RE: [OT] Re: Seeking Legal help
Sorry for continuing the OT thread. I just thought this might be useful... Gunther Birznieks [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] wrote: > By the way, if you are really working for a bank and cashflow is an issue > for you in 60 days you can also ask the bank what business banking services > they offer. One popular service with small businesses who have large > companies working for them is invoice factoring which allows you to sell > your invoice (if your company passes a credit check) to the bank for > something like 80% of the face value of the account and then when the bank > collects the invoice you get the rest minus interest and commissions. Factoring invoices can be a wonderful thing. May I recommend this company: http://www.facteon.com/ You need: (a) to pass a UCC search clean, (b) a credit worthy customer, (c) a contract with your customer, (d) and your customer to agree that the invoice is valid. Then you can get a good chunk of the money up front and more on payment of the invoice by the customer. Your fee depends on how long it takes your customer to pay. If they never pay, you keep the up-front payment and they book it as a loss. > It's unlikely that they would grant the same credit with a 1-man company > though. And I think they don't like dealing with service businesses. It's > usually more for dealing with suppliers with real inventory where the main > thing that can go wrong with an invoice is a pricing dispute over a line > item of widgets I suspect. >From what I know, Factelon works with one man companies and service industries. It's more important that your customer be creditworthy than you, since your customer must agree that the invoice is valid for it to be factored. David
Re: [OT] Re: Seeking Legal help
At 01:34 AM 11/23/2001, Mark Maunder wrote: >Matt Sergeant wrote: > > > Step three: Once you've given them 90 days after date of invoice, get a > > solicitor (not a barrister) to draft a threatening letter. It'll cost you > > about $100. I'm afraid you'll have to give them another 30 days at this > > point. > > > > Step four: Get a lawyer. Sue. $25,000 is not to be sniffed at. > >What many small companies and one man operations dont realise is that debt >collecting is an art. Also, some large companies (large banks in particular) >have a policy of 'If you want to do business with us, we take 60 days to pay. >It's all about keeping the cashflow on their side. It depends on the company, I think most take a long time to pay the first time because it's the first time you are being entered into their computer systems, contracts get signed off completely etc.. Of the large companies (banks included) we work with this is normally the case (a 60-100 day to get paid the first time), but subsequent times are usually quite easy for us as most of our large customers repeat back to us and we are already in their system for getting paid by their accounts payable department. Of course, there are exceptions to the rules, but I don't see large companies just arbitrarily trying to pull a longer cycle. At the least, they do usually have to wait for the accounts payable cycle and cutting an out of cycle check is a pain in the ass, but that comes sooner than 60 days. I think 60 days etc is reasonable if you are on a 1M-2M contract, but if your contract is a few hundred K over a year, it hardly will make that much of a collective cash flow dent to warrant it being worth their policy. By the way, if you are really working for a bank and cashflow is an issue for you in 60 days you can also ask the bank what business banking services they offer. One popular service with small businesses who have large companies working for them is invoice factoring which allows you to sell your invoice (if your company passes a credit check) to the bank for something like 80% of the face value of the account and then when the bank collects the invoice you get the rest minus interest and commissions. It's unlikely that they would grant the same credit with a 1-man company though. And I think they don't like dealing with service businesses. It's usually more for dealing with suppliers with real inventory where the main thing that can go wrong with an invoice is a pricing dispute over a line item of widgets I suspect. The other thing is that if you do a contract, build in billing cycles. 20-30% up front on a fixed fee contract is not unreasonable. Of course, you may need to commence work anyway before getting it if they are a large company that is having trouble getting you in their system, but that is the risk. But in any case, you can soon usually figure out whether they are going ot be paying your schedule or not. If you are just a normal hours-based contractor, then it's a bit more like getting a salary and so I think it is much harder to argue to be paid up front. >I did some work for a certain Linux distributor in the UK recently and they >took 100 days to pay after much harrasment. If you're small you have to be >tough - put the geek aside and become that vicious old lady that is usually >hired to badger late payers. The same all over the world. ;) Later, Gunther
Re: [OT] Re: Seeking Legal help
Matt Sergeant wrote: > Step three: Once you've given them 90 days after date of invoice, get a > solicitor (not a barrister) to draft a threatening letter. It'll cost you > about $100. I'm afraid you'll have to give them another 30 days at this > point. > > Step four: Get a lawyer. Sue. $25,000 is not to be sniffed at. What many small companies and one man operations dont realise is that debt collecting is an art. Also, some large companies (large banks in particular) have a policy of 'If you want to do business with us, we take 60 days to pay. It's all about keeping the cashflow on their side. I did some work for a certain Linux distributor in the UK recently and they took 100 days to pay after much harrasment. If you're small you have to be tough - put the geek aside and become that vicious old lady that is usually hired to badger late payers. Since you're also UK based, a good line you might want to try is "I've already paid the VAT on this invoice. I'd like to know is whether I should write you off as a bad debt so I can claim the VAT back." - assuming you're VAT registered that is. ~mark
Re: [OT] Re: Seeking Legal help
On Thu, 22 Nov 2001, Rodent of Unusual Size wrote: > Um, no, it's spelt "waylaid". :-) As you and everybody else has pointed out (mostly in private email). I was so eager and excited to give Matt some shit that I somehow incorporated part of his mistake. Oh well, that's what I get for teasing. -dave /*== www.urth.org We await the New Sun ==*/
Re: [OT] Re: Seeking Legal help
* On 2001-11-22 at 10:37, Dave Rolsky <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> excited the electrons to say: > > On Wed, 21 Nov 2001, Matt Sergeant wrote: > > > Maybe they weighlayed your invoice. Or don't have the money just yet but > ^^^??? > > You folks may have invented the language but its still spelled waylayed! Um, no, it's spelt "waylaid". :-) -- #kenP-)} Ken Coar, Sanagendamgagwedweinini http://Golux.Com/coar/ Author, developer, opinionist http://Apache-Server.Com/ "All right everyone! Step away from the glowing hamburger!"
Re: [OT] Re: Seeking Legal help
On Wed, 21 Nov 2001, Matt Sergeant wrote: > Maybe they weighlayed your invoice. Or don't have the money just yet but ^^^??? You folks may have invented the language but its still spelled waylayed! > Step three: Once you've given them 90 days after date of invoice, get a > solicitor (not a barrister) to draft a threatening letter. It'll cost you > about $100. I'm afraid you'll have to give them another 30 days at this > point. We just have lawyers. There's no distinction between solicitors and barristers. Actually, I'd start by seeing a lawyer since you want this as expedited as possible. A lawyer might tell you that you only have to wait 30 days after the invoice (or something like that). You never know. It won't cost all that much to simply make an appointment and talk to a lawyer for an hour or so (probably $100-200) and it'll be probably be worth it to talk to something with contract law experience in your state. -dave /*== www.urth.org We await the New Sun ==*/
