How do you handle freelance payments?
Typically I let the client pay through whatever they are comfortable with (though this means it's done through a variety of different methods).
Not sure if other relate to this. Curious to know how IH handles this. Are there advantages/disadvantages to taking from certain platforms (ex. speed of payment, taxes, etc.)?
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I like to keep friction low and make sure that payment is easy; but I push for either a.) ACH or b.) check by mail to avoid fees.
Where that feels unlikely or it's a bigger company with more bureaucracy, I'll send them an invoice via PayPal.
What country do you live in and are your customers in the same country?
We are based in the US, most of our customers are in the US.
### For our customers in the US
We use QuickBooks (sadly) and we use QuickBooks online payments: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/payments/
The reason why we use QuickBooks is because it is "the thing" that accountants are comfortable with. That is a major key:
👉 Ask your accountant if they have any preferences
Our corporate customers pay us online via ACH with QuickBooks Payments. It costs $3/transaction.
### For our International customers
We bring in all of our charges via Stripe. It's worth paying the 2.9% for making sure the transaction clears.
Freshbooks may also be a great alternative too: https://www.freshbooks.com/
Yeah all US. Is there a reason you don't use Stripe in the US? Is it mainly just the whole quickbooks is easier for accountant reason?
We just use the ACH stuff with Quickbooks because of the flat $3/transaction fee.
If we charged a $4,000 bill through Stripe, it would cost us ~$116 to process.
100%. We just use Quickbooks because I wanted our accountant to be in their complete comfort zone (saving me money when they do my taxes). We're also running the Quickbooks Desktop version and I have a computer dedicated to accounting, so I gave my accountant remote access to the computer using TeamViewer. Works great!
Quickbooks Desktop is also a one-time purchase, so you save on the residuals if you have the equipment.
Quickbooks can be a massive PIA though, so I would definitely ask your accountant and go with what you are both comfortable with.
Hey! We at ductllc.com are a freelancing and contracting invoicing platform that provides you with the payment protection platforms like Upwork, Fivver provide but without the fees and with full customizability. Check us out at ductllc.com and let me know what you think!
Who decides if the milestone is completed for your escrow service?
You can either submit the request for release (hirer has 7 days to answer before it auto accepts) or the hirer would accept before the 7 day window. Alternatively the hirer can push the funds out of escrow right through.
Gotcha so your service doesn't handle disputes or anything?
We do if there ever happens to be a disagreement. We are adding a drag and drop contract creator soon as well! Do you think that this is something of use for you?