We’ve all had that sinking feeling when we realise that we may have under budgeted; whether it’s while Eid gift shopping, dining in a fancy restaurant, or when you’re explaining to the boss why another invoice doesn’t match the initial quote, the end result is still the same and leaves you wondering how on earth you came to be in this situation.
To avoid any future tense meetings with your boss about localization over-budgeting, we have gathered together some helpful insights into how to prepare a realistic budget and minimise over-budgeting risks, while still ensuring an experienced, good quality and cost efficient localization service that fulfills your company’s requirements.
Definitions and equations
To avoid a crisis with the boss about financial costs let’s be clear initially about some basic definitions:
- Budget –the maximum amount of money you can spend on the project
- Quote – the amount the translation/localization company propose to charge you for the work they undertake
- Invoice – the final amount of money owed to the vendor for their services
In an ideal world these three amounts would be identical, however, in reality they are often at variances with one another.
This highlights two problems faced by localization project managers;
how to estimate a budget before the vendor has everything they need to give you a quote? And, the issue of trusting the vendor’s quote to be accurate before you commit to the project and final payment.
To overcome these issues it is essential that the size and scale of the project is fully understood as localization costs are directly linked to the size of the project. The precision with which you can gauge the scope of your project will reflect the accuracy of your budget and therefore, the final invoice.
Content size matters
In an ideal world to enable you to predict a precise budget, you’d be given a complete and finalised localization content, as the more accurate your estimate of workload, the more accurate the quote.
What’s more likely though, is that you’ll have limited data when you need to prepare the budget as content may still be under construction.
To gain an insight into the size of content translation you will need to liaise with colleagues such as, content writers, product engineers or product managers, who may give you inaccurate information if you press them for specifics, especially if development has only just started.
Instead, try asking for a range (rather than a specific number) as the boundaries they give you can offer a more solid base than a single number.
Ensure you can confidently answer the following before committing yourself to offering a budget proposal.
What types of localization content are there: HTML files, graphics, or an application specific document?
What are the expected maximum and minimum volumes for each of the content types: 60,000 – 80,000 words, 50 – 100.doc files or 2000-3000 pages?
Ask your colleagues to help
Your main aim is to accurately forecast a precise, and realistic budget, with the help of detailed information from co-workers. If you’ve asked them for volume ranges, as opposed to specifics, you should be confident that your targeted boundaries are realistic.
While gathering this information from colleagues it is worth asking them to confirm your final summaries before completion. Check that they agree with your estimates for their work, preferably via email that is copied to your manager, so that everyone is aware of the limits and boundaries of the budget and workload.
Once the project scope is finalised and agreed by everyone involved, you are now ready to approach prospective localization vendors who should be able to give you an accurate cost range based on your forecasts.
Remember to include your manager in your final confirmation checks with colleagues and ensure they approve of your final plans for the project scope.
Ask the vendors to help
Talking to potential vendors before finalising a budget is essential. They know their pricing structures, time-scales and company policies that will assist you in formulating an accurate budget for the work you require.
Most likely you will be unable to give them exact requirements for the project (assuming, as above, that work is still under construction) however, armed with your project scope they should be able to offer you a costing scope that corresponds to your predictions. You aren’t asking for an exact quote, just a request for pricing information based upon your calculations.
Providing samples of the types of localization content is favourable if they are representative of the work they are likely to undertake for you as this will establish a base for their costings.
It isn’t necessary to limit your request to only one vendor but ensure they are all aware that you aren’t asking for a quote yet, only help with formulating a budget. This will avoid a rush of low-priced estimates in an attempt to secure the work.
The feedback from translation experts will equip you with the necessary information to complete your budget. The project’s content range from co-workers and the price scope from vendors will ensure you have a minimum/maximum boundary that is realistic. If you feel an extra security blanket is necessary, and justifiable, then make an amendment for this margin in your final costings.
Check the quotes
This may sound like an obvious thing to say but checking, and double checking, the quotes you receive is essential in ensuring you have accurately budgeted.
If there are multiple quotes you must read each one and compare them to each other. No two quotes are likely to be identical but what is offered by each vendor needs to be assessed.
For instance, one vendor may list ‘translation’ and ‘editing’ within their quote but another may only list ‘translation’, you will need to check if this means one vendor has out-of-house editing which may be an extra costing or if they consider that editing is standard within their translation costs. If you are unsure, ask.
To avoid any costly surprises from vendors be sure the quote lists every service you expect to receive.
Loose ends
Assuming you have delivered the final source content, and need to make no changes to this, there is every likelihood that the quote you have been given will be the final invoice you receive once work is completed.
However, if you need to update, correct or change content in the middle of a project there are likely to be extra costs involved. Be sure to negotiate with vendors about how to achieve this without incurring too many extra costs as it might be worth closing the active project and starting a new quote if there are many changes.
If you aren’t certain that you have all the correct content at the outset, it is worth splitting the project into smaller subprojects that can be individually quoted and completed which will avoid unnecessary complications and costs.
While the budget is your responsibility, you can’t control all the variables. Your task is to minimise the risks of under-budgeting by communicating with colleagues and vendors, and through scrutiny of quotes to ensure they are viable and accurate.
Procuring a localization vendor that offers fixed-price projects, with clear pricing structures and an exceptional translation service, will ensure you stay within budget, achieve your goals and avoid any more unpleasant meetings with your manager about over spending!
