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<snip>
> The agency is only serving as a billing mechanism for the writer. This
> is common for larger companies where the payee must be on an 'approved'
> vendor list. I've heard ranges from 4% to 10% of the writer's hourly
> gross for a billing-only service.
</snip>
In my experience, this isn't the total picture. An agency acting as an
"approved vendor" typically has to do more than just billing. When I hired
on with Voyant (after more than a decade of contracting/consulting), I kept
my company, TechWrite, alive as an agency representing independent
contractors.
TechWrite is an approved vendor for a very large telecommunications
equipment company. To maintain that status, I have to provide proof of
insurance, including worker's compensation coverage and a 3 million $US
umbrella liability policy. The cost is *not* inconsequential.
TechWrite also guarantees the client's satisfaction with the work. This
involves some risk; however, I've been very lucky with the quality of people
I represent, so this hasn't been an issue so far.
I currently represent a dozen contractors, and the time required to maintain
the records and generate and mail the invoices and checks is not
inconsequential either. (Poring over Excel spreadsheets isn't one of my
favorite activities. ;-) ) And then there's the fretting over cash flow,
since the client takes 45 days to pay and the contractors can't wait that
long.
TechWrite retains 10% of the amount billed to the client, and the
contractors I represent are delighted that the cut is so small. I can't
imagine anyone doing this for only 4%; it just wouldn't be worth the time
and expense.
My $0.02 (before deductions)
Richard
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Richard G. Combs
Senior Technical Writer
Voyant Technologies, Inc.
richard -dot- combs -at- voyanttech -dot- com
303-223-5111
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rgcombs -at- free-market -dot- net
303-777-0436
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