Normal payment terms

[Ihaveranoutofsteam]

Hi.

DH is a freelance trainer and he has just started a contract with a company. This company has a history of going bust and not paying creditors. He normally asks for payment on a 7 day term after the end of week where he is teaching. So teach Mon-Fri then get paid by following Friday.

The company now want to pay a few weeks after this, so 14-21 days. I don't trust them so want to keep it the same. They need him much more than he needs them.

I was wondering what standard terms were?

TBH if they have history and they need him like you say, I'd be insisting on payment in advance. Certainly wouldn't be relaxing terms and wouldn't be working for them while there are any overdue invoices outstanding.

Thank you for your reply, Breakage. There is no contract and he could walk anytime, majorly dropping them in it.

I think 7 days is generous and I get suspicious when they ask for longer.

They want to pay in 30 days now. Bad feeling :(

How can a company have a history of going bust? Genuine question. Do you mean the people who run it walk away from companies then start up remarkably similar companies a couple of days later? If so, why would your DH want to be involved with them?

Normal payment terms for a freelancer contracting with a company are 30 days in arrears. In the position of the contracting company, I wouldn't be prepared to pay any freelancer in advance for services.

However, if he has no contract, I'd suggest that the first step should be to put a contract to them for signature with the preferred payment terms. Next time round, aim to have the contract signed before starting work :)