Weekly or Monthly?

[mcontracting]

I am gonna sign now with an agency. They told me that the payment schedule is 4 weeks after invoicing.
Should I try hard to get weekly payments? How reluctant are going to be to change their terms?

[RichardCranium]

I am gonna sign now with an agency. They told me that the payment schedule is 4 weeks after invoicing.
Should I try hard to get weekly payments? How reluctant are going to be to change their terms?

Ask and see what they say. Based on my experience, some will give a flat "No! Cannot be done! Hell will freeze over first! Can't change the contract! It's again the law!" and others say "OK."

Suck it and see.

A line I use is "I'm skint and weekly payments for the first month would be good" and then never remind them to go back to monthly.

[mcontracting]

Ha ha thanks Richard I 'll quote that one

[Svalbaard]

Depends - admin of weekly payments tend to be more expensive if you are with an Umbrella company.

I prefer monthly myself as I prefer to see the really big numbers on my payslip.

[TheFaQQer]

I am gonna sign now with an agency. They told me that the payment schedule is 4 weeks after invoicing.
Should I try hard to get weekly payments? How reluctant are going to be to change their terms?

How hard should you try - how long is a piece of string? Or to be more precise, how good a credit rating has the agency got, and how much do you need the money?

How often will you be invoicing? If it's 4 weeks payment terms (not unusual by any means), then I would expect to be invoicing weekly.

If they are being silly about it, then tell them you will accept the four weeks from invoice date, but will be invoicing daily.

[lje]

Monthly but Quick Payers

I invoice monthly and contract directly with the ClientCo. If I invoice on a Friday they pay me the following Tuesday - and they are financially very stable. If I had to wait 30 days for payment or had concerns about the financial stability then I'd go weekly all the way.

[Whatevs]

Just to update you on this, we have informed some of our contractors that they will now be getting paid monthly and some have totally seen their arse over it.

we've been surprised by the backlash - but if you are getting paid in excess of £60k-£70k a year whats the point in getting paid every week?

anyway, loving all the agent hating on the forums, makes me smile at least. seems like all we have to do is be a half-decent consultant and we'd still be better than every other cowboy out there! result.

[FarmerPalmer]

If I was contracting through an agent and they suddenly went from weekly to monthly then I would be very concerned and would be looking elsewhere for my work, as it sounds like they are having a cashflow problem.

Just my 2p.

[Gonzo]

we've been surprised by the backlash - but if you are getting paid in excess of £60k-£70k a year whats the point in getting paid every week?

It is not about needing the money it is about limiting the exposure.

Agencies do go bust and when that happens the contractors are unsecured creditors who usually get £0. This is worse if they are owed a few months money rather than a few weeks.

[thunderlizard]

Me too. The decent thing would be to make sure you get monthly terms for your new contracts, but stick to agreed terms for your existing contracts.

Normally I charge monthly anyway, but if I did have a customer on 1 week's credit and they suddenly jumped to paying monthly I'd be wary about renewing. It doesn't take a fortune-teller to see what their next step would be.