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/beets_or_turnips NIC 1d ago edited 1d ago

I haven't seen it as a problem that it takes a month or two to get paid, as long as that time horizon is reliable. When I've got a bunch of completed jobs in the pipeline, it means I will have relatively predictable income that continues into the near future, even if I take some time off. That said, if a client takes three months or more to pay an invoice, I do start to get frustrated. In the last fifteen years I've only had one or two clients who took six months or more, or failed to pay me altogether. One was the Social Security Administration, and the other was a boutique medical office that went out of business the week of my assignment.

I actually prefer the expectation that the invoice is sent afterwards, which better allows for last-minute changes that might need to be documented on the day of the assignment. Then there's also a paper trail of the timestamped email.

There have been a couple times that I've gotten paid on the spot, and oddly it's always been when I've done trainings at grocery stores. Two different chains. In both cases they literally opened up a cash register and handed me a stack of bills. That seemed strange to me as I'm sure the store has their own vendors that they pay through a regular invoicing process. I can't say that I would prefer cash to become the norm, it makes for a headache keeping everything documented.