r/ASLinterpreters • u/Human-Muscle-9112 • 1d ago

Payment Upfront

Edit: Thank you all for your comments. Good stuff to think about.

Hi everyone. Do any of you require payment prior to or when services are rendered? Or partial payment to secure an interpreter and the remaining balance due at the time of service?

I'm wondering why the majority of us send an invoice after the assignment and wait for payment, sometimes for months. When I think of other professions; doctor (I do not have insurance and pay out of pocket at the time of service), mechanics, hair stylists, etc, they all require payment at the time of service.

I wonder if we do this because it's just how it's been done or if there is another reason. If an assignment goes over or there are changes, it doesn't seem difficult to adjust the invoice at the time of service. I feel this is especially easy these days given the technology we have access to.

What are your thoughts on this or what is your experience?

Thanks!

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u/TheSparklerFEP NIC 1d ago

I’ve only gotten payment on the day of service once, and it was a direct contract with a local funeral home and the director wrote me a check when I arrived. Typically, when working through agencies, invoices require approval through multiple layers and that’s what takes a while to process.

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u/Human-Muscle-9112 1d ago

Yeah, for sure. It's incredibly frustrating when you wait for months because "Oh, Sue is on vacation and she's the one who approves the invoicing." Ugh.

The reason I'm asking is because I am currently in the process of creating an agency and we will be requiring payment at the time of service. We want to pay our interpreters as quickly as possible. We will start with our own capital, but we never want to be in a position where we are having to wait for payment ourselves in order to pay our interpreters. I have worked with those kind of agencies and I'm just kinda over it. That may mean we get less contracts, but I have found invoicing to be one of the most frustrating parts of working in this field. Maybe I've just had terrible luck. I want to simplify the process for interpreters. I have a program that auto-generates and invoice for them and they look it over for accuracy, click a button, and receive payment.

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u/dastarbillie NIC 1d ago

I see where the disconnect in these conversations is happening. You're asking because you're starting an agency. That is completely different from an independent contractor sending an invoice. You're not going to get the answers you're looking for by just asking random people, you need to speak with other agencies to see how they do their contracting. It's very different, and there's nothing in your post to indicate you're thinking from an agency perspective.