| Страници во темата: [1 2] > | Poll: Do you employ someone to do your invoicing? Лице кое објавува дискусија: ProZ.com Staff
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| | Mary Worby 
Обединето Кралство
Local time: 00:50
Член
германски на англиски
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I record all jobs in invoice form in QuickBooks when I deliver them, then at the end of the month all I have to do is finalise the invoices and send them out. It takes me about 15 minutes. I've never heard of employing someone to do it!
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 19:50
англиски на шпански
+ ...
| If you have to hire someone to do your invoicing... | Feb 1, 2013 |
...either you are a translation agency or someone who is too wealthy or busy to sit down and spend 25 seconds writing an invoice.
| | | | | Interesting take | Feb 1, 2013 |
Mario Chavez wrote:
...either you are a translation agency or someone who is too wealthy or busy to sit down and spend 25 seconds writing an invoice.
@Mario
As usual, thanks for the interesting take on this poll question.
I hardly ever have to do invoicing these days, since over 90% of my customers now have an online invoicing system in place which automatically sends me POs, invoices, payment statements, etc. All I have to do is make sure that their figures match mine.
Not exactly life in easy street, but this helps take the burden off me and makes my life easier.
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Vibeke Lindstad
Норвешка
Local time: 01:50
Член (2010)
англиски на норвешки
+ ...
| Yes, someone does my invoicing | Feb 1, 2013 |
Mario Chavez wrote:
...either you are a translation agency or someone who is too wealthy or busy to sit down and spend 25 seconds writing an invoice.
And no, Mario C, it's not because I have too much money, but because invoicing abroad (different VATs, tax rules and everything), keeping books and paying taxes need to be flawless. I try my very best to run a professional business, including clean finances. Tax laws are changing constantly. My accountant takes mandatory classes and courses all year long, and is completely up-to-date. That's worth paying for. And when the tax office calls and want to poke into some incredible little detail, I can lean back, ask them to call my accountant and go back to working on my translation. Thats worh every penny (or krone, here in Norway) i pay for invoicing.
Vibeke
| | | | | Differences between US/Canada and Europe | Feb 1, 2013 |
Mario Chavez wrote:
...either you are a translation agency or someone who is too wealthy or busy to sit down and spend 25 seconds writing an invoice.
I don't pay anyone to do my invoicing, but I do make full use of the accountant who deals with my husband's business, as she also does my tax returns. She just recently gave me advice as to which 'tax regime' I fell under, as my registration at the tax office has to be just right. The problem in Portugal is that it is quite normal for the staff who work at the tax office not to understand the rules very well themselves. Wrong information from the tax office is a normal part of life here, together with lots of shouting at the tax desk, and sometimes....fighting!!! (though not recently, I must say).
I did read somewhere that anyone in Europe would do well to use an accountant, as the VAT and taxation laws are so very complicated, and that apparently, in the US/Canada, there is no VAT and tax laws are simpler.
Could this be true?
| | | | Ty Kendall
Обединето Кралство
Local time: 00:50
еврејски на англиски
I don't employ anyone to tie my shoelaces either.
| | | | Thayenga
Германија
Local time: 01:50
Член (2009)
англиски на германски
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I use my own invoicing system for which I've paid.
But do pay someone to actually do my invoicing for me? The answer must be know because I'm neither an agency nor am I rich.
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It takes no more time to do it yourself than to send the necessary info to an accountant or bookkeeper, and it really isn't at all complicated.
We have customers in more than a dozen countries and we invoice them all in exactly the same way, except for adding VAT for those in the UK.
Whether you use accounting software or your own template, you just need to put who, what, how much, when and a tax code and click Send.
| | | | Mary Worby
Обединето Кралство
Local time: 00:50
Член
германски на англиски
+ ...
Filipa Plant dos Santos wrote:
I did read somewhere that anyone in Europe would do well to use an accountant, as the VAT and taxation laws are so very complicated, and that apparently, in the US/Canada, there is no VAT and tax laws are simpler.
Could this be true?
It could well be. I do use an accountant to do my tax return, etc. But not invoicing.
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Not for invoicing per se, but I have an accountant for the quarterly VAT returns, the yearly listing and all the other financial statements. Just like Vibeke "when the tax office calls, I ask them to call my accountant and go back to working on my translation". That's worth every penny (or euro, here in Belgium) I pay him.
[Edited at 2013-02-01 09:44 GMT]
| | | | neilmac
Шпанија
Local time: 01:50
шпански на англиски
+ ...
Am not sure about the question.
I prepare and issue my own invoices and send or deliver them to my clients. I keep a list of them in chronological order, both quarterly and yearly. At the end of each quarter I send the list to my agent (called a "gestor" in Spain) and he prepares my VAT return, and we do the same for my annual statement at the end of each year.
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neilmac
Шпанија
Local time: 01:50
шпански на англиски
+ ...
Mario Chavez wrote:
...either you are a translation agency or someone who is too wealthy or busy to sit down and spend 25 seconds writing an invoice.
Quite. Unless you count my dentist or mechanic, I don't think I really "employ" anyone to do anything...
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I simply hate invoicing, and with one promising exception, clients' own systems only make it worse. I still have to make out an invoice in a form the tax authorities will accept after that.
But it would take longer to explain to anyone else how to quote every different client's job ref. number, internal PO code, job name and PM's initials... whatever else they ask you to quote on your invoice.... Which I have to check myself anyway before I deliver.
Chase up their VAT ... See more I simply hate invoicing, and with one promising exception, clients' own systems only make it worse. I still have to make out an invoice in a form the tax authorities will accept after that.
But it would take longer to explain to anyone else how to quote every different client's job ref. number, internal PO code, job name and PM's initials... whatever else they ask you to quote on your invoice.... Which I have to check myself anyway before I deliver.
Chase up their VAT number...
I do that. And it takes me ages, far more than 25 seconds!
Luckily my husband is an economist and has spent years in the finance department of an export company. If he did not do the rest for me, I would definitely pay another professional - I simply do not have the head for that kind of thing! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Steve Derry
Шпанија
Local time: 01:50
германски на англиски
+ ...
With regard to invoicing I prefer to do it myself as I am used to each of my customers' requests (some are invoiced via an online portal, one prefers a signed hard copy, one prefers the invoice as PDF etc.) and payment cycles (a couple pay within a week or so whereas one, although very good, pays 30 days after the end of month in which the invoice was received, therefore if I don't get the monthly invoice by the last day of the month, I have to wait two months for payment).
All I need to d... See more With regard to invoicing I prefer to do it myself as I am used to each of my customers' requests (some are invoiced via an online portal, one prefers a signed hard copy, one prefers the invoice as PDF etc.) and payment cycles (a couple pay within a week or so whereas one, although very good, pays 30 days after the end of month in which the invoice was received, therefore if I don't get the monthly invoice by the last day of the month, I have to wait two months for payment).
All I need to do then is enter the basic details (client name, tax code, amount) into a shared online spreadsheet that me and my Gestor have access to and he (hopefully) does the rest.
But then that's the difference between purely invoicing (no invoice = no pay) and all the other tax-related palaver that goes with it. ▲ Collapse
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