Friend expecting me to work for free

[unpaid1]

Recently, a friend who I used to work with has opened her own consulting business and told me about it. As we worked in the same field she said we could work together where if she needed any help with documents, data entry I could pick it up. I of course said yes, that sounds great , make a bit of money on the side.

The issue is I’ve now done quite a few pieces of work for her but she hasn’t mentioned any payment? I tried to hint to her last week when she asked me to type something up for her, how would we work how I’m getting paid and she said don’t worry we will talk about it soon. She gave me the business bank card and told me to order stationary etc if needed as she would cover the costs.

She’s just messaged again asking for a task to be competed and I’m slightly annoyed now because I can’t keep giving my time up for free. How do I approach this with her without ruining our friendship? I really don’t want to finish this new task she’s given me as I know it’s going to take a good 5-6 hours 😭.

AIBU and should just help her?
AINBU and how do I ask her to pay me?

Ask her when she's paying you and don't do anymore work until you agree a rate.

Do you even need to ask?! of course YANBU. Tell the cheeky mare to pay or you're not doing anything else.

Don’t hint. Send an invoice for the work you have done so far. Tell her that you won’t be helping her any further until she has paid you. She is not your friend by the way. She is a CF.

Reply saying what the cost will be and once its transferred to you along with any outstanding payments due you will make a start on it

You tell her that you are not prepared to do any further work until you have been paid for what you have already done.

Arrange a meeting or coffee and ask! Say what hours do you need, what rate can you afford and talk about invoicing etc then say ‘I’ll have a think about it’ if you need to. If she’s running a professional business this is entirely ok to talk about

“Hi Business friend,
I’m afraid I can’t do any more work for you until we have formalised my remuneration. I am happy to invoice you by the hour, and my hourly rate will be £X. Therefore you owe me £X x Y hours for the work I have already done.
Yours,
@unpaid1.”

She doesn’t intend on paying you. You need to say I’ve already worked x amount of hours, that’s ££££ please.

You say " how much are you paying for my services? Because that will decide how much time I can give to this task".

Why on earth did you do the work without agreeing a specific price first?

Definitely don’t do anything else until you sort out payment for the work you have already done.

Hi Jane, can we discuss and agree how and when I’ll be paid for this work please. Thanks, unpaid1”

Short, simple, to the point.

Just send her an invoice?

Just say sorry, I can’t/can‘t afford to take on any more assignments without being paid for the others.
Depending on the type of work you could ask for 50% on assignment, 50% on completion.
Some acquaintances of mine in the creative industries send a link for downloading the completed work that needs a credit card payment before the download starts.
However, I would suspect you will never hear from her again nor see payment for what you’ve already done however you approach it. A good friend would have already asked you to send an invoice.

“Hi friend, before we go any further with working together, we need to sort out payment for the work I’ve done already. I’ve done X hours so far and my usual rate is usually £Y an hour. Let me know if you want to discuss my rate, otherwise I’ll get started once you’ve settled up as I’m not able to work for free”

Message her. I've already done X hours for you. My rate is £x per hour. I would like payment before I do anymore. Do you need an invoice or can you just do a bank transfer? Here are my bank details.

Send her an invoice for what you’ve already done and make sure you tell her no further work shall be undertaken until previous hours have been paid for.

Surely you just send her an invoice for the hours you have worked?

How would you like me to invoice you?

Good message.

Don’t wait to discuss your rates, be proactive and set them. Also, she’s probably wanting ‘mates rates’. Ie cheap (or free). Maybe do a discount further for first week’s or month’s work (ie. 15% discount) but then charge your standard rate.

Say it’s approaching the end of the month I need to pay the mortgage, I’ll send my invoice over tomorrow.

YANBU. 'Hey friend, I've enjoyed supporting you in your new business, however when you asked me to do so I did think it would come with some payment - have I got the wrong end of the stick about that? I'd really appreciate it if we could make sure we're on the same page about this before I take on any more tasks.

Hi Friend, before I do xyz can we sit down and agree how we work out how you pay me? Perhaps we can agree how you commission me, by job or hourly rate, timesheets or fulfilment criteria, that sort of thing.
I think we need to get expectations agreed so there is no chance of our friendship being adversely affected if one of us feels things aren't agreed.
Something along those lines

Just ask her. She’s the one ruining your friendship by taking the piss!

Hi friend, just doing my admin for last month. I have done x hours for you at x£/hr, so the total will be y - please can you send it across.

If you’re happy to continue with our arrangement I will start on the next task once I’ve received the outstanding balance.

I’ll be honest, the credit card thing for stationery sounds like she’s building up to just paying for expenses and expecting you to do everything else for free to help her out 🤣 definitely don’t do anymore work until you’re paid.

She is a friend and you say you don't want to spoil the friendship.
So I would say what pp are sayign but soften the opening.
eg - It has been exciting to see you open your new company, and I have been really happy to give you a helping hand to start.
So now we need to talk about how we manage this in the future. I would love to continue to collaborate, I usally charge xxxx amount per hour. For you I am happy to do a 10% discount. So for the job you have just asked me about it would be 6 hours work.

Let me know what you are thinking, shall we meet ofr coffee to talk it over?