Not Pay for Milestone Until Project Complete?

[melaniekhenson]

I should know this, but I've actually never encountered it before.

My client wants me to finish three milestones before paying for any of them. This is a "no," right? Thanks for any help.

[petra_r]

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@Melanie H wrote:

My client wants me to finish three milestones before paying for any of them. This is a "no," right?

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 That's a "no!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

[prestonhunter · Accepted solution]

It is a "hard no."

Finish one milestone, and get paid for it.

With a new client, who I haven't worked before, it doesn't matter what he client's idea of a "milestone" is.

I will only work on a small task - no more than an hour or two of work - as an initial milestone or contract.

Because there are many clients who simply don't understand fixed-price contracts, and there's no fixing that.

So before I get deep into things with somebody, they need to demonstrate that the understand how to use fixed-price contracts.

After they have shown that they know how to use this contract model, I will agree to increasingly larger milestones/contracts.

[melaniekhenson]

Thanks to both of you. 🙂 I just politely answered and told her I'm ready to go with the next milestone as soon as this one is completed and the next is issued. Appreciate it.

[melaniekhenson]

Oh, and yes, this is a new client (for me). 

[petra_r]

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@Melanie H wrote:

Thanks to both of you. 🙂 I just politely answered and told her I'm ready to go with the next milestone as soon as this one is completed and the next is issued. Appreciate it.

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 Ah, so it's an existing client?

How big are those milestones?

I have an existing client where I now occasionally do a milestone that isn't funded because I trust her and she just forgets sometimes, bless her. Not 3 though.

That said - those milestones are well in excess of 1k.

[melaniekhenson]

Hi, Petra. She's new (for me). She says if she pays for this milestone she has to pay the full amount. She sounds confused. So am I.....

The milestones are $120 each.

The full amount is funded ($360). Should I just go ahead and do those other two? I did Submit my work (rather than simply sending over in a message). Ugh...this is confusing and odd...I actually haven't had this happen before.

I feel like I'm just making trouble for the client and possibly shooting myself in the foot.

Maybe end this contract (I've done the first milestone), then she can open a new one and just create and release milestones as she needs to?

[petra_r]

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@Melanie H wrote:

Hi, Petra. She's new (for me). She says if she pays for this milestone she has to pay the full amount. She sounds confused. So am I.....

The milestones are $120 each.

The full amount is funded ($360).

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 If the full amount is funded, what exactly is the problem?

[melaniekhenson]

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@Petra R wrote:

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@Melanie H wrote:

Hi, Petra. She's new (for me). She says if she pays for this milestone she has to pay the full amount. She sounds confused. So am I.....

The milestones are $120 each.

The full amount is funded ($360).

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 If the full amount is funded, what exactly is the problem?

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I guess I was confused on the milestones. I have submitted the first milestone but there aren't any more...Never mind. I'll just go forward with the work. I have been here since last October, but haven't encountered a situation like this until now...usually, a whole project is a whole project, and milestones are milestones and parts of projects, and that all used to make sense to me. 😄 

[tlbp]

If the milestones are fully funded, then that's all the milestones there are. So if you have one milestone yet $360 funded, it may be that you discussed three milestones but only had one created? 

[melaniekhenson]

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@Tonya P wrote:

If the milestones are fully funded, then that's all the milestones there are. So if you have one milestone yet $360 funded, it may be that you discussed three milestones but only had one created? 

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I do think that's the confusion here. I discussed it with the client and I'm going to finish the three press relases, then do them as a re-submit. For the next project she will probably do documents individually as milestones.Thanks, Tonya.