When should agencies issue POs?

Kay Denney wrote:

"So if you only get the PO afterwards, it's not a PO, it's more like a document that confirms the job happened and gives you the info you need to include on your bill.

If you get a clear email beforehand that states the wordcount and the deadline, and this always corresponds to the "PO" when it finally arrives, fine. I would be wary for the first few jobs though.

Susmi Rosenthal wrote:

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Thank you, Kay. It's the long timeline that results from this policy of issuing "POs" after their OWN delivery to their own client, which can be weeks or longer after you have done your part.

Kay Denney wrote:



"Oh I didn't realise it was after their delivery. No that's not on, I wouldn't accept that. What they do with their client has nothing to do with you. And how can you even trust them that they don't just pretend not to have delivered yet to delay payment?

Susmi Rosenthal wrote:

"...Regarding the delay in processing your payment, our company follows a stringent policy that prohibits raising purchase orders (PO) once a specific task is completed. The intricate nature of our workflow involves multiple steps, including proofreading, quality assurance, and desktop publishing (DTP). Unfortunately, this process is designed to ensure the highest standards and accuracy in our deliverables.... In addition, there may be unforeseen changes required, and your assistance in this matter could be invaluable.... Now, regarding the comment stating that our company pays after three months, I kindly request that you remove it, as this information is inaccurate. Our payment cycle is subject to the complexity of each project pertaining to raising POs by 25th-30th of every month keeping in mind the project is successfully delivered, and in the case of the current lengthy project involving 20 languages, several intricate processes are involved..."

As if quality is in any way related to when they issue POs... They kept repeating the same thing, never addressing my concerns, completely avoiding it.

I told them I would write a bad review on ProZ.com, but if they paid me immediately I would refrain from it. They ignored that.

Joakim Braun wrote:
If it's a "purchase order", then by definition it has to be issued before work begins.
If it's issued later, perhaps even after delivery, it's not a PO even if they call it that.

Samuel Murray wrote:

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If you want to split hairs, you could say that they do issue a PO beforehand, but it is stored on their own system and they don't send you a copy of it, and the final PO is an updated PO in which the final amounts of some things that were pre-calculated in the original PO were updated. E.g. the original PO says "estimated word count 2000 words at USD XYZ per word" and the final PO says "2156 words at USD XYZ = USD ABC total". Or, the original PO contains various if-and-then statements relating to conditions of the job that are not yet known at the time that you start the job, e.g. whether there will be updated requests from the client.