https://fra.proz.com/forum/money_matters/371113-newbie_needs_help_pricing_a_banks_statement_translation.html

Newbie needs help pricing a banks statement translation
Auteur du fil: Lea Lee
Lea Lee
Lea Lee
États-Unis
Local time: 15:08
anglais vers lituanien
+ ...
Jan 5

I’m getting an assignment to translate the bank statement from Lithuanian to English, and I have no idea how much should I charge for it.

Please help a newbie to not get taken advantage of, as I am already having a feeling that they are trying to lowball me making it look like that if there are 1,5k repeated words, I should not charge for them?!

I would be very grateful to anyone that could advise me on this.
Single mom here trying to make ends meet.
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... See more
I’m getting an assignment to translate the bank statement from Lithuanian to English, and I have no idea how much should I charge for it.

Please help a newbie to not get taken advantage of, as I am already having a feeling that they are trying to lowball me making it look like that if there are 1,5k repeated words, I should not charge for them?!

I would be very grateful to anyone that could advise me on this.
Single mom here trying to make ends meet.

Job description”:

“The word count is actually 1.1k new words and then 1.5k repeated

13 pages - one 2-page statement, one 5-page and one 6-page. The top and bottom of each doc looks exactly the same and there are lots of untranslatable elements like dates, codes and amounts of money. So the actual translatable text is not a lot.”

Turn around time is 2 days, starting tomorrow (Jan 6th).
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Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 20:08
Membre (2007)
anglais vers portugais
+ ...
@Lea Jan 6

Are you sure this isn’t a scam? Why would a client ask a newbie to translate a bank statement?

Zea_Mays
Jorge Payan
 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Pays-Bas
Local time: 21:08
Membre (2006)
anglais vers afrikaans
+ ...
Charge for what you type, and for your time Jan 6

Some text on the bank statement may not need "translation" but you still need to type it and you still need to check whether you've typed it correctly. Or, the client may be satisfied if you create a picture of the document and then insert the translation as text boxes over the image -- but that also takes time, and you have to be compensated for your time. It also takes time to create the layout so that it looks similar to that of the original file. In addition, my experience with bank state... See more
Some text on the bank statement may not need "translation" but you still need to type it and you still need to check whether you've typed it correctly. Or, the client may be satisfied if you create a picture of the document and then insert the translation as text boxes over the image -- but that also takes time, and you have to be compensated for your time. It also takes time to create the layout so that it looks similar to that of the original file. In addition, my experience with bank statements is that there will be a lot of content for which you would have to made a decision whether to treat it as a code or as translatable text.

[Edited at 2025-01-06 12:44 GMT]
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Rachel Waddington
 
Rachel Waddington
Rachel Waddington  Identity Verified
Royaume-Uni
Local time: 20:08
néerlandais vers anglais
+ ...
Hourly rate Jan 6

If you are typing it out you are not benefiting from repetitions or non-translatable text as it all needs to be entered. It makes more sense to charge an hourly rate as the bulk of the work is probably non-translation.

Heather Howey
 
Joakim Braun
Joakim Braun  Identity Verified
Suède
Local time: 21:08
allemand vers suédois
+ ...
Non-sworn? Jan 6

Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida wrote:

Are you sure this isn’t a scam? Why would a client ask a newbie to translate a bank statement?


Translations of bank statements are usually used in court, in inheritance proceedings, or in real estate transactions - so a non-sworn assignment would be a rarity.


 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Pays-Bas
Local time: 21:08
Membre (2006)
anglais vers afrikaans
+ ...
@Joakim Jan 6

Joakim Braun wrote:
A non-sworn assignment would be a rarity.

The OP is from the United States.


 
Joakim Braun
Joakim Braun  Identity Verified
Suède
Local time: 21:08
allemand vers suédois
+ ...
Yes? Jan 6

Samuel Murray wrote:

Joakim Braun wrote:
A non-sworn assignment would be a rarity.

The OP is from the United States.


Are you saying non-sworn translations of bank statements are used extensively in the US? I have no idea, but if so, it's less likely to be a scam.


 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Pays-Bas
Local time: 21:08
Membre (2006)
anglais vers afrikaans
+ ...
@Joakim Jan 7

Joakim Braun wrote:
Samuel Murray wrote:
The OP is from the United States.

Are you saying non-sworn translations of bank statements are used extensively in the US?

"Sworn" translation isn't a thing in the US. The closest thing to a sworn translation in the US is a certified translation, but any translator can produce a certified translation. There isn't a special class of translators called e.g. "certified translators" who are the only ones who are allowed to make certified translations.


Jorge Payan
 
jparis (X)
jparis (X)
Local time: 20:08
russe vers anglais
+ ...
i won't do these jobs any more Jan 7

I have agreed to these jobs in the far away past for a per word basis and then realized as I worked that it took ages and ages to painstakingly recreate the format of the document in question. I've done things like utility bills, which are super hard to recreate in Word, at least for me who is not a DTP or design person.

I would ask for an hourly rate. They probably won't give it but you can try.


Rachel Waddington
 


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Newbie needs help pricing a banks statement translation


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