[Legit or not?] I don't understand what this client is asking me to do

[danielmbcn]

I'm working with a long-term client as a Shopify developer, but I just received this email from them (I removed any name references to keep their privacy):

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

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If I understand well, he is just asking me to send them a quote in some way (?) so that they can receive that grant aid. But this paragraph puzzles me:

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

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I don't understand what does this "**Edited for Community Guidelines**" mean. Once approved (the grant aid)? And what happens if it's not approved? I don't understand. And this "your Upwork billing will be sufficient for receipting" confuses me too. Does this mean that they want me to somehow take a screenshot or something from my Upwork billings so that they have some kind of proof that they paid my services?

[florydev · Accepted solution]

They are asking for a quote of $1200.00.  I think if they get the grant they will use those funds to pay you. I don't know what it means if they don't get the grant (assuming they like you and your work I would assume they will pay you anyway).

Honestly, this is something that is solidly not your business and they could have sent a said send us a quote for $1200.00 we need it to apply for a grant.

It all seems very positive to me because they specifically mention that they know it could be different.

[petra_r]

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Daniel M wrote:

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I don't understand what does this "once approved we pay you as before from our own funds" mean

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It means once they receive the grant, they keep paying you as usual.

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Daniel M wrote:

And this "your Upwork billing will be sufficient for receipting" confuses me too. Does this mean that they want me to somehow take a screenshot or something from my Upwork billings so that they have some kind of proof that they paid my services?

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No, the client gets invoices from Upwork. That's what they mean,

I wouldn't worry about it, I see no red flags.

[prestonhunter]

In work for academic and research projects, I often do work that needs to be estimated in terms of cost and those costs are included in grant proposals. This is normal. The organization seeking the grant gets awarded the grant and they pay me normally to do the work. Or they don't get the grant and if they don't go forward with the project, there is no work for me to do.

[danielmbcn]

Thank you all for your useful replies, it makes more sense to me now. 🙂