No Budget - What to do?

[MrT]

Hi Everyone

I work for a rather large organisation, and had a contract until the end of april with an extension in the works to continue delivering work.

The client emailed me tonight to say he is unable to approve my last invoice as they had gone "Over Budget" and has asked me what we can do.

Now i am a little mixed on how to handle the situation, i have written back asking the client two very specific questions

1) Confirm if this impacts all my invoices from mid-april to the end of my contract
2) What will happen with the extension from 1st May onwards.

I simply got a response stating that the client had submitted a request for a extension today and "does that help?", nothing more nothing less. So i am still at a loss as to wether my invoices to date and to the end of my contract will be payed and if the extension has even been approved or not.

I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has been in a situation similar to this and how they handled it, what difficulties they went through and the ultimate resolution of their case.

Thanks,

Mr.T

[SueEllen]

Do you have a written contract covering the period of invoice?

Who is the contract with?

Once you have answered these questions posters can help you.

[MrT]

Hi Sue - Great questions, sorry i should of stated this at the start!

I have a written and signed contract (by both parties) for the dates up until the end of April.

The contract i have is with an agency, whom i have also written too about this situation.

Thanks,

Mr.T

[northernladuk]

Firstly... Unless the paperwork is signed then forget the extension. No contract = no extension whatever anyone says to you at the client. Work on that basis for now.

I have never heard of a large organisation running out of money and not paying an invoice so something doesn't sound right. Budgeting in large organisations is a bit of a black art and it is amazing where they can find money from. A quick look at who has worked on the project and a bit of cross charging should sort it... but either way, there should be a complete disconnect between budget of a project and your payment.

I presume from your wording you are invoicing weekly?

I am trying to think of options here such as tell them fine, pay you when they have the budget and it will be held as a debt which will accrue interest but I can't get past this not having budget thing. I just think you need to stand firm and tell them you have worked it you expect payment, call you when it is sorted.

If I was in your position I wouldn't be doing any bending just yet and let them get their house in order. Give them a bit of time to sort themselves out before starting on the official letter writing route.

Oh... and start looking for a new contract.

[northernladuk]

Just had a thought. Why is the client tell you they can't pay your invoice? Surely it is the agents invoice they are not paying so nothing to do with you? Who do you invoice, the agent or the client?

Also are you opted in or opted out?

[SueEllen]

Regardless of whether the OP is opted-in or out I would get all conversations recorded via email.

Then if they are opted-in and the client refuses to pay the agency - give the emails to the agency after being paid.

Then if they are opted-out but there is a clause in the contract which means the agency has to pay them in x days - I would wait until they are paid in x days and then give the emails to the agency.

Then if they are opted out but not truely opted-out and have a clause where they aren't paid if the agency isn't paid I would inform the agency I was opted-in and I would chase them using Dunning.

Then if they are truely opted out and have a clause where they are not paid if the agency isn't paid I would do everything to ensure the client paid the agency including walking off-site.

[Wanderer]

Surely it is the agents invoice they are not paying so nothing to do with you? Who do you invoice, the agent or the client?

WHS. It's the agency's problem, not yours. The agency are supposed to pay you and then get the money off the client.

Since the client is talking to you directly about this, ask the client how much they are paying the agency.

Also are you opted in or opted out?

That's going to be important too because if you opted out then the agency may be able to refuse to pay you if the client won't pay, as SueEllen says...

[jmo21]

There is something missing here.

When they hired you, they would have had to get approval for X days at the agents rate

They've chosen to try and **** u over as they've screwed their budget on something else.

Now they are hinting at an extension should you bend over. What are the bets that if u agree th extension gets suddenly pulled?

[darrenb]

Just say you will get back to them about how to work through their problem after you've taken some independent legal advice.

When they learn you are talking to an adult, you will be amazed how soon they find they have a mistake in their figures and they're not "over budget" after all.

[cojak]

Now they are hinting at an extension should you bend over. What are the bets that if u agree th extension gets suddenly pulled?

WjmoS with bells on!

'does that help?' means precisely bugger all and the situation is outrageous.

You shouldn't accept the extension at all as if they've done this once they'll do it again.

Stand firm as the others say and tell them you expect to be paid.