What stages to prescribe in the contract
In past notes and comments to them, I recommended to break up the work with the customer into stages, to pass each stage and receive money for it. Colleagues began to ask what steps can be distinguished when creating a site, and I decided to write more about this.
Experience in different studios and with different people suggests: the best guarantee of payment is the payment made . A contract, a letter of guarantee, a signed act or, moreover, a verbal agreement does not mean at all that they will pay you on time, if at all. You will also need to bring in time the money for the office, communications, meals, pay salaries and taxes, pay for hosting, work of subcontractors and much more.
To spoil the relationship with the customer, especially to get involved in litigation - the last thing. Long, extremely unpleasant, often unprofitable and almost always unjustified. In most cases, everything can be solved in a civilized manner and voluntarily of the parties, and to warn once is better than to constantly treat a chronic disease. stop smoking
')
Even very large and serious companies in which decent and conscientious people work for a variety of reasons, delay payment. For example, the budget for this quarter is over (but they are ready to pay next). In fact, a small studio or agency credits a large customer .
But more often it happens that a financial director, with whom you are strangers at all, decides to send money for more priority business. A small studio will never be a priority for a large company with dozens of representative offices. This is reality. And this is not a reason to spoil relations with good people and a significant client.
When working with small and medium-sized businesses (and large holdings involved in real estate, they sinned with this), they heard about the “lack of money in the company”, and about the “accounts lost in the accounting department” and that the “general account signs, and he is on a business trip” . But you yourself also have to pay. That is, you credit the customer at your own expense . If he took the money in the bank, he would pay interest on them, and you pay these interest.
The division of work into stages is beneficial to both a bona fide contractor and a bona fide customer. Remember this and use in the negotiations.
Purely psychologically, it is easier for many people to accept three payments of 2,000 euros, than one payment of 6,000 euros.
When working with large companies it is easier to fit in the balance of the quarterly budget. You can wait for the next quarter, and you can get some of the money now.
When a customer is a small company, it often happens that they receive some money, but they don’t keep the money in the account, and then they are allowed to go somewhere. And when it comes to paying you, there is no money. When payments are broken down into stages, it is easier to fit in the next such arrival of money.
Not only the customer must control the progress of the project, but also the contractor must control the payments.
The customer can legally ask where the layouts are, because the deadline for the corresponding stage specified in the contract is nearing. The contractor will be in good shape, knowing that he will not be able to postpone everything for the last week. When a job is broken down into stages, the likelihood of a deadline is reduced.
And, again, purely psychologically, the customer is calmer: he really keeps his finger on the pulse and has the ability to track the actual progress of work.
The contractor, on the other hand, can hand over the mock-ups, receive the signed act and demand payment within the deadline set by the parties and specified in the contract. If the customer delays the payment in the interim period, then with a competently drafted contract, the contractor will receive the tools of influence : he will have the right to move the deadlines and demand a penalty.
The money argument (penalty) is tough enough. Leave it as a last resort. At the most extreme. Save it for accounting or financial director. For example, when an accountant says “oh, the account is lost” or “we are about to pay,” he can be hinted that the contract has already expired, there is no money, and the contract provides for sanctions. Accountants and financiers take the money argument most quickly, but the main contact person is not in a hurry to express it.
By the way, in the Studio Made, I have not used this argument yet, although we paid the penalty once to the customer, and we reminded them ourselves. The deadline was disrupted with the participation of both parties, but I did not arrange for the proceedings, who is more to blame. Just when I was asked how much they owe us, I called the amount, counted the penalties and billed with the appropriate deduction.
For a person interested in submitting a project, the timing argument is more effective and less stringent. Talking about terms, unlike sanctions, do not cause offenses. If the customer’s manager feels that the delay was due to his fault (he didn’t give the bill to the accounting department, went to the sushi bar instead of coordinating the layout with the boss in the evening), then he understands that with the official timing of the deadline, the boss will see.
In addition, the customer has his own deadlines, to which he treats with greater pietom than to your deadlines. Here the legal deadline is a good, civilized tool of influence, allowing to link the interests of the customer with yours.
If the customer’s manager doesn’t have any shoals, then he will go to the boss and will lucidly explain why it’s worthwhile to take a responsible approach to fulfilling his obligations under the contract.
Made a deal, passed the result, received payment. This is insurance for both you and the customer. Whether the meteorite fell on the studio, whether the lightning struck the customer, whether the werewolves in uniform strapped it or a designer found a creative crisis, a certain stage of the relationship was fixed.
The customer received his layouts, templates, technical specifications, and the contractor received money and closing documents.
If suddenly it comes to termination of the contract (the reasons are very different, for example, the founder of the customer decided to close the corresponding business line), then the work in stages will seriously help you out.
First, you already get money for the previous stages. The amount of work completed but not paid is reduced.
Secondly, when a contract is terminated (even if you write about the services, the court may still attribute the creation of the site to work for the contract), the customer is obliged to pay the cost of the work actually performed . The contractor needs to be shown what works were actually performed and justify that these works really took fifty percent of the contract value, and not five, as the opponent wants to present.
When the stages are highlighted, their cost is indicated in the contract and there are acts confirming that the result of the stage was accepted by the customer, then everything becomes much simpler.
More profitable to get some of the money before. A sensible person will not agree to give 100% prepayment. Usually prepayment is 30-40%. The remaining 60-70% will have to wait a long time.
With staged payment, you have the opportunity to take an advance payment, and then take the work in parts, gradually getting the following money. And this money can be spent on current expenses: salaries, rent, payment to illustrators.
We try to make the technical task paid separately. Moreover, a separate agreement should be entered into for drawing up the technical specification. Alas, it is not always possible to convince the customer to work under this scheme. Nevertheless, I consider it a separate contract for the design of a site that I consider to be a correct, civilized scheme of work. Why - I will tell later.
The exceptions are small sites with an established process, mutual understanding with the customer and full mutual trust.
If the project is small, then we select design as an intermediate stage. The customer receives a complete set of layouts and comments for technologists.
If the project involves a complex layout, writing non-trivial scripts, then this process is also worth highlighting in step. The customer receives a complete set of templates, scripts and related files. Everything is tested in different browsers and is accompanied by comments.
If the project is complex, lengthy, then an individual scheme of division into stages should be developed, guided by certain principles .
Why should you take the work in stages
Experience in different studios and with different people suggests: the best guarantee of payment is the payment made . A contract, a letter of guarantee, a signed act or, moreover, a verbal agreement does not mean at all that they will pay you on time, if at all. You will also need to bring in time the money for the office, communications, meals, pay salaries and taxes, pay for hosting, work of subcontractors and much more.
To spoil the relationship with the customer, especially to get involved in litigation - the last thing. Long, extremely unpleasant, often unprofitable and almost always unjustified. In most cases, everything can be solved in a civilized manner and voluntarily of the parties, and to warn once is better than to constantly treat a chronic disease. stop smoking
')
Even very large and serious companies in which decent and conscientious people work for a variety of reasons, delay payment. For example, the budget for this quarter is over (but they are ready to pay next). In fact, a small studio or agency credits a large customer .
But more often it happens that a financial director, with whom you are strangers at all, decides to send money for more priority business. A small studio will never be a priority for a large company with dozens of representative offices. This is reality. And this is not a reason to spoil relations with good people and a significant client.
When working with small and medium-sized businesses (and large holdings involved in real estate, they sinned with this), they heard about the “lack of money in the company”, and about the “accounts lost in the accounting department” and that the “general account signs, and he is on a business trip” . But you yourself also have to pay. That is, you credit the customer at your own expense . If he took the money in the bank, he would pay interest on them, and you pay these interest.
How it works and why it is profitable
The division of work into stages is beneficial to both a bona fide contractor and a bona fide customer. Remember this and use in the negotiations.
Stages reduce payments
Purely psychologically, it is easier for many people to accept three payments of 2,000 euros, than one payment of 6,000 euros.
When working with large companies it is easier to fit in the balance of the quarterly budget. You can wait for the next quarter, and you can get some of the money now.
When a customer is a small company, it often happens that they receive some money, but they don’t keep the money in the account, and then they are allowed to go somewhere. And when it comes to paying you, there is no money. When payments are broken down into stages, it is easier to fit in the next such arrival of money.
Stages are control points
Not only the customer must control the progress of the project, but also the contractor must control the payments.
The customer can legally ask where the layouts are, because the deadline for the corresponding stage specified in the contract is nearing. The contractor will be in good shape, knowing that he will not be able to postpone everything for the last week. When a job is broken down into stages, the likelihood of a deadline is reduced.
And, again, purely psychologically, the customer is calmer: he really keeps his finger on the pulse and has the ability to track the actual progress of work.
The contractor, on the other hand, can hand over the mock-ups, receive the signed act and demand payment within the deadline set by the parties and specified in the contract. If the customer delays the payment in the interim period, then with a competently drafted contract, the contractor will receive the tools of influence : he will have the right to move the deadlines and demand a penalty.
The money argument (penalty) is tough enough. Leave it as a last resort. At the most extreme. Save it for accounting or financial director. For example, when an accountant says “oh, the account is lost” or “we are about to pay,” he can be hinted that the contract has already expired, there is no money, and the contract provides for sanctions. Accountants and financiers take the money argument most quickly, but the main contact person is not in a hurry to express it.
By the way, in the Studio Made, I have not used this argument yet, although we paid the penalty once to the customer, and we reminded them ourselves. The deadline was disrupted with the participation of both parties, but I did not arrange for the proceedings, who is more to blame. Just when I was asked how much they owe us, I called the amount, counted the penalties and billed with the appropriate deduction.
For a person interested in submitting a project, the timing argument is more effective and less stringent. Talking about terms, unlike sanctions, do not cause offenses. If the customer’s manager feels that the delay was due to his fault (he didn’t give the bill to the accounting department, went to the sushi bar instead of coordinating the layout with the boss in the evening), then he understands that with the official timing of the deadline, the boss will see.
In addition, the customer has his own deadlines, to which he treats with greater pietom than to your deadlines. Here the legal deadline is a good, civilized tool of influence, allowing to link the interests of the customer with yours.
If the customer’s manager doesn’t have any shoals, then he will go to the boss and will lucidly explain why it’s worthwhile to take a responsible approach to fulfilling his obligations under the contract.
Stages are fix points.
Made a deal, passed the result, received payment. This is insurance for both you and the customer. Whether the meteorite fell on the studio, whether the lightning struck the customer, whether the werewolves in uniform strapped it or a designer found a creative crisis, a certain stage of the relationship was fixed.
The customer received his layouts, templates, technical specifications, and the contractor received money and closing documents.
If suddenly it comes to termination of the contract (the reasons are very different, for example, the founder of the customer decided to close the corresponding business line), then the work in stages will seriously help you out.
First, you already get money for the previous stages. The amount of work completed but not paid is reduced.
Secondly, when a contract is terminated (even if you write about the services, the court may still attribute the creation of the site to work for the contract), the customer is obliged to pay the cost of the work actually performed . The contractor needs to be shown what works were actually performed and justify that these works really took fifty percent of the contract value, and not five, as the opponent wants to present.
When the stages are highlighted, their cost is indicated in the contract and there are acts confirming that the result of the stage was accepted by the customer, then everything becomes much simpler.
You get paid earlier
More profitable to get some of the money before. A sensible person will not agree to give 100% prepayment. Usually prepayment is 30-40%. The remaining 60-70% will have to wait a long time.
With staged payment, you have the opportunity to take an advance payment, and then take the work in parts, gradually getting the following money. And this money can be spent on current expenses: salaries, rent, payment to illustrators.
Examples of stages
We try to make the technical task paid separately. Moreover, a separate agreement should be entered into for drawing up the technical specification. Alas, it is not always possible to convince the customer to work under this scheme. Nevertheless, I consider it a separate contract for the design of a site that I consider to be a correct, civilized scheme of work. Why - I will tell later.
The exceptions are small sites with an established process, mutual understanding with the customer and full mutual trust.
If the project is small, then we select design as an intermediate stage. The customer receives a complete set of layouts and comments for technologists.
If the project involves a complex layout, writing non-trivial scripts, then this process is also worth highlighting in step. The customer receives a complete set of templates, scripts and related files. Everything is tested in different browsers and is accompanied by comments.
If the project is complex, lengthy, then an individual scheme of division into stages should be developed, guided by certain principles .
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/24028/
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