Freelancing with Companies in Other Countries?

DutchSter asks: "I've been doing PHP web development for a few years now, including a few small jobs for a client in the UK (I'm currently in the US). The jobs have been so small I've never worried about a contract or anything. I was recently offered to do some long-term projects (about 6 months of full-time work). Does anyone have experience doing freelance work for another country, and if so, how did you handle contractual issues? Basically, I'm looking to minimize the risk of me being ripped off, and second, eliminate problems caused by miscommunication due to the lack of a written agreement."

Comments

Retainer

[reinard]

The way our small company does it, depending on project size we either divide the total estimate costs by 2, and ask for the first part at contract signing and the rest on completion, or split in 3 parts and ask for the first part at contract signing, the next part at about halfway through the project and the rest on completion. That splits the risk about evenly between yourself and your customer.

By the way contracts with oversee partners are virtually impossible to enforce (unless you have huge financial resources), so don't waste too much money on it, and make it just simple and clear. They're more intended to point out some rules between the two parties and point out copyright issues etc, but I highly doubt you'd be able to enforce anything with it.