Weekly or Monthly?

[Murder1]

Hi all, long time lurker first time poster.

Just wondered how many people on here are paid weekly rather than monthly, and whether this is something you can influence in anyway?

I've always just assumed the payment timescale put forward by the client but a contractor I've recently got to know indicates that he always insists on being paid weekly.

[Ardesco]

Best I've had is 3 days after invoice has been raised, worst I've had is once every 6 weeks. Currently it is 14 days after invoice is raised.

All depends on the payment schedule as outlined in your contract, if you don't like it negotiate.

[thunderlizard]

I've always let it vary according to what the customer wants, assuming they're creditworthy. Customers often have regular payment runs, and if you spare them the headache of having to break outside them, you can often charge a bit more for the convenience.
You'd have to worry about the financial stability of a contractor that insists on settling every week, but he might be worried about the client going bust.

[Dark Black]

I always prefer to invoice weekly - don't like company money earning interest in anyone else's company accounts than ours!

[Murder1]

I always prefer to invoice weekly - don't like company money earning interest in anyone else's company accounts than ours!

Apart from the risk of the client going bust this is the only reason I could see for doing it. However Dark Black do you find the client just collates the four invoices and process one payment at the end of the month or do they actually process a payment for each invoice?

[boxman]

I always consider credit risk as a major issue. After all what's the point in doing the work if you're not going to get paid?

Unless both agency and client are major companies then I always run a credit check on them before agreeing to their terms. With larger companies they may not pay quickly but assuming you have signed timesheets you'll get paid at some point even if this is not always on time. If you speak to anyone that runs a business they'll tell you that getting paid on time is nice but the key thing is getting paid (as opposed to not getting paid).

A lot of agencies seem to be moving away from the invoice factoring approach (this costs them money) to have woolly terms along the lines of yourco will get paid when we've been paid. This is all very well but you need to consider the credit risk to your business. I always start with weekly payment being the preferred solution but recently I've moved to monthly where invoices have been settled on time. You're only as good as your last paid invoice remember!

Just my 2p worth you understand....

Rob

[Peter Loew]

Agree with the above. Though I personally prefer to get paid monthly, because I am better used to managing and tracking my finances on a monthly basis rather than on a weekly one, which I find to be a pain in the ass to manage.

P

[Dark Black]

Agree with the above. Though I personally prefer to get paid monthly, because I am better used to managing and tracking my finances on a monthly basis rather than on a weekly one, which I find to be a pain in the ass to manage.
P

Are you LTD or working through a brolly?

I'm LTD so from a "funds in my personal account" point of view I still only see money on a monthly basis. However my company receives payment for invoices weekly. Over the length of a contract that's a fair amount in gained interest in the company account

[Cooperinliverp00l]

I invoice client weekly and they pay 7 days later. They have 2 pay runs a week so pretty much as soon as they have registered my invoice it gets put onto the next pay run. My contract says monthly though so might be worth asking them what would happen if you invoiced weekly.

I pay myself from my LTD monthly on the last day of the month.

[buffdaddy]

I invoice at least once a month (since both my client and i am moving about a lot, Its difficult to meet up for him to sign my timeheet).

the next wednesday after the timesheet submission, I get paid (the following monday the money appears in my company bank account)