Setting Up an Escrow Account

The vWorker escrow feature I’ve talked about before may not sound so appealing to some freelancers since it comes with a pretty high price-tag. Even if the many benefits on vWorker attract you, you may choose to go down another path. Nonetheless, you have other options available that you can use to protect your work and attract more clients.

An escrow service for freelance professionals is a form of payment system wherein a financial company (referred to as the escrow company) keeps the payment sent by the client until the service is delivered. This is often used by freelancers since it helps them get payment from their clients before they start each assignment, thus ensuring that the client has the money to pay for the rendered service. Although they will not be able to deposit the funds into their personal financial accounts yet, they are assured that the funds are available as long as they provide the expected service. Clients on the other hand, will have control of the payment and will be assured that the service will be delivered before funds are released.

• Basics on Account Set-up

Every freelancer should consider creating an escrow account in order to attract more clients. While it may require time and resources, this investment is worth it since it will enable the freelancer to work with more clients. Even those who are virtually unknown to the freelancer can become clients as long as they agree to use escrow. Escrow companies will usually require documents in order to verify the authenticity of the account holder, the freelancer. Creating a fake name in escrow accounts is usually not allowed since they may be used by money launderers.

• Choosing the Right Escrow Company

A big portion in setting up an escrow account is actually selecting the right escrow company. No escrow company is the same as they offer different services. This means that some escrow companies can help you even with small projects, while others are geared towards bigger business transactions. Some companies can charge to as much as $28.00 per transaction. This is an exorbitant amount for many freelancers, especially if their projects pay less than $200. There are also other escrow companies that take as much as 5% from the amount transferred into escrow...To read full article, Sign-up for this email training