2009
12.17

Payment Terms

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Hi there!

If you’re reading this page you’re probably looking at hiring me to help you with a web related project.  Congratulations! You won’t regret it! I’m an honest, reliable and talented worker who would love nothing more than to see you succeed in your online ventures.  I believe that being up front is key to any business relationship, and if both parties clearly outline their expectations of the business transaction everything runs much more smoothly!  As such, I’ve put together this page to let clients know what they can expect from me, and in turn what I expect from my clients, when it comes to payment.

Hourly Rate Billing

When working on hourly rate projects I use super accurate time logging to make sure you only pay for the time you use, right down to the minute! No rounding up, no paying for me to take a bathroom break, and no paying for me to watch an hour of Scrubs while I ‘Think about your project’.  I do, however, impose a 30 minute minimum per job to make sure accounting overheads are covered.

  • On smaller, one off jobs (<8 hours), invoices will normally be sent out as soon as the work has been approved by the client.
  • For longer on-going projects invoices will be sent out weekly each Friday to cover the hours worked for that week.

My standard hourly rate is currently $66 inc GST unless I have quoted otherwise.

Quoted/Estimated Projects

Projects quoted on a fixed price basis will adhere to the following payment terms:

  • Projects under $1,000 are 100% on delivery.
  • Projects $1,000 to $5,000 are 50/50 projects: 50% up front, 50% on sign off and delivery.
  • Projects $5,000 to $10,000 are 30/30/40 projects: 30% before commencement, 30% at the half way milestone, and 40% on sign off and delivery.
  • For projects over $10,000, payment terms will be negotiated based on the number of milestones and the duration of the project.

Travel Costs

Although I’m a big believer in telecommuting, some clients require that extra bit of face time.  If you need me in the office I can certainly be there, and will travel up to 30 mins each way free of charge.  Trips over 30 minutes in either direction will incur a charge of 50% of the agreed hourly rate for each hour of travel time. If I am required to travel interstate or overseas I charge for airport and flying time as well as meals and accommodation, on top of actual work time.

Note that allowances for travel can be included in larger quoted/estimated projects.

Other Expenses

The following is a list of expenses which the client may incur as part of the development of a project:

  • Stock images: I usually use istockphoto.com for images in web projects.  The majority of these are $1-2 but some of the more exceptional or high quality images can reach $10-20.
  • Flash components: Pre built flash components range from several to hundreds of dollars, however they’re often a much more cost effective solution than building something from scratch.
  • PHP scripts & classes: There are heaps of free pre written PHP scripts and classes out there, however as with everything, the best ones always come at a cost.
  • Project specific software: I have licences for all the software one would normally need to develop web projects, however some clients may require something more specialised.

So that clients don’t get caught out by extra charges, I always check with the client before making any purchases that will be billed to them.

Payment Methods

I accept payments via bank deposit.

Due Dates

Unless otherwise stipulated, invoices are due 7 days from the date of issue.  I make sure this is clearly visible on all invoices so clients are never caught out by the due date.

Penalties

Nobody likes penalties. So rather than hiding them in small print, I like to be up front about late fees so the client knows exactly how to avoid them.  In the event of an overdue invoice I’ve implemented the following process:

  • Day 0: An invoice is generated and sent to client with 7 day payment terms.
  • Day 7: A friendly reminder is sent to the client letting them know today is the due date of their invoice.
  • Day 34: A reminder is sent to the client, letting them know that in 3 days their invoice will be 30 days overdue and they will incur a 10% late fee.
  • Day 37: A 10% late fee is added to their account and a new invoice is sent to the client.
  • Day 64: Another reminder is sent to the client, letting them know that invoices in excess of 60 days overdue are sent to a pair of rogue debt collectors with something to prove.
  • Day 67: Outstanding debts are handed to debt collectors.  Debt collection fees will be added to the clients’ outstanding balance.

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