15 Micro-Invoices a Month? The Freelance Translator Workflow That Stops Chaos

Between a 2,000-word medical document for an EU agency (EUR 0.12/word) and a same-day court interpretation call for a US law firm (USD 85/hr), you’ve just booked four billable activities before lunch. Existing advice tells you to open yet another Word template [^54^] or pay for an enterprise TMS you’ll never fully use [^43^]. Instead, here’s the lightweight stack built for translators who’d rather translate than chase spreadsheets.

Per-Word, Per-Hour, Per-Minute—All in One Pipeline

The Mistake: You quote 0.10 USD per word but never clock the extra 45 minutes of terminology research. Across 15 small jobs, that’s 11 unpaid hours every month.

The Fix: Create a Project for each client. Log words delivered and any research or review time with the global timer. At month-end, import both types of entries into the same invoice—line items show “2,000 words @ 0.10” plus “Research: 0.75 hr @ 60” so clients see exactly what they’re paying for.

Currency Chaos Solved Without Mental Math

The Mistake: You invoice the German agency in EUR on the 3rd, the NYC startup in USD on the 7th, then forget which exchange rate you used. PayPal’s surprise conversion fees eat your margin.

The Fix: Assign a currency to each Project (or Profile) once. FocusFlow locks the symbol, tax settings, and invoice numbering for each client, so you’ll never send a USD invoice to Munich or vice versa.

15 Invoices → 30-Second Batch

The Mistake: Friday night copy-paste marathon in Word templates. You miss one PO number and the agency’s AP team rejects the whole batch.

The Fix: Mark each completed job as “Ready to invoice.” Select all → import → generate 15 branded PDFs in one click. Use the built-in status tracker (Draft / Sent / Paid / Overdue) so you know who still owes you before the next project lands.

Deadlines and PO Numbers That Don’t Get Lost in Email

The Mistake: You bury due dates inside email threads titled “Re: Re: Quick job.” A 24-hour rush becomes a 6-hour panic.

The Fix: Add the PO number and deadline to the Project description. The dashboard now flags anything due within 48 hours, and the timer shows red when you’re cutting it close.

The Translator-Specific Setup in 4 Clicks

1. Profile: Create “Your Name Translation Services” with EUR rates and DE tax ID.
2. Profile #2: Create “Your Name Interpreting” with USD rates and US address.
3. Project: “Agency A – Medical Whitepaper – Due 25 Aug – PO 4721.”
4. Invoice: Import unbilled entries → send PDF → mark paid when Stripe notifies you.