Life costs money. Despite my efforts, I have yet to find a way to exist without spending money. Translators, like all business professionals, have to be aware of the financial aspects of their livelihood. This I call the translator’s balance sheet. No one will ever get rich quick translating material from one language to another, but like any business, the most important thing is to come out ahead, to have the black exceed the red. Previous articles have discussed how to get and do translation jobs; in other words, how to make money to enter into the black side of the balance sheet. This article will show you how to make the black exceed the red by that much more.

A landmark verdict has just been handed down at Leeds County Court that will strike fear into the hearts of all sub-contractors in the translation industry - translators, interpreters, translation editors and proofreaders, maybe even language teachers - anyone who subcontracts language services to private companies.

One problem most freelance translators are faced with is how to receive payment. In particular: How to receive payment for small jobs. Many translation agencies are reluctant to pay small fees via wire transfer due to the transaction fees; often they will send you a check instead. And I suppose I don't have to tell you: The banks charge an enormous commission when you come and want to cash in your check.

Working as a freelance translator is often a solitary business and usually our direct contact with clients is limited. Nowadays it is not uncommon to deal with our clients entirely over the internet; never talking to them or meeting them face-to-face.

The objective of this article is to improve communication between freelance translators and translation agencies on various payment issues.

Here are a few tips for dealing with direct clients and translation agencies (based on personal experience and accounts of colleagues):

Dear Globalization Insider,

Providing a translation is providing a service. Imagine you having provided the appropriate service, delivered it on time, invoiced the client accordingly (indicating a payment date not so far into the future) and the suggested payment date comes and goes without any money pouring in on your needy bank account - what do you do, how do you react? Needless to say that we are not considering the fact of this being a client that has been employing your company for a while or due to some unknown stroke of fate the bank made a mistake.

No, it doesn't start with an "S" or an "F" and there is no "Q" in it. This word in our industry is cena and it is the Polish for "price." The Central and Eastern European perspective is that some people would probably like to keep us quiet. Our good friend in France, President Chirac, has recently told us pesky Eastern Europeans to keep quiet. But we shall not obey…

The announcement by the WSJ that Google is prepping a payment service is big news in the ecommerce world and, I think, good news for consumers.

Over the past decades, due to the advance of technology but also that of globalization, translators have wittnessed a severe decline in rates and an increase in the number of customers looking for the lowest rates. But how much should you charge?

Be A Bulldog With Those Past Due Invoices

Profitability Guide for Translators

In addition to the article «Rentabilitätsberechnung im Dolmetscherberuf» ((Profitability guide for interpreters)) published in FORUM 1/2000, the article at hand tries to present existing material as well as its utilisation in a way that allows translators, who have no experience in business management, to use this helpful material as a rule of thumb for preparing professional decisions. The market analysis presented here, is from the perspective of freelancers working in the Federal Republic of Germany.

A descriptive explanation using asymmetric information and a suggested solution from signaling theory

t is a common observation that most professional translators are not paid well. Most attribute this to the low perceived status of translators and their work. Because of the low pay, many good translators have left the profession for other jobs. This line of thought sounds reasonable but it is also highly evaluative which makes empirical testing impossible. This paper offers an alternative explanation which is descriptive in nature and draws heavily from the theories of information economics. This discussion is in line with the paradigm of descriptive translation studies which emphasizes explanation and prediction. However, in addition to this, Chesterman (1993) points out that translation studies should also cater to evaluation, and I believe that my analysis might offer some insights for improving the situation of professional translators.

The online world can be lucrative but it is certainly very risky, when it comes to payment. Practically all freelance translators are familiar with the frustration of spending too much time and effort collecting fees for translation.
There is no business without risk. However, risk can be assessed and kept within an acceptable range. Here are some steps to follow:

Guide To Accepting Credit Cards On Your Web Site -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Giving your customers the option to pay for purchases from your web site with a credit card is crucial to your success at selling on the web. Simply put, credit card transactions are used to complete the vast majority of web sales. This article explains the options available to you when choosing a method of accepting credit cards. You'll also learn the differences between bank merchant accounts and online payment services. Merchant accounts Bank merchant accounts provide credit card processing for the majority of web sites today.

Most probably all of us have already met the problem of bad payers. This is the case when an agency or a client delays payment of the work that has been ordered and delivered.. Certainly first it is preferable to send reminders and recalls of overdue payment yourself and in most cases this solves the problem, the other party sooner or later pays. However, if all these fail, before taking legal action there is another possibility. Trusting the debt collection to an agency.

- Capable and Cheap: An Irresistible Combination

If tomorrow I were to decide to launch my product on a new market, I would find out what my competitors were charging and offer my product at a slightly cheaper rate. That's the price you pay for starting out. But you can be sure I would keep on bearing in mind what my competitors were charging and the market price for what I was selling in order to eventually equal it or (why not?), even charge a bit more as soon as I could. After all, my product is worth it.
Many Argentine colleagues are today receiving job offers from international agencies, but at local prices. I myself recently received an invitation to join a team of translators run from the UK...at Argentine rates. What can I say?
Better said, what can't I say? I can say quite a lot, in fact. And in words that serve to inform and alert others.

This subsidy is aimed at companies who have no more than 10% of their turnover coming from business across the border, but who want to step up their exporting activities. Sending in an application is easy: get your customer to fill in one A4 to apply for funds for having their website or export brochures translated. Then go an extra mile and point out to your customer that this subsidy can be used for taking part in trade fairs abroad and for international business trips. Just a couple of buts: only one single application allowed, so the customer needs to include all of his plans. If approved, 40% of the total amount invoiced will be paid out. This subsidy is only for exporting to one country, but translating to multiple languages is allowed.

Sounds like some kind of marketing scheme, but it is just an application that has allowed me to easily track my billable hours measure performance and make better business decisions - and best of all the learning curve was close to zero. How will a time and billing program help you? Track The Time It Takes To Work On Each Activity, For Each Client Tracking each activity provided me with valuable information. I was soon able to spot my areas of weakness by looking at activities that took me too long to complete. These areas were like bottlenecks. The project went along smoothly until I reached these activities.

This article was originally posted in Proz on the French Forum –in French– and, following requests from several members, I decided to translate it and submit it as an article to make it more accessible. However, understand this was an informal chat, and it remains pretty informal throughout.
I would like, first of all, to congratulate Jean Marie, who, first in Proz.com's history (to my knowlegde at least) brings up the question "Is there a limit to prices"?