Feb 07
LaurentMes Outils
Reminder: this is only a recap of the French article. To read the full post, choose French in the drop-down top menu.
And we're back to useful tools! In the full version of this article, you will learn how to convert a document into PDF, which allows you to protect your files such as invoices and quotes. It's quite simple actually: you just have to "save as" and choose the right filetype with the latest versions of MS Office.
If you don't have Office 2010 (or use an older version), you may want to install a virtual printer such as Cute PDF Writer, which allows you to save any type of document - from your Word and Excel docs to webpages or emails - in just a few clicks.
And if you're as tech-savvy as I am and use a tablet, you can try Office Converter for Android and iOS. It's free and fully working.
Finally, if you still don't have an online back-up solution such as Dropbox (I wrote about it here), I'll be happy to send you an invitation, and we'll both get a little more storage space. Just send an email: laurent@anothertranslator.eu.
Jun 13
LaurentMes Outils
To take a good start this week, as promised, here is the new episode of my useful tools for translators. After the whys and hows of a translation quote, here’s everything you want to know about invoices. If the why is pretty clear, the how is more mysterious.
Don’t forget that everything here relates to the French market only.
The Chamber of commerce from Lyon offers a very helpful and extensive document on invoices, which are defined as an accounting document established by the commercial society stating the terms of sale and purchase of products, wares, goods or services ».
The list of mandatory indications is pretty long, so I will let you check the said document.
There is something I care about: the payment period. According to the French law (August 4th, 2008), the payment period is limited to 45 days end of month or 60 days from the issue date. But you may reduce this period in your terms of service, to 30 days for example.
Short note on terminology: the phrase "30 days end of month" means that you count 30 days and then jump to the end of the month (i.e.: for a bill dated on June 10th, add 30 days (July 10th) and jump to the end of the month: the bill is to paid by July 31st at the latest). The expression "60 days from the issue date" means simply 60 calendar days: a bill issued on June 10th is to be paid on August 10th.
For my part, I added on my bill that late payments were subject to a 15% penalty. The law cited above indicates that "the minimum rate for late payment penalties will be of 3 times the legal interest rate".
The “autoentrepreneurs”, which are not subject to VAT, have two other compulsory indications:
- Next to the total amount payable: VAT not applicable, Art.293-B (French general tax code)
- Next to your SIRET number and APE code: Exempted from registration according to Article L123-1-1 of French trade code or according to Section V, Article 10, law n°96-603, 5 July 1996 related to trade and craft development
And since I'm a oh-so-sweet Care Bear, here is a template invoice that you can adapt and use at your convenience. FYI, I use an Excel spreadsheet to avoid bothering with calculations, but it works just as well with Word. And by the way: save your invoices in PDF format before sending, it will avoid potential trouble.
Example of Invoice
Jun 06
LaurentMes Outils
I would like to come back to the origins, to the initial goal of NJATB: giving advice and useful information about translation. So today, I will tell you how to make a good quote. And tomorrow, we’ll talk about invoices.
But first of all, let me say that what I’ll write here applies only to the French market. There may be some significant differences between countries, whether it is Canada, Belgium or English-speaking countries. Don’t forget to adapt the estimate to the law of the country you are working in.
So what the use of a quote? Better safe than sorry: the worst that could happen is that an unscrupulous client denies having ordered a translation you already sent back. And if you don’t have a quote, a commissioning letter or any written proof, you won’t have anything concrete to prove his bad faith.
Anything written down will do the job, such as an e-mail where a client asks you to translate said text, but a proper purchase order (sent by your client) or a quote (that you establish) is generally better. And it only costs a few minutes...
In France, there are a few mandatory indications to have on a quote: name and address of the translator and client, reception date and deadline, document title, quote acceptance period, rate per word or page, total price, payment terms… and the famous mention “Bon pour accord” from the client.
But rather than letting you in the blur, you can download below a template for a translation quote in French. Of course, you will have to adapt it to your needs, by adding, for example, your terms of service (or the one from the SFT) as well as the terms you negotiated with your client.
Example of Quote
Remember that you can also ask for a deposit, as it is often done by various professionals, especially for bigger jobs.
Next episode: invoicing!
