Contracting with SFA

SFA establishes itself as a contractor at the institutions where potential clients might hire scientific illustrators. SFA artists have the option to bill through SFA instead of individually setting themselves up as a contractor (essentially, we act as your admin team!). For the service, SFA adds a 5% fee to the overall price of your project and that cost is passed on to the client.

*If you have an upcoming project with a new client that you would like to bill through SFA please let us know so that we can make sure we already have (and if not, can establish) a contractor relationship with the institution as soon as possible!*

What does it mean to contract with Sfa? 

  1. SFA will make sure that all the necessary paperwork, including tax forms, are filed with the institution in order for your client to pay for your services from a grant or institutional funds

  2. When SFA is set up as a contractor it establishes a generic contract with the institution, which applies to all the transactions that it oversees. This means that any work you produce is already protected and your rights are retained even if you don’t get your client to sign a contract. Read a copy of the blanket contract here. If amendments to the contract with a particular client need to be made, we will help you do so.

  3. You will submit your invoice to SFA (instead of your client) and it will be paid within 10 business days (as long as the total is under $2000). We have an easy online form you can use, so you don’t even need to generate your own!

  4. SFA will take care of billing and payment processing with the institution and the client, freeing you up to move on to the next thing!

What are the benefits?

  1. You will be paid for your work right away, instead of waiting weeks or even months to be compensated for your work.

  2. Because your work is protected by a blanket contract with the institution, you can start the project immediately instead of waiting for contracts to be drawn up and signed (academics tend to need things done yesterday).

  3. You will not be prevented from working with a particular client due to your employment status or legal issues.

  4. You will have a team behind you when navigating your new client relationship.

  5. You will help support other artist-scientist collaborations by allowing SFA to raise funds by providing these services to you and others.

Step-By-Step Instructions

Step-by-step instructions for looping in SFA and explaining payments and contracts to your new client.

  1. Once you have been approached for work by a client, contact SFA and let us know which institution your potential client is affiliated with. You should do this while you are still in initial negotiations with the client, so that SFA can lend you support and to reduce any snaggles with paperwork.

  2. While you’re discussing pricing, let your client know that you do your billing through SFA and there is 5% payment-processing fee. Tell them that SFA will

  3. You will not be prevented from working with a particular client due to your employment status or legal issues.

  4. You will have a team behind you when navigating your new client relationship.

  5. You will help support other artist-scientist collaborations by allowing SFA to raise funds by providing these services to you and others.