| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | How to deal with translation agents who say they have no contracts and receipts Thread poster: Akiko Eizaki
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Akiko Eizaki
France
Local time: 11:04
French to Japanese
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I have just started as a freelance translator in France.
I have an offer from LinkedIn to work with a translation agency.
I have some concerns and the first thing they say is that they don't want a receipt. And secondly, they say that there is no contract to sign, as our email correspondence will take the place of a contract.
I then replied that I need both a receipt and a contract and am currently waiting for their reply.
I was concerned that it might be a ... See more I have just started as a freelance translator in France.
I have an offer from LinkedIn to work with a translation agency.
I have some concerns and the first thing they say is that they don't want a receipt. And secondly, they say that there is no contract to sign, as our email correspondence will take the place of a contract.
I then replied that I need both a receipt and a contract and am currently waiting for their reply.
I was concerned that it might be a scam and searched for the company name, but there are no reports to that effect.
How do you deal with these translation agents when you come across them? ▲ Collapse
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What do you mean by a receipt?
| | | | Dan Lucas 
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:04
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
| Read the forums | Nov 8, 2023 |
Akiko Eizaki wrote:
I have just started as a freelance translator in France.
I have an offer from LinkedIn to work with a translation agency.
Read the forums carefully, especially threads about late payment, scams, and so on.
Also be aware that rates accepted by agencies in certain countries tend to be very low.
Regards,
Dan
| | | | Joakim Braun
Sweden
Local time: 11:04
German to Swedish
+ ...
Legally they might be right. Suppose you end up with an unpaid invoice. If they contest it, then regardless of whether you have a contract or not you'll need to sue them in order to collect. The court will then evaluate the claim by looking at the evidence, such as the e-mail trail. A formal PO or contract doesn't have any particular legal force, it just makes the transaction details easier to prove. An e-mail, or even an oral communication, is in itself a contract. (Talking about Sweden here, o... See more Legally they might be right. Suppose you end up with an unpaid invoice. If they contest it, then regardless of whether you have a contract or not you'll need to sue them in order to collect. The court will then evaluate the claim by looking at the evidence, such as the e-mail trail. A formal PO or contract doesn't have any particular legal force, it just makes the transaction details easier to prove. An e-mail, or even an oral communication, is in itself a contract. (Talking about Sweden here, other jurisdictions might be different.)
But payment aside, a translation agency without a contract is weird. At the very least they'd want you to sign something about confidentiality of customer data. I've worked without a contract for agencies, but that's very rare.
(I don't understand "receipt" either...) ▲ Collapse
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Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 11:04
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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Akiko Eizaki wrote:
I have some concerns and the first thing they say is that they don't want a receipt.
If you mean that you are going to give them a receipt for the money that they pay you, then: in my 25 years of translation, no agency has ever asked me for a receipt, nor have I ever given one. If you mean that you want them to give you a receipt, then my question is the same as Joakim's and Maria's: what do you mean by "receipt"?
And secondly, they say that there is no contract to sign, as our email correspondence will take the place of a contract.
Legally speaking, they're right -- you don't need a separate contract and the email correspondence will act as the contract/agreement in case of dispute. I agree with Joakim that it's odd for a translation agency NOT to have a contract that they want you to sign, so this may be a red flag.
I then replied that I need both a receipt and a contract...
What do you mean when you say that YOU need a receipt? What kind of a receipt are you wanting?
I was concerned that it might be a scam and searched for the company name, but there are no reports to that effect.
Do you mean that you could not find any reports that they are scammers, or do you mean that you found reports about them, but that those reports were all good and/or fair? You have to do due diligence, i.e. find out if they actually exist as a company (e.g. do they have contact details that you can verify, etc.).
| | | | | Contracts and NDAs | Nov 9, 2023 |
Joakim Braun wrote:
(...) An e-mail, or even an oral communication, is in itself a contract. (Talking about Sweden here, other jurisdictions might be different.)
But payment aside, a translation agency without a contract is weird. At the very least they'd want you to sign something about confidentiality of customer data. I've worked without a contract for agencies, but that's very rare.
(I don't understand "receipt" either...)
I can assure you that the emails exchanged are evidence enough to take a client to court for non-payment. That’s what I did some 20 years ago and I won the case…
P.S. I have been working happily with my longest-standing-customer (a Belgian agency) with no NDA or contract…
| | | | Akiko Eizaki
France
Local time: 11:04
French to Japanese
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TOPIC STARTER | Receipt=Invoice | Nov 9, 2023 |
I am sorry for the confusion caused by my poor English.
When I said receipt, I meant INVOICE.
Thank you for your answer.
I did not know that an email correspondence could be a substitute for a contract.
The terms and conditions offered by the translation company in the example are very normal, including the rates, and there are no elements that could be considered fraudulent.
I will do some more searching, including the company's registration information.
| | | | | How I deal with them? | Nov 9, 2023 |
I trust my “gut” feeling (over the years, I developed a good sixth sense for these things), but I also back it up with due diligence checks…
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expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 10:04
Member (2015)
English to Portuguese
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Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida wrote:
What do you mean by a receipt?
I think the OP means an invoice. DeepL told me...
| | | | Peter Motte
Belgium
Local time: 11:04
Member (2009)
English to Dutch
+ ...
I think he means a PO (purchase order) by "receipt".
Don't trust DeepL.
[Edited at 2023-11-09 09:52 GMT]
| | | | Adieu
Ukrainian to English
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Sounds like purchase orders and invoices.
Your mileage may vary, as they say. Occasionally overly "casual" clients who just send you stuff and ask you to bill them by email turn out to be ok-ish.
(Moreso if you know who they are or someone who works with them, because there are tons of scammers too)
Don't let them run up large debts though. And of course try to give preference to more organized clients when you get the chance.
Samuel Murray wrote: Akiko Eizaki wrote:
I have some concerns and the first thing they say is that they don't want a receipt. If you mean that you are going to give them a receipt for the money that they pay you, then: in my 25 years of translation, no agency has ever asked me for a receipt, nor have I ever given one. If you mean that you want them to give you a receipt, then my question is the same as Joakim's and Maria's: what do you mean by "receipt"? And secondly, they say that there is no contract to sign, as our email correspondence will take the place of a contract. Legally speaking, they're right -- you don't need a separate contract and the email correspondence will act as the contract/agreement in case of dispute. I agree with Joakim that it's odd for a translation agency NOT to have a contract that they want you to sign, so this may be a red flag. I then replied that I need both a receipt and a contract... What do you mean when you say that YOU need a receipt? What kind of a receipt are you wanting? I was concerned that it might be a scam and searched for the company name, but there are no reports to that effect. Do you mean that you could not find any reports that they are scammers, or do you mean that you found reports about them, but that those reports were all good and/or fair? You have to do due diligence, i.e. find out if they actually exist as a company (e.g. do they have contact details that you can verify, etc.).
[Edited at 2023-11-10 21:30 GMT]
| | | | | Myriads of variations | Nov 11, 2023 |
I work with agencies where I don't have to issue invoices but they issue POs for each job to be done and calculate the total amount at the end of month and pay me the lump sum.
I also work with agencies where they issue a PO and I have to send them an invoice to get paid.
And I also work with agencies where they just issue a PO number to be listed on my invoice, send them an invoice at the time of delivery with the given PO number and they pay me.
Last, but not least I a... See more I work with agencies where I don't have to issue invoices but they issue POs for each job to be done and calculate the total amount at the end of month and pay me the lump sum.
I also work with agencies where they issue a PO and I have to send them an invoice to get paid.
And I also work with agencies where they just issue a PO number to be listed on my invoice, send them an invoice at the time of delivery with the given PO number and they pay me.
Last, but not least I also work with agencies where they send me a NDA or a contract to sign before getting a job assigned, and after sending them the signed NDA or contract, I get the job or I don't hear from them again.
I don't think there is much to worry, since there are so many variations because they are not one company, but each company has its own way of doing business. ▲ Collapse
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Zea_Mays
Italy
Local time: 11:04
Member (2009)
English to German
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Yasutomo Kanazawa wrote:
I work with agencies where I don't have to issue invoices but they issue POs for each job to be done and calculate the total amount at the end of month and pay me the lump sum.
How does this work for them in terms of tax law? What they pay you is a cost for them, and to book this correctly they'd need evidence (an invoice) of those costs.
You'd have to issue an invoice in any case too for tax reasons. Or does this work differently in your country of residence?
I work with agencies with automated invoice issuing (I don't have to send the invoice to them, they prepare it for me), but I've never encountered a business (and country) where _no_ invoice is required.
[Bearbeitet am 2023-11-11 14:08 GMT]
| | | | Dan Lucas
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:04
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
| Nevertheless | Nov 11, 2023 |
Zea_Mays wrote:
I work with agencies with automated invoice issuing (I don't have to send the invoice to them, they prepare it for me), but I've never encountered a business (and country) where _no_ invoice is required.
No idea how this works in tax law, but work it does. Some of my larger Japanese agency clients take the same approach. I guess that the list of jobs generated acts as that proof, provided that the system includes sending it to the translator for approval.
Regards,
Dan
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Zea_Mays wrote:
I work with agencies with automated invoice issuing (I don't have to send the invoice to them, they prepare it for me), but I've never encountered a business (and country) where _no_ invoice is required.
One of the world’s biggest agencies, based in the US.
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