The Storyhunter platform allows for smooth, swift, and streamlined payments on all projects.
Project Payment and Expenses
Payment for projects occurs via Payoneer to freelancers within 30 days after the project completion date. Therefore, before marking a project as complete it is important that all costs are accounted for. If there are extra days to be added for a "day rate" assignment, the freelancer should outline the number of days worked, the amount previously agreed for each day, and the publisher can then make the appropriate price change. The usual completion process then ensues.
Some publishers are willing to cover production expenses that occur over the course of the project. The publisher will have outlined whether this is a possibility or not within the posting description.
Any expenses that are to be added must be fully accounted for. Freelancers should keep all receipts and upload them to the "Assets" tab within the project page. Following this, the expenses should be itemized and clearly described when entering them into the "Expenses" tab of the project page.
All expenses that are approved when the publisher marks the project completed will be paid along with the price of the project itself.
The following are typically considered reimbursable “expenses”
- Production costs such as the purchase and/or rental of equipment, locations, expendables, and other materials necessary for the production
- Transportation costs such as mileage, gas, bridge and toll fees, parking, airplane tickets, luggage fees, and the like
- Food and drink acquired for the shoot as craft services or as individual crew meals
- The licensing of assets for post-production, including but not limited to: music, stock footage, and previously distributed or created works
The following are not considered reimbursable “expenses”, and should instead be added to a project’s base price.
- Subcontracted services for production support, whether on-set or off-set
(camera assistants, translators, assistant editors, fixers, etc. that were separately hired by the contracted Storyhunter freelancer) - Additional costs of labor from an extended production timeline, or from altered deliverables that were not originally detailed in the posting description
- Any performed labor or services rendered
If the publisher has indicated that they are happy to cover your expenses, you can add these in the Project page.
NOTE: Expenses can only be added from the freelancers' end. This can only be done if the publisher has allowed for expenses to be added within the project page.
Head to the Project, and on the right of the page you will see the Edit Expenses button.
Next, add each expense as a new line item and insert the relevant price. If you need to remove an entry click the X symbol on the right of the specific entry.
Once done hit Update.
If you haven't done so already, now upload all your receipts in the Assets tab by hitting Add New Files.
You will be able to view the sum of your expenses + project price. This is what you can expect to be paid to your Payoneer account once the project is completed.
Once you have added all your expenses go ahead and hit Mark Complete at the top of the page to indicate to the publisher that the project is ready to be closed out.
Advances
Advances allow freelancers to receive payments while projects are still ongoing. Expedited payments, meanwhile, allow the final project payout to be expedited to the freelancer. Here are a few points of consideration around advances and expedited payments:
- They have an associated fee of 7.5%.
(Note: If your account is on pre-payment then there are no extra fees. If your account is on credit card set up the fee is 2% to cover credit card charges. Get in touch with your account manager if you would like to discuss this.) - They are charged to you the same way as project payments.
They are paid out to freelancers within ~3 business days.
- There is a limit to the available credit for advances/expedited payments.
- Once initiated, advances can not be reversed.
Availability of the features depends on the client's account. Clients may contact their account manager if they do not see the option to advance or expedite.
To learn more about issuing advances please read the dedicated article here.
Cancellation Fees
Cancellation fees for projects that were annulled will be issued as per any other form of payment.
FAQ:
Sometimes I see postings that allow expenses and sometimes not? Why is that?
Some clients only work with a fixed budget, and others allow for extra expenses that they account for separately. For transparency of each client's expenses policy, we include that information on posting so freelancers know the expense policy before they apply or make offers. If a client doesn’t allow a freelancer to track expenses separately, the freelancer should just assume that they would need to be included in your total budget, minus service fees. It’s always best practice to confirm expenses policies, kill fees or other terms before beginning a project to avoid a misalignment of expectations. It’s better for everyone if the scope of work and expense/travel policies are agreed on before you accept an offer.
When it says expenses are not “negotiable” on a posting does that mean the project price cannot be negotiated either?
No, that’s just in reference to their expenses policy. We always encourage freelancers to negotiate rates. If it is unclear if a project price is negotiable or not, it’s best to politely ask the client before putting more effort into a proposal.
What if I need an upfront payment to start the project. Do you have a system for advances?
Yes, for larger projects, it’s common that clients will agree to an “advanced” payment. We actually built a tool tailor-made for “advances” so clients can easily pay them without hassle. Since some clients don’t have payment terms that allow advances, not all clients can offer this. Paying advances have always been a challenge for large companies in which creating content is not their core business. Because of this getting advances paid can be a big hassle outside of Storyhunter. So what we do is we work out the legal and payment arrangement with each client, so that advances are easily accounted for. Note that advances would need to be negotiated directly with the client so make sure to discuss this possibility with them if this is something you want to negotiate. It’s best to ask if this is a possibility sooner than later if you need an advance on a project. If the client doesn't know how their company pays advances through Storyhunter, ask them to reach out to their account manager at Storyhunter, so we can help explain the process.
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