net 60 or 90!) because your cash flow is only a month behind your work flow; if you send in an invoice on March 30, you get paid by April 30, at least in theory. In practice, many agencies will pay a little later than Net 30, or may ask you to invoice them once a month for all of
your work, and they will pay you 30 days after that, referred to as 30 Days End of Month or Net 30 EOM.

Most U.S. agencies will pay by check in U.S. dollars, so you just deposit the check at your bank. Some will pay by PayPal, and this is a good way to ask clients who aren't established agencies to pay since you receive the money right away. Some U.S. agencies are starting to pay by ACH transfer, for which most banks will not charge a fee.

In other parts of the world, payment terms vary widely. Payment terms in Europe are almost invariably longer than Net 30. Many European clients will want to pay you Net 60, 60 Days EOM, or even Net 90, and may not be willing to pay sooner. As long as you get paid eventually, the only issue with these payment terms is that you wait a long time for your money, and if there is a problem with the payment you may wait even longer. For example if you work on a translation project from March 2-5 with terms of 60 Days EOM, you send the invoice March 31 and the payment is scheduled for June 30, by which time it is almost three months since you started the translation. If you live in the U.S., most agencies in Europe will pay by wire transfer, so it is important to find out what kinds of fees your bank charges for wire transfers. Normally an agency will ask for your bank's routing number (also called ABA code), Swift code (call your bank to 102 RATES, CONTRACTS AND TERMS OF SERVICE get this) and your account number in order to complete a wire transfer.

Currency exchange fluctuations are another issue to consider if you work for clients outside the U.S. For example, as discussed above, many agencies in Europe will pay up to three months after the project is completed, which can leave quite a bit of room for exchange rate fluctuation before the job is paid. If you're dealing with clients in a country where the currency could potentially fall against the dollar, or with a very large project where even a small fluctuation could make a big difference in your pay, it's important to plan ahead. For example, you might agree on a rate in dollars, which effectively asks the client to absorb the risk or benefit of a currency fluctuation. Or, you might keep a separate foreign bank account in a country where you do a lot of business; if you do this, make sure to check with an accountant as to your tax responsibilities for accounts held outside the U.S.

Some clients will tell you up front that due to either the size of the project or their own cash flow situation, they cannot pay you until the end client pays them. If you agree to work for this client anyway, you are going into the situation knowing that there is a chance that you will not be paid on time or maybe at all. If you loan a friend money until his or her next paycheck, you know that you may not be repaid—the friend could lose the job, the paycheck could bounce, or other expenses could be more important than paying you back. Likewise, if you agree to get paid when your client (usually a translation agency) gets paid, you are knowingly taking a risk, so resist the urge to blame the client if you don't get paid!