Invoice Page?

[ZZGAMAZZ]

My company just notified appraisers that the Invoice Page should be removed from all appraisal report. The billing will be done between the company and the clients.

This concerns me although I'm not sure why.

Is common practice in the industry to include or to exlude the Invoice page from appraisal reports?

 

[Charles Knutson]

Is common practice in the industry to include or to exlude the Invoice page from appraisal reports?

Yes -- when you are acting as a sub contractor or employee for an appraisal company, or a fee appraiser for an AMC, it is their responsibility to bill the client.

Your compensation is based on your agreement with them, and an invoice with the report only confuses the situation -- especially when your invoiced fee is less than what the homeowner is being billed, it can cause big problems if the homeowner sees it.

Welcome to the glamorous and high paying world of split fee appraising!!!

 

[Tom Woolford]

My company just notified appraisers that the Invoice Page should be removed from all appraisal report. The billing will be done between the company and the clients.

This concerns me although I'm not sure why.

Is common practice in the industry to include or to exlude the Invoice page from appraisal reports?

I usually send 2 PDF's, one for the report, one for the invoice. Just my way of doing things. With a locked PDF, the invoice page (generally) can not be removed, and its no one else's business what fee I am charging.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

My company just notified appraisers that the Invoice Page should be removed from all appraisal report. The billing will be done between the company and the clients.

This concerns me although I'm not sure why.

Is common practice in the industry to include or to exlude the Invoice page from appraisal reports?

If you are working for an AMC, they typically demand anything related to billing or invoicing be removed from the appraisal.

If you are working for yourself as an independent fee appraiser, it is typical that you would include an invoice showing it as paid or unpaid.

 

[Amy Perkins]

Yes it is commonplace, they don't want their client to know how little they are paying you and how much they are making off of your reports

 

[Lobo Fan]

AMC's don't want invoices attached to the report. They don't want their clients learning how little they are paying us. It is actually pretty common. You could send along an invoice as a separate document. I wouldn't get too worried about this issue.

 

[Ken B]

My company just notified appraisers that the Invoice Page should be removed from all appraisal report. The billing will be done between the company and the clients.

This concerns me although I'm not sure why.

Is common practice in the industry to include or to exlude the Invoice page from appraisal reports?

Do it however the client requests. Not a problem. The invoice is not part of the appraisal report.

 

[Em Tee]

When you say "my company", do you mean you're doing split fee work for a company and instead of you sending an invoice, they're going to send an invoice? Please clarify what you mean.

 

[ZZGAMAZZ]

Mary: I am an independent contactor working exclusively for a company that provides office support, data access, collections, etc. I work for a split of the total fee and I e-mail the completed report to my office to process into PDF and forward to the client regardless of whether it is "my" client of a client of the company.

 

[Ken B]

As an independent contractor, I create and attach a copy of the company's invoice to the client to the appraisal and submit a separate invoice for my split to the company. The principal signs the company's invoice to the client and away it goes. I get a copy of the engagement letter, so I know what the agreed upon fee should be.

If the company wants to assume responsibility for creation of their invoice to the client, so be it.

Is your concern that they are being less than honest with you with regards to the fee they charge the client and are skimming off a portion of the fee that is rightfully yours? If this is a legitimate concern, there are bigger problems.

Do you get a copy of an engagement letter or anything which indicates the total fee for the assignment? I think it would be reasonable to request a copy of the engagement letter/assignment for tracking purposes.