Articles for Translators and Translation Companies

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Payment Practices in Freelance Translation

Managing company debt - prevention is better than cure
Extending credit is a risky business and informed caution is essential when assessing that level of risk. If you think that enforcing the terms of a contract is time consuming and expensive here - try litigating in a foreign jurisdiction. Some basic precautionary steps might minimise your exposure…
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Profitability Guide for Translators
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…
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Hier klicken für die Deutsche version…

Collecting Past Due Accounting:
Be A Bulldog With Those Past Due Invoices
Professional collectors have an advantage over the in-house commercial collection agent in the technology they use. They work from highly sophisticated systems that dial collection calls automatically, identify and track an outstanding bill and program it for frequent phone follow-up. There is no way an outstanding bill gets overlooked…
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How to calculate your per word rate
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?…
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Hier klicken für die Deutsche version…

Will Google Wallet Force PayPal to Accelerate Global Expansion?
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.
According to the article, "Exact details of the search company's planned service are not known. But the knowledgeable people say it could have similarities with PayPal, which allows consumers to pay for purchases on Web sites by funding electronic-payment accounts from their credit cards or checking accounts. Some consumers like PayPal for the security it offers, since it allows them to share their banking or credit-card numbers only with PayPal without having to divulge the information to merchants"…
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Why Are Project Managers a Dime a Dozen?
Conventional wisdom and anecdotal evidence in the GILT industry holds that graduates of localization education programs never work as localizers but are immediately put into project management positions that pay more than translation positions …
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That Dirty Little Four-Letter Word
What horrible secrets about Eastern European pricing will be revealed in this article? Probably nothing too revolutionary, hopefully some common sense, and probably several universal problems shared by all translation and localization companies in the rest of the world …
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Towards A More Equitable Pricing Structure: A Translator's Perspective
Most translation work is paid on a per word basis. This system is far from perfect, but all in all, everyone has become accustomed it. Some word combinations can easily be translated easily, while others are tough. Some parts of text are repeated, while others require endless research to solve ambiguity. In fact, it turns out that pricing based on the concept of word count is a sort of package deal that assumes that some parts will pay a lot, while others will hardly pay at all …
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Dealing with clients not paying your invoice
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 …
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"So, Just Whose Pocket Is It, Anyway?"
In his recent article, From Mozart to Mumbai, MLVs on the Move, Rory Cowan, CEO of Lionbridge Technologies, states: “In 1992, the price of a polished translation from U.S.-based multi-language vendors (MLVs) was generally $0.22 to $0.27 per word for French, Italian, German and Spanish (FIGS). Today, U.S.-based MLVs are still charging US$ 0.22 to 0.27 per word for high-end FIGS, even though inflation has reduced the buying power of U.S. dollars by 30% during that time.” …
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Rules for dealing with clients
Here are a few tips for dealing with direct clients and translation agencies (based on personal experience and accounts of colleagues)…
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Are you Prepared to Meet Your Client?
The phone rings: it is a client. A welcome event these days—and not a very frequent one for many of us. But, are you prepared to answer that call?
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To Be Paid or Not Be Paid…
Having been doing business in the international translation market for some 5 years now, I have noticed a few issues that it might be useful to pay some attention to. We translators, be it freelancers or full time enterprises, always have the fear of not being paid; we join all sorts of online forums and/or mailing lists and read the most horrendous stories about scams and non-paying agencies. By all means, I know there are ‘sharks’ out there, and we are very wise to research new prospects to the fullest practical…
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Solutions to Common Problems for Freelance Translators
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. However, sometimes situations force us to interact with people on a level that may make us rather uncomfortable, such as calling a client about a late payment. In such instances it is important that we know how to deal or talk to our clients without taking a risk of losing them or even worse ruining our reputation…
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The Freelance Translator and PayPal
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…
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Crisis in the Translation Industry
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…
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Translators and Money
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…
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