CAT tool analysis from client and how they apply the rates Thread poster: Ata Arif
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Ata Arif 
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:12
Kurdish to English
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Dear Colleagues
I am not sure if this matter was answered previously but I could not find anything about it.
I have a client (regular) which I recently started to work for through Memo Q.
when they send me a project they usually send a Memo Q analysis file and they are supposed to pay accordingly. However, after I completed a recent project the project manager sent me a figure in pounds and I became suspicious about the honesty of that calculation.
I tried to find out th... See more Dear Colleagues
I am not sure if this matter was answered previously but I could not find anything about it.
I have a client (regular) which I recently started to work for through Memo Q.
when they send me a project they usually send a Memo Q analysis file and they are supposed to pay accordingly. However, after I completed a recent project the project manager sent me a figure in pounds and I became suspicious about the honesty of that calculation.
I tried to find out through Memo Q how to apply the rates I have to the percentages in the analysis file, but I could not find a away.
I started to calculate manually and try to apply the rates accordingly.
first i came out with a figure and when I sent it back to the project manager she said: OK, we can agree with that!
I became even more suspicious as if their calculations were correct why do they agree to increase my payment for nothing? I did more calculations and sent her back a new figure which was higher than the first one, and I do believe that was the correct one, she said: The analysis I have given you it’s when the project started when parts were locked. That is what caused the confusion in this case. The wordcount is different now because it’s finished and the file is unlocked and as you know with memoQ project we add the payables according to the analysis.
I know that is not true, as the data I used was from the initial analysis she sent me, otherwise now the project shows everything as 100% translated!
before escalating the matter further I wanted to ask you a few questions:
1- is there a way to apply payable rates to Memo Q analysis prior to starting a project (knowing that I do not own the software and I use the client's server)?
2- did it happen to you clients steal from you through CAT tools?
3- do you depend on your own analysis for every project?
your contribution is highly appreciated. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 13:12
Member (2007)
English
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| What did you agree on? | Nov 8, 2019 |
Ata Arif wrote:
1- is there a way to apply payable rates to Memo Q analysis prior to starting a project (knowing that I do not own the software and I use the client's server)?
2- did it happen to you clients steal from you through CAT tools?
3- do you depend on your own analysis for every project?
your contribution is highly appreciated.
I can't answer your questions exactly. But the total price of a job really has to be determined in advance unless it's explicitly deferred, as in charging per hour or by target word.
It's really too late once the job has been delivered. You've lost all your leverage. I'm afraid.
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 14:12
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Ata Arif wrote:
1- Is there a way to apply payable rates to MemoQ analysis prior to starting a project (knowing that I do not own the software and I use the client's server)?
I'm not sure what you mean by "apply" and "payable rates", but if you're working on a server and you do not have an offline version of MemoQ yourself, then you are entirely at the mercy of the client's honesty when it comes to word counts. I have used MemoQwebtrans myself and I know of no way to double-check the client's word count, since it's not possible to download the files in a format that allows for intricate word counting.
Do you mean that you did your own word count, or do you mean that you re-interpreted the analysis that the client had sent you? If the latter, does that mean that you accept the client's analysis?
2- Did it happen to you clients steal from you through CAT tools?
Yes, some clients will do anything to save a buck.
3- do you depend on your own analysis for every project?
I rarely do my own analyses. I sometimes do my own word counts, but only to see if what the client had sent sounds reasonably probable.
| | | | Jan Truper
Germany
Local time: 14:12
Member (2016)
English to German
Ata Arif wrote:
1- is there a way to apply payable rates to Memo Q analysis prior to starting a project (knowing that I do not own the software and I use the client's server)?
2- did it happen to you clients steal from you through CAT tools?
3- do you depend on your own analysis for every project?
your contribution is highly appreciated.
1- I'm not sure I understand... I run an analysis for every project before I start translating. However, I own the software, and I can't tell you if that is possible if you don't own it.
2- I have never encountered "stealing" through CAT tools in this sense. There were a few instances when mistakes were made, but there was no ill will involved. I notified the PM, the numbers got fixed right away and I received an apology.
(I have seen translation agencies try to dump unreasonable fuzzy tables on unsuspecting translators, which could be called stealing, but I refuse to work under such terms.)
3- Yes. For every project, BEFORE I START TRANSLATING, I run an analysis with the client's settings. I then roughly compare the numbers of my analysis to the numbers I received from the PM. If I notice a discrepancy, I ask for clarification BEFORE I START TRANSLATING.
I then add my own TMs/TBs/settings and run a second analysis, so I can gauge approximately how long it will take me to complete the job.
As Sheila said, you should clear up all such questions in advance.
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Ata Arif
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:12
Kurdish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | CAT tool analysis from client and how they apply the rates | Nov 9, 2019 |
Dear All
Thank you very much for taking the time and post your contributions
1- my concern is not about that single job but rather I want to have a strategy in place for this client and other potential clients
2- by apply and payable rates I mean when your rate is £100 per 1000 words and the client pays you 20% for 100 and 101% 30% for 95- 99% etc
how Memo Q calculates these and applies them to the number of words in each category?
3- Yes, I transformed the cli... See more Dear All
Thank you very much for taking the time and post your contributions
1- my concern is not about that single job but rather I want to have a strategy in place for this client and other potential clients
2- by apply and payable rates I mean when your rate is £100 per 1000 words and the client pays you 20% for 100 and 101% 30% for 95- 99% etc
how Memo Q calculates these and applies them to the number of words in each category?
3- Yes, I transformed the client's analysis into Excel and calculated each category and applied the percentage and I came into a completely different conclusion of the client's
4- the project manager is someone working for a salary and by stealing from me, if that was the case, she will not pocket any money anyway, unless she wants to become the director's favourite!
5- even with the server based Memo Q you can still run your own analysis but what I am concerned about is how those percentages are transformed into actual money, e.g. 3000 words at 20% 2500 at 30% 5000 at 100%? Memo Q should have a way to apply those rates and transform the percentages into money
6- for this specific job I did my queries after the job completed and sent me a total amount for the job, and as mentioned before, my concern is not only this job but any similar jobs in the future and how to take precautions ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 14:12
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Ata Arif wrote:
My concern is not about that single job but rather I want to have a strategy in place for this client and other potential clients.
Although many translators say that they do their own analyses as well, if you work for agencies that use online tools or packaged translation projects, you will often be at the mercy of the client's analysis, because it's seldom possible to perform your own analysis.
As for how the calculation is done, well, it should be straight-forward. If the amount calculated by the client is different from the amount that you calculate, using the client's own analysis, then you should query it and ask them to send you their calculation (e.g. an Excel spreadsheet that shows how the calculation is done). It may well be that they are doing their calculations in good faith, but in a different way. In the end, once you discovered how they do their calculations (precisely or more-or-less), you should decide if the money you get at the end is worth it.
What I am concerned about is how those percentages are transformed into actual money, ... MemoQ should have a way to apply those rates and transform the percentages into money.
Sadly most CAT tools consider that part of the process to be "billing" related and thus not part of the core functionality of the CAT tool. CAT tools give you analyses but you should do the actual money calculations yourself. Perhaps MemoQ has such a feature, but I don't know of it (although note: I don't use MemoQ myself).
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