How to get paid for freelance work
Many people dream of becoming well-paid freelancers. Freelancing provides many benefits, there is flexibility in how you work, better autonomy regarding your working hours. Also, there are opportunities to get into various fields.
Payday is an exciting part of the month for many people who work regular jobs. However, it's quite different for freelancers. Freelancers may get multiple paydays in a month - the number of clients you work with will determine this.
Choosing when to send your invoices is another benefit of freelancing. There are clients who you will invoice whenever work is completed. But are you wondering how to pay freelancers? That's what this guide shows you.
Different Ways to Get Paid
In freelancing, you need to establish payment terms with your clients upfront. You need to establish a standard contract with your clients. If possible, make them sign it. The contract states how you will be paid, as well as how often. Below are four ways to receive payments for your freelance work. Pick the one that's most appropriate for your needs.
PayPal
This is among the most popular ways clients use to pay freelancers. It's free to open a PayPal account. Sending invoices this way is easy. Funds are available as soon as clients make the payment. You don't need to stress yourself because everything is done digitally.
Why is PayPal a great payment option to use? The cost of sending funds is relatively low. It's almost free to send money to another Paypal account.
Also, this is worth noting. Sending one-off payments to a distributed group of distant freelancers isn't to be downplayed. PayPal comes up short on organizational tools, security administrations, escrow accounts, and different functions that are valuable for successfully tracking and paying freelancers. These shortcomings are being improved.
Accept credit cards
Clients will always want to pay you with a credit card. This is often the case when you are dealing with expensive and multi-month gigs. An example is ghostwriting a book. A client might not have $30,000 at their disposal and may have to charge it.
Accepting card payments requires a good PSP (payment service provider) or the like. Virtual wallets, Dwolla, and other providers can serve this role.
Accepting cards used to include buying awkward credit-card reader devices or cash registers but there are several virtual suppliers accessible today. Some of them include Stripe and Square.
Bank transfer
Also referred to as electronic funds transfers (EFT) or automated clearing houses (ACH), bank transfers send the cash directly from the bank account of your client into yours.
Whenever the exchange is global, your bank might hit you with a charge of 30 USD or more, so look out for that. Many freelancers, including writers, prefer to use the services of Wise.
If you have a continuous retainer gig (especially a local one), then a bank transfer is the best approach. You don't necessarily need to constantly check your mailbox or pay extra fees. Simply decide a day of the month for scheduled payments, and it pops right in.
Setting this up is easy. You need to give your routing number and bank account to your client. There is a bank form you will fill out for this. This might appear hinky. However, without your information (online banking login, answers to your security questions), they can only send cash in.
Physical check
Indeed, this is a valid method for getting paid as a freelancer. What's more, many big organizations keep issuing checks to freelancers biweekly or once a month.
When you have a client like this, they will be paying you differently. However, there can be a few issues with this method. Your checks may not arrive on time. People have been complaining about the slow service of the US Postal Service since 2020. Also, some emails may get lost legitimately.
Again, be careful about some online check scams. It involves checks bouncing back right after you have submitted your work. Should you be accepting checks, always confirm with your banks. Confirm that the check is cleared. Please don't fall victim to the current online check scams.
Thanks to online banking today, it's easier for you to make certain confirmations. You can now use your smartphone. With it, you can also digitally deposit your checks from any location, even from the comfort of your home. You can likewise use this method to verify a cleared check.
Conclusion
Working as a freelancer offers you several freedoms. You work when you want to. The reward is also worth it. You are more likely to get paid on a project basis as a freelancer. You, therefore, need to choose a payment method that's suitable for you. Always pay attention to extra charges, flexibility, safety, and spending.
