New contractor - when do I get paid?

[prohobo]

I'm interested in starting contracting, but some guides say you don't get paid for your first contract for 2-3 months. Is this true?

I don't have the savings to coast for 3 months, but I thought after securing a contact I'd be paid weekly, so I'd only need to save up for 1 month or so.

Please don't make me go back to permanent roles.

[PCTNN]

it depends

[ResistanceFighter]

Depends on your appetite for risk, but I would recommend having having 2-3 months savings you can afford to lose before seeking contract work.

So many things can go wrong - clients not paying at all, going bust etc

Having a safety blanket will help you feel out your first contract and get into the swing of things.

Also, probably not the best time to start contracting - IR35 & pandemic have made the market somewhat volatile

[simes]

Ignoring the complete helpfulness of the first to respond, and, I believe, the misunderstanding of your post from the second to respond;

It will come down to the terms of your contract. Some agencies will dictate the terms; weekly, monthly, and the duration of arrears. But, as it is as per the written contract, you can negotiate, suggest, demand per your own wishes and see if any of that works.

A usual is to be paid seven days after submission of an invoice on a monthly basis, at least for my own personal experience.

Otherwise, not the right time to even consider starting as a contractor as your competition for roles will be large in number and manifest. To wit, I am seasoned, as one might say, but have not had a worthy bite for four months and have been on the bench for three.

[b0redom]

Giving you the benefit of assuming that you're not a troll....

It really depends on the contract, whether there are one or more intermediaries and what you negotiate.

Almost all of my contracts (and I've been doing this 15 years now) have been.

Start 1st Jan
Send invoice for whole of Jan on last day of Jan
Work Feb
Invoice for Jan paid on last day of Feb
Send invoice for whole of Feb on last day of Feb
etc...

ie, you're two months in hand.

It is rare, although not unheard of to be paid weekly, but that's still likely to be a month in hand, so you'd work all of Jan, and start getting the invoices paid 2nd week in Feb on a weekly basis.

[ladymuck]

I'm on 45 day terms, paid when consultancy paid. Client is a poor payer so terms are closer to 50 days.

[rik sherman]

As others have mentioned the answer is it depends on 2 things

1. Frequency of invoicing (As defined in the contract)
2. Payment terms (As defined in the contract, frequently 28 days)
3. Payments are sometimes late

So I've only been contracting for 5ish years and have had one contract with weekly invoicing.
All my contracts so far have been on 28 day payment terms, that is your company gets paid 28 days after the invoice is received by the client/agent. Generally as a permie you work through June and get paid for that work at the end of June, as a contractor you'd work through June and get paid at the end of July
I've had one client who for 4 out of 6 invoices paid 7-10 days late.

I made sure I had over 3 months take home pay in a savings account before I started contracting.

[BigDataPro]

Your contract states when you will get paid from the date of invoicing. It could be 30 days from invoice or you might be on a weekly payment where you raise invoice on a weekly basis and get paid weekly.

[Ploptimus]

It will very much depend on the agent/contract. I was Very fortunate that my last contract I could submit timesheet on the first day of the month for the previous, it got approved by lunch, I sent an invoice and cash was in my company bank by 3pm. The agent mainly supplied that one client who always paid them promptly.

[elsergiovolador]

If you sign the contract you may look for a loan to bridge the gap. It may be difficult if you just have started trading.

Some clients do pay promptly and some you have to chase for weeks or months.