Structure of corporate groups in the translation industry, related issues to do with contact details Thread poster: Sebastian Witte
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Sebastian Witte 
Germany
Local time: 11:53
Member (2004)
English to German
+ ...
Dear all,
We keep having problems with finding out who the actual group company is that will be responsible for paying our invoice.
There is also the problem that corporate groups in the translation industry have a tendency to post jobs/inquire with Central Western translators posing as Central Western hemisphere companies of their groups when the actual company behind it transpires to be from a low-budget, high-risk country (high risk of default).
These th... See more Dear all,
We keep having problems with finding out who the actual group company is that will be responsible for paying our invoice.
There is also the problem that corporate groups in the translation industry have a tendency to post jobs/inquire with Central Western translators posing as Central Western hemisphere companies of their groups when the actual company behind it transpires to be from a low-budget, high-risk country (high risk of default).
These things can be problematic when quoting rates, this time the other way round.
Any ideas how to handle these things? Any special websites to share or anything?
Could we maybe improve the helpfulness factor of the Blue Board's contact details section, etc., as regards shedding some light on the respective corporate group structures a bit?
Best regards,
Sebastian Witte
www.jwstrans.net ▲ Collapse
| | | | Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:53
Serbian to English
+ ...
| If it's a group of companies | Feb 22, 2015 |
request that the Purchase Order MUST be from a company based in your own country, irrespective of which branch / country office / member of the group etc. needs the translation.
I found it a very effective way of getting rid of "unreliable" (to put it politely) "offers".
OTOH if one company of the group is doing nothing more than just posting jobs and another company of the group is the real client, it could be seen as a form of misrepresentation, and should be prevente... See more request that the Purchase Order MUST be from a company based in your own country, irrespective of which branch / country office / member of the group etc. needs the translation.
I found it a very effective way of getting rid of "unreliable" (to put it politely) "offers".
OTOH if one company of the group is doing nothing more than just posting jobs and another company of the group is the real client, it could be seen as a form of misrepresentation, and should be prevented by Proz rules about posting jobs. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Sebastian Witte
Germany
Local time: 11:53
Member (2004)
English to German
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Sometimes it's hard to find out | Feb 23, 2015 |
whether a given business partner from the corporate realm of the customer's organization has the status of a registered business. What if after your receiving their PO they transpire to be just a branch office of a bigger company?
There is the issue whether to quote the specific partner from the customer's organization a rate that includes VAT, which depends on location (Germany/EU/non-EU) and in some cases also the partner's entrepreneurial status (do they have a VAT ID?).
<... See more whether a given business partner from the corporate realm of the customer's organization has the status of a registered business. What if after your receiving their PO they transpire to be just a branch office of a bigger company?
There is the issue whether to quote the specific partner from the customer's organization a rate that includes VAT, which depends on location (Germany/EU/non-EU) and in some cases also the partner's entrepreneurial status (do they have a VAT ID?).
Once you have more time (quoting usually occurs in a rather time-critical environment in our industry) and find out you do have to charge them VAT, they might say the invoice is not in line with the quote. ▲ Collapse
| | | | RobinB
United States
Local time: 04:53
German to English
| Specify in quote | Feb 23, 2015 |
Hi Sebastian,
This sort of thing happens all too often with direct clients as well, and in particular with law firms.
If you’re getting work on the basis of a quote, I suggest you add a clause to your quote to the effect that the quote is valid for the recipient entity only and on the basis of the information provided with the inquiry. Any different billing entity must be notified in writing to the translator before the PO is issued, together with the relevant VAT inf... See more Hi Sebastian,
This sort of thing happens all too often with direct clients as well, and in particular with law firms.
If you’re getting work on the basis of a quote, I suggest you add a clause to your quote to the effect that the quote is valid for the recipient entity only and on the basis of the information provided with the inquiry. Any different billing entity must be notified in writing to the translator before the PO is issued, together with the relevant VAT information, in which case the translator has the right to modify the original quote and to charge any additional costs incurred or to withdraw from the contract, at the translator’s discretion. If any change in billing entity, together with the necessary information, is not notified to the translator before the PO is issued, a change in the billing entity will be held to be invalid and the original recipient of the quote will be liable for payment.
That should make their lawyers unhappy!
HTH,
Robin ▲ Collapse
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Sebastian Witte
Germany
Local time: 11:53
Member (2004)
English to German
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Thank you Robin, very helpful indeed | Feb 23, 2015 |
RobinB wrote: Hi Sebastian, This sort of thing happens all too often with direct clients as well, and in particular with law firms. If you’re getting work on the basis of a quote, I suggest you add a clause to your quote to the effect that the quote is valid for the recipient entity only and on the basis of the information provided with the inquiry. Any different billing entity must be notified in writing to the translator before the PO is issued, together with the relevant VAT information, in which case the translator has the right to modify the original quote and to charge any additional costs incurred or to withdraw from the contract, at the translator’s discretion. If any change in billing entity, together with the necessary information, is not notified to the translator before the PO is issued, a change in the billing entity will be held to be invalid and the original recipient of the quote will be liable for payment. That should make their lawyers unhappy! HTH, Robin
Excellent post, Robin. Do you also have ideas as to how we could modify the Blue Board from a technical perspective to include the information I mentioned? ProZ told me they might be able to consider such suggested changes.
Best wishes,
Sebastian
| | | | RobinB
United States
Local time: 04:53
German to English
| No idea, sorry | Feb 23, 2015 |
Sebastian Witte wrote: Do you also have ideas as to how we could modify the Blue Board from a technical perspective to include the information I mentioned? ProZ told me they might be able to consider such suggested changes.
Sorry, as I don’t use the Blue Board myself, I couldn’t really give any specific suggestions as to how it could be improved, except perhaps that it might be worthwhile to subclassify international agencies by the location of the office or subsidiary concerned, e.g.
Paynomore Ltd. (Absurdistan office)
Singforyourmoney, Inc. (Offshore tax haven subsidiary)
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