I saw a freelancer post that a client sent them a "We're not paying invoices due to [the economic environment]" notice. I won't link to it due to my no shaming policy. The responses from freelancers to this are fairly predictable. I have some slightly different ones:
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There are backstopping options here. It is important for businesses to understand that credit risk *is a very real thing* and that there are, at this moment, some companies which have been extended trade credit by firms like yours which will not be able to service that debt.
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Your chief recourse to that is charging more, because you bake credit risk into the expenses of your business, and if a client goes out of business on you between invoicing and receiving payment you grimace a bit, chalk it up to credit losses, and move on with your life.
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But a client simply not paying today is, well, Tuesday. Stop work, send letter, escalate as per your usual collection efforts. If you do not want to deal with this hassle, that is a reasonable preference. You will enjoy being an employee more than you will running a business.
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Psst if this is a material amount of money for your firm you *may* want to look at your business insurance policy because this is conceivably a covered risk given the circumstances, though expect that to also be a negotiation between you and your insurance carrier.
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In *that* negotiation it is may be helpful to you that the client has sent you a letter re: coronavirus or government-ordered shutdown because plausibly those are covered ("business interruption", etc) where "I'm a bozo and not paying" is probably not a covered risk.
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Note that it is entirely possible the insurance company says "Coronavirus is not a covered risk; check your policy" and that is *also* perhaps more a negotiating position than it is a true statement about what your policy does and does not cover.
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"Coronavirus! No!" "Business interruption at direct customer caused by government action. Yes!" "Has to be incident to physical damage. No!" "Customer site coated in lethal biohazard. Pay or have your lawyer suit up." *check quietly arrives* (Only worth your time if $$$.)
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I agree with everything you say on this thread, but I'm not sure why you keep bashing employees. I'm employed, but I hope I think like a business owner. I'm a business owner who decided the best way to sell my services is to this one employer. "Don't call yourself an employee".
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Not bashing employees. Employees have a reasonable expectation to be paid like clockwork every other Friday and should *immediately* go nuclear if payroll doesn't arrive that very day. Businesses... are not employees, and if they have that expectation, they're operating badly.
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The problem with that is that unlike "real businesses" free lancers need the money to eat and keep a roof over their heads, a business does not. It's a person's life here. Also, it's very offensive to have to call in a legal team to get paid per terms of contract.
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"Non-payment hits closer to home" is certainly one of the risks of being a freelancer
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