That Freelancer Feel

[NPC009]

I do free lancing and my only worry is that the client will see through my carefully crafted professional invoice and realise I am a hack fraud who understands nothing of business.

That's so me. Okay, I do sorta know what I'm doing, but there's always that chance that someone decides I don't deserve the money I worked for. Nearly had that happen once. Scary stuff. I do not like confrontations! ;_;

 

[Lono Shrugged]

I do free lancing and my only worry is that the client will see through my carefully crafted professional invoice and realise I am a hack fraud who understands nothing of business.

That's so me. Okay, I do sorta know what I'm doing, but there's always that chance that someone decides I don't deserve the money I worked for. Nearly had that happen once. Scary stuff. I do not like confrontations! ;_;

People will always play hardball when it gets to the cash side. I learned to stand my ground on it and I have walked off projects over money, gotten angry calls from people calling "on behalf of" been threatened with lawsuits and cursed out among having people confront me in public. (The creative field does attract a lot of crazy people. That said I have also more often than not got what I invoiced because that's the cost of the job and it's a case of if you don't value your work, then no one will. Took me years to learn and I still make mistakes. I used to feel sick after confrontations, now that I have the confidence in my work I will almost always talk and client down, convince them they are getting a deal and gotten repeat business. It's the right blend of addressing valid concerns and having a stiff neck.

 

[Cowabungaa]

No matter how simple, dealing with bureaucracy will never stop being terrible. Don't even get me started on taxes. I have to do them for two countries now goddammit.

Damn, I thought this was going to be about Freelancer.

Damn, I thought this was going to be about Freelancer.

You and me pal, You. And. Me.

(I miss you Freelancer, it's not the same without you, please come back.
No, I don't love Star Citizen, only You. Only You.)

<color=white>Too much?

If it's any consolation, Elite: Dangerous came out last month, so there's that.

 

[CaitSeith]

Easy solution: Work for free!!!

 

[Dr.Susse]

That expression in the last panel is phenomenal

I'd have that on a poster.

 

[Amir Kondori]

I hate invoicing.

 

[azurine]

That last panel is probably my favourite image I've ever seen from this webcomic.
I have no idea why.

 

[Darth_Payn]

It's paperwork, and nobody likes paperwork. I think we have an ingraned preference for the ol' "punch the timecard, get the paycheck" routine.

This is like me and taxes. I use an online site and it takes - at most - 2 hours. I get paid so little for my job that the government pays me thousands of dollars each year in apology. Still, I'll find every excuse I can why tomorrow would be a better day than tonight to file my taxes.

Not me, buddy. I need that cash! You'll find me filing first day.

As a contractor, that pretty much describes the extent of my dealing with bureaucracy. I log in to my contingent agency's website, pick my assignment, enter my hours for the day, save, rinse and repeat. Then I send it to my manager for approval, and that's sent back to the agency for my weekly paycheck. The shitload of forms I had to do was all before my first day of work.

 

[Fr33Lanc3r.007]

I started my own business recently, and funnily enough the worst thing about invoicing is working out how much to charge someone (especially since I'm in IT maintenance, and most of my jobs so far have been mostly sitting around waiting for the computer to finish things [virus scans, program installs, etc])

 

[Triality]

I started my own business recently, and funnily enough the worst thing about invoicing is working out how much to charge someone (especially since I'm in IT maintenance, and most of my jobs so far have been mostly sitting around waiting for the computer to finish things [virus scans, program installs, etc])

Someone is buying your presence in exchange for your time and expertise. Just prorate them based on your hourly and minutes. It's not a matter of morals when it comes to waiting around. Even car mechanics have to do that until some car part gets shipped to them! It's that you KNOW what to do when the scan is complete, not that you were waiting for it. Someone wants to ***** after the fact about prices? That's where you learn de-escalation, the bane of customer service.

Also, what's up my fellow IT mule?

Oh yeah, great comic too, I guess. We love Erin yadayada-lip-service-token-compliments ¬_¬ Naw just kidding I love you guys

 

[Colour Scientist]

Invoicing is such a pain in the arse.

Stupid self-employed tax status.

Have to do my own taxes, like a chump.

How many kids do I have? There's no time to count, I'll just estimate!