VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

[Mike Harrison]

It's one thing if a client asks in the beginning of a relationship whether a 90-day payment cycle is acceptable. But many of them don't seem to even bother asking.

98% of my clients (corporate) pay within 30 days; sometimes even sooner. One or two go to 45 days. But 90 days? Is this now the norm, Cliff?
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Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.

[BruceG]

I recently saw this on YouTube, addressing this very topic:

https://youtu.be/-OzvAMWgmQE
[/url]
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"What was that? An exhibition? We need emotional content." - Bruce Lee, Enter The Dragon

[Bruce]

From recollection, not data, I'd say my average pay day is 40 days out.

And yes, I rarely bug people for money until bills age to 90 days or so, because almost all of them have paid by 90.

B
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VO-BB Member #31 Enlisted June, 2005

I'm not a Zoo, but over the years I've played one on radio/TV. .

[MBVOXX]

money moves down the chain of services as it arrives in the employers hands.
Sometimes it's quick and sometimes it's not, just depends on how soon the people at the top of the chain are getting paid.
I work on a 12 day payable system with my clients and except for a job here and there most clients adhere to it.

[Yonie]

Mike, here's a wild theory I have:

I suspect some companies use the 90-day cycle so they can choose which quarter takes that cost. Numbers tallied with cost and return can possibly look costly if one doesn't follow the othe. Investment returns probably won't be immediately noticeable with, say, a voiced project.

[Bruce]

Actually the majority of companies use the accrual method of accounting where sales invoices and expense invoices are logged in right away whether money has changed hands or not. Slow payment from them can just be slow cash flow, conniving management, or grumpy/lazy/incompetent bookkeepers.

You can ask/demand any payment terms you want (I state “due on receipt”) and they usually pay you whenever they want as is my experience.

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/accrualaccounting.asp

B
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VO-BB Member #31 Enlisted June, 2005

I'm not a Zoo, but over the years I've played one on radio/TV. .

[Bish]

I think it's easy to overthink this. Quite simply, any organization will strive to hold onto money as long as possible. It keeps their balances healthy, it gives them access to more funds for "investment". They may be small amounts, but they add up. It a large company has decided to push out the usual 30 day cycle to 60... then that may give them an extra million (or whatever) at their disposal for 30 days... put it on the overnight money market (as my old company used to do)... or whatever. The principle is simple... the longer I keep you waiting, the better it is for me financially. As companies are becoming more subject to success based on pure numbers and accounting targets, the pain felt by suppliers and the lack of goodwill becomes an irrelevance.

As I've said before... they want all the pies.

I was just told of something really quite disturbing. A company uses a billing service. The billing service informs the supplier of a 60 day cycle... but you can have it in 40 days if you accept less. This is reprehensible in my opinion.
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Bish a.k.a. Bish
Smoke me a kipper... I'll be back for breakfast.
I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls.

[Philip Banks]

In the UK local radio commercial production relies on low fees, volume and prompt payment. Rate for a voice on one commercial to be broadcast on "average town FM" for up to one year (Union agreed - SHAME ON THEM) is £24.50p about $35.

For a voice, low fees, volume and prompt payment combine to form the perfect triangle (equilateral). UK local radio LIKES low fees yet embraces neither of the two other elements. The system has been failing since around 2004, probably a little longer.

A well managed ego will help one as a performer but it is of no help at all in running a business. People who do local radio ads love to sit in their cars with friends and turn up the volume on the radio when THEIR ad come on.

"Go on Dood, really impress them, show 'em the pay cheque!"

"Awww Banksey (my name is Philip by the way) that would be just crass!"

"Whereas drowning out conversation with a sh*t radio ad isn't?"

A well managed business will balance out your ego because numbers are simply numbers. The following number are less than a year old. All in sterling.

From phone call to end of paperwork a local radio ad will take me on average 15 minutes. My VO time sells for a minimum session fee of £250 per hour. A local radio pays £24.50. 15 minutes of my time costs my business £62.50. This is NOT about me, it's about business. If I says yes to a local radio ad I lose £38.

Bit more for you?

A great deal of my work is done outside of the UK and as such is subject to currency movements. Most up to date average. Every non UK job earns me around £50 simply because of the FOREX market movements, that's on top of the fee. Last week that was £490.

Controlled ego will manage your performance.
Knowing da numbers will manage your business.
Refusal to comply with both of the above? Explain to the Bunny in your head that what he makes you say and do has consequences.

[todd ellis]

2018 has been the year of "follow the money" for me. i have always been pretty loose in my "invoice watching" because i work with good people who pay me ... eventually. since my pipe is usually pretty full, something drops out of my end fairly regularly. i have 30, 60 & 90 day payers, i have some faster than that & i have a couple that i have to bug now & again. after a major corporate screw-up where, under new ownership, "X-Corp" changed the email address for invoicing without telling me - or anybody else, apparently and we became backlogged to the tune of $30k-ish. it was months getting it sorted out and i never want to go through that again.

clients pay on different schedules. i now have all of mine on auto-reminders based on their schedule to remind ME just as much as to remind them.
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"i know philip banks": todd ellis
who's/on/1st?

[Lee Gordon]

Every month, I get bills -- from the gas company, the electric company, my insurance company, the credit card company, etc. Each one has a due date printed on it. And unless I lose track and forget (it happens occasionally), I send the payment four or five days before it is due. Somehow, the people who owe me money do not all operate in a similar fashion. Every day, I go to the mailbox, and if there is money in it, I am pleasantly surprised. I have given up expecting to be paid promptly. I am now satisfied just to get paid. As long as I have enough money in my account to cover the outgoing payments, I don't get worked up about how long it took to come in,
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Lee Gordon, O.A.V.
Voice President of the United States
www.leegordonproductions.com
Twitter: @LeeGordonVoice

[ConnieTerwilliger]

[Mike Harrison]

An old story (not the reason for this thread):

After having already been late on every previous occasion, and lying about it each time, an independent video producer was sent an invoice for a job in mid-May 2016, payable in mid-June. No payment came by the due date. A polite reminder was sent mid-July. The response: "I sent that. Check #3446. Let me check my bank statement to confirm it hasn't been cashed."

(What, do you think I'm lying to you?)

Until that time, the last check I had received from him was #4182 (a LATER number), for a job PREVIOUS to the May job.

Payment finally came in early August... but it was $25 short. He said he'd sent the balance right away. It came three weeks later.

The next time he emailed to book me for a job, I fired him. Don't pee on my shoes and tell me it's raining.
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Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.

[Lee Gordon]