| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: Who prepares and sends your invoices? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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| | | Portage company | Jun 23, 2014 |
I prepare the invoices in a simple Excel spreadsheet but they are sent to the portage company who prepare the final invoices. Then they send them back to me so I can send them to the customers.
| | | | Julian Holmes 
Japan
Local time: 09:22
Member (2011)
Japanese to English
Most of my customers bar one
They issue POs online and contact me at the end of the billing month with the final figures for the month, to which I just send a reply or required Excel or Word form. This is done almost entirely electronically.
This is highly efficient - because I'm useless at accounting and their account dept. is in charge of this - and saves me the trouble and cost of printing out paper, wasting toner and electricity and paying for stamps, as well as bei... See more Most of my customers bar one
They issue POs online and contact me at the end of the billing month with the final figures for the month, to which I just send a reply or required Excel or Word form. This is done almost entirely electronically.
This is highly efficient - because I'm useless at accounting and their account dept. is in charge of this - and saves me the trouble and cost of printing out paper, wasting toner and electricity and paying for stamps, as well as being eco-friendly.  ▲ Collapse
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I always prepare each invoice immediately after completing an assignment.
For new customers, the invoice is delivered with the translation, for my “regulars”, invoices are generated on a monthly basis, unless otherwise specified.
For VAT purposes, all invoices are emailed to my accountant every three months.
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neilmac
Spain
Local time: 02:22
Spanish to English
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| Ditto, except | Jun 23, 2014 |
Teresa Borges wrote:
I always prepare each invoice immediately after completing an assignment.
For new customers, the invoice is delivered with the translation, for my “regulars”, invoices are generated on a monthly basis, unless otherwise specified.
For VAT purposes, all invoices are emailed to my accountant every three months.
Same here, except for "immediately", which in my case would be "at some point after completing the assignment"... I even sometimes forget to bill my clients, especially if it is for small amounts.
| | | | | My mind is boggling like a big boggly thing | Jun 23, 2014 |
Invoicing is such a quick and easy task that I cannot for the life of me see why anyone would want to outsource it
As a business you have to keep records of what you do for whom anyway
From there to an invoice is such a tiny step
I can't see how sending the necessary info to an accountant can be any less work than sending an invoice to the client in the first place
| | | | Marjolein Snippe
Netherlands
Local time: 02:22
Member (2012)
English to Dutch
+ ...
I am with Chris and Teresa; I think sending the information to anyone else would only cost me more time. For me, preparing or updating a monthly invoice takes maybe 2 minutes after each job and another 5 minutes or so at the end of the month.
I then print them out and give them to my accountant, who is modern and young and savvy but even so insists on getting everything on paper, so I cycle over twice a quarter through a very pretty part of the Netherlands to drop it off/pick it up,... See more I am with Chris and Teresa; I think sending the information to anyone else would only cost me more time. For me, preparing or updating a monthly invoice takes maybe 2 minutes after each job and another 5 minutes or so at the end of the month.
I then print them out and give them to my accountant, who is modern and young and savvy but even so insists on getting everything on paper, so I cycle over twice a quarter through a very pretty part of the Netherlands to drop it off/pick it up, have a friendly chat and possibly get some useful advice as well as a bit of exercise. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | None other than moi | Jun 23, 2014 |
That's the uniqueness of being a freelancer... If you want, you get to do everything, from accounting to marketing, from finance to operations... Incidentally, it's useful to keep a copy of a book such as "The 10-day MBA" handy to see what operations a freelancer can adopt to streamline and improve the business... The book is way overkill, of course, but useful nevertheless.
I remember invoices used to be quite a task earlier. Now, with TO3000, it's a snap. This software even lets... See more That's the uniqueness of being a freelancer... If you want, you get to do everything, from accounting to marketing, from finance to operations... Incidentally, it's useful to keep a copy of a book such as "The 10-day MBA" handy to see what operations a freelancer can adopt to streamline and improve the business... The book is way overkill, of course, but useful nevertheless.
I remember invoices used to be quite a task earlier. Now, with TO3000, it's a snap. This software even lets me see which invoices are past due, and it takes one keyclick to see which jobs I may have forgotten to invoice. ▲ Collapse
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Tim Drayton
Cyprus
Local time: 03:22
Turkish to English
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| I prepare and send my own invoices | Jun 23, 2014 |
I do not find this at all difficult and generally just send the invoice along with the translation, attached to the same message. Maybe I am lucky to operate from a jurisdiction that does impose a lot of red tape on businesses - I know from experience that things are not so easy in some other countries, where it may be advisable to get a specialist to prepare invoices so that you do not fall foul of the regulations.
[Edited at 2014-06-23 11:47 GMT]
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The invoices used to take me too much time so I invested in TO 3000. Problem solved.
| | | | | Same method here | Jun 23, 2014 |
Teresa Borges wrote:
I always prepare each invoice immediately after completing an assignment.
For new customers, the invoice is delivered with the translation, for my “regulars”, invoices are generated on a monthly basis, unless otherwise specified.
For VAT purposes, all invoices are emailed to my accountant every three months.
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 20:22
English to Spanish
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| Je prépare les factures | Jun 23, 2014 |
...although I'm thinking of training Garabato my cat to do it for me. He's such a lazy thing!
98% of my customers accept my invoices, which carry my name, address and logo. One customer (new since January 2014) requests that all invoices carry a block of text lines from their PO, including PO number, my client's client special number, the name of the clinical study and the language pair.
Since my invoicing module in Quicken does not have enough space for multiline texts... See more ...although I'm thinking of training Garabato my cat to do it for me. He's such a lazy thing!
98% of my customers accept my invoices, which carry my name, address and logo. One customer (new since January 2014) requests that all invoices carry a block of text lines from their PO, including PO number, my client's client special number, the name of the clinical study and the language pair.
Since my invoicing module in Quicken does not have enough space for multiline texts in the memo area, my solution is simple. Quicken lets me print the invoice to PDF format and I use the typewriter tool to add the multiline block of text.
Another reason why I do need a separate invoice module (or software, I don't know about T3000) is that I have more than two dozen service items, from rush editing to transcription and translation, as well as desktop publishing. Different rates for these services for a variety of clients require that I have invoice items per client's name to keep track of all of them.
I know that many translators prefer to use an Excel sheet or a separate software program to do the invoicing, but I prefer my method because it's part of my financial program, Quicken. ▲ Collapse
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Ventnai
Spain
Local time: 02:22
German to English
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| Me unless ... | Jun 23, 2014 |
I prepare my invoices unless a client agency provides its own payment slip/document, which is the case for my main client.
| | | | Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 02:22
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
| Little ol' me :) | Jun 23, 2014 |
I prepare my own invoices and send them to my client along with the completed document(s). The only exception are those monthly invoices which only get the appropriate entry, but are send at the end of the month. Naturally.
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I have a Word template that I just fill out and send whenever I'm ready to invoice the client. It takes maybe 2 minutes to fill out.
I recently started playing with an online service called freshbooks that I really like. Visually, it's the same as my template, my clients can download their PDFs and I can add any information that they might need. The difference is that the client can pay me directly from the site, I can keep track of when they view the invoice, I can keep track of w... See more I have a Word template that I just fill out and send whenever I'm ready to invoice the client. It takes maybe 2 minutes to fill out.
I recently started playing with an online service called freshbooks that I really like. Visually, it's the same as my template, my clients can download their PDFs and I can add any information that they might need. The difference is that the client can pay me directly from the site, I can keep track of when they view the invoice, I can keep track of who still owes me and how much, and it keeps track of my expenses. It makes my inner account happy.
I still use my big whiteboards for easy access and to keep track of all my current projects. ▲ Collapse
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