Re: how to bill client for short-term project?

["Jeanne A. E. DeVoto" <jaed -at- jaedworks -dot- com>]

At 7:35 AM -0700 6/4/2000, Maryann Short wrote:
>[rush job, 2-week project]
>Do you think I could get the client to give me an advance? They might not
>like that; they know as little about me as I about them. If an advance,
>what percentage?  I'm doing the work for an hourly rate, but I have a
>good idea of the total cost.

I've never done anything this short-term for hourly - it's been a flat fee.
But when I have, it's generally been one third in advance, one third on
delivery, and the final third on acceptance. If 10 business days go by and
they haven't notified me of problems by then, acceptance is automatic and
they owe me the final third.

>And I've never contracted with a company outside the US. In what form
>should I receive payment? Snail mailing a check will take forever. I
>could give the company the bank routing information to make a direct
>deposit to my account. Anyone have any experiences/thoughts to share
>about that?

Snail mailing a check shouldn't take long if they send it airmail. (Make
sure they pay you in US funds.) A wire transfer is possible too, but check
with your bank - some charge to receive a wire transfer.

When I said "in advance" up top, I meant "I receive the check before I
start the work". Since this is such a short project, you might want to ask
for the initial third (or whatever you decide) as a direct transfer, then
have them mail you the subsequent checks.

--
jeanne a. e. devoto ~ jaed -at- jaedworks -dot- com
http://www.jaedworks.com