David McQueen wrote:
I am close to entering into a contract for FM development with a
university
for work at the dept. and school levels.
My 39 years of experience in higher ed helps me proceed with a little
caution. I have seen instances when work was completed and then the
party
was sued with the result being a settlement that hinged on simply
forgoing
the fee for services performed, while the univ. retained use of the
product.
Seems like in some locales that might be standard operating procedure to
avoid payment.
The key is the contract and I am wondering if anyone has had similar
experiences and might wish to offer some advice?
Thank you.
----------
Rodney Schmidt
Hi Rodney,
If you even suspect this type of behaviour, you have two reasonable
choices:
1. Don't go there at all. You cannot win working on this basis if
the behaviour you describe is rampant. They have much deeper pockets
than you have.
I am not cynical here. Both my daughter and her boyfriend have/are
doing university work on a contract basis and I am watching a pattern
of what I consider abusive behaviour that disturbs me a great deal.
They are both young and need the money so they are putting up with it
or now. So I know that all is not well in some parts of academia.
2. Work on a time spent basis instead of on a contract basis. Bill
twice monthly and cease work if the payment is not forthcoming in a
reasonable time. This is actually how I work with most of my
clients. They are free to stop at any time. I report to them
regularly, at least with every billing. They like it as they are free
to change specs as time goes on and they see economies to be gained. I
am free to indulge them as I am not bound to a fixed price and a file
spec to be delivered. The caveat is that one must always keep
completion in mind and be a proactive development manager in addition
to being the developer.
This does not mean you cannot put forth a list of deliverables, a
development plan etc. It just means that they would have to justify
any claim prior to the last half month as by paying you they are
defacto accepting work to date.
If you go this route, do not get caught in the "Well it has to be
corrected 'cause it's not what we really wanted, so we are not paying
you for the last half month" scenario. Development gets sidetracked.
That is a fact of life in the development world. There are too many
horror stories around to prove it. Reporting is a method by which you
are seriously mitigating the damage that this can do by allowing them
to catch it early.
It is not part of your cost of doing business, it is part of their
cost of doing business. By being proactive in your reporting you are
saving them money, not costing them money.
HTH
Dave McQueen
Hi guys,
I also use a time-spent contract; for a college, two hospitals, and a
construction company. Strike that; I us MY hourly contract. You are
supposed to be optimistic at the beginning of a project. You really
sound more nervous about the people than the work. Since it is early in
the development, can you introduce them to YOUR short term contract? I
went to http://www.uslegalforms.com/ and got a simple (US-AZ-E-14) form.
Some tweaking, but mostly to give everybody a way out. Think first four
weeks of dating.
Keep your beginning contract short and as non-specific as possible. I've
done a one month, weekly billed, investigation-of-need contract that
grew through a six month agreement into yearly renewals after a trust
level was built. Four years in and we exchange grand-kid pictures. I've
also had a well recommended client that I thought was going to be solid,
but suffice it to say that I learned way too many lawyer's names over a
three year period.
If I may expand on Dave's reporting recommendation, I charge them by the
hour, so I report by the hour. A quick note in a file at the top of the
hour is as involved as a comment line in a script. It is my customers'
favorite part of my billing. Even when it sounds lame, ("STILL trying to
figure out why that one script Only won't go to THAT printer"), your
customer, and both sets of lawyers, at least know you're working on
their problem and not playing solitaire.
I have a simple file that I use for keeping up with all my customers.
Keep it simple; project, time, date, notes. Reports are 'Find' and
'Print'. I'm thinking about putting up a php site for my customers to
check live on their progress, but I think that's getting a little 'cutesy'.
The added benefits:
- A work journal to track both the valid and blind allies on that
project and others
- No More Forgotten Billable Hours
- Check your own progress in development work (Look back a year later;
you've never laughed so hard)
- Bill yourself for research time. Keep good, searchable notes for this one.
- Periodic summations to keep the development on track. This is my
favorite. Even though I bill roughly monthly, I send out the raw notes
weekly. Nothing keeps the money rolling in better than no surprises!
Good Luck!
-Jeff Johnson
RJ Wood and Associates
FSA Associate Member
