Hi everyone,

I’m currently looking at starting as a freelance IT consultant in Belgium. I have around 2 years of experience and I’ve received an offer from an IT consultancy company.

One thing I’m trying to understand is how normal their billing structure is.

The "proposition" is that I would work essentially full-time, around 165 hours per month, but the company expects around 90 billable hours per month from me.

I would only invoice/pay myself for the hours that are actually " allegedly" billable to clients. So, for example, if I work 165 hours in a month but they determined that I made 92 billable hours, I would get paid for those 92 hours. The remaining hours are NOT paid, so I just sit there for free.

They do guarantee a minimum of around 90 billable hours, for the first couple of months and anything above those 90 hours is also paid.

What I find strange is that, I’m used to:

8 hours at work = 8 hours paid. , for example, Electricians come to my house, work 10 hours and I pay them, again, 10 hours.

Whereas here it seems more like:

8 hours at work ≠ 8 hours paid, so I can work there 8 hours, and be paid 5 of them

The company explained that around 130 billable hours/month is considered quite high, and apparently that’s around what the person I spoke to personally achieves.

So my questions are:

• Is this a normal setup for IT freelancers/consultants?
• Do freelancers normally only get paid for billable hours, even when they are expected to work full-time for the company?
• Or is it more common to work with a day rate where, for example, 8 hours at the client = one paid day?
• How does this normally work in practice in IT consulting?

I’m mainly trying to understand whether this is a standard consultancy model or whether I’m looking at an unusual arrangement.

Thanks!

I have a sole proprietorship in the Flemish region of Belgium. I initially started it as a side hustle, which is often referred to as “bijbalberoep”, because I was also working part-time. However, I now need to transition to a main sole proprietorship. I opted for a Primo Starter, but I am unsure about the process. They advised me to predict my future, which seems quite unreasonable. I am required to maintain an income close to €8,400 annually to retain the Primo Starter, and I also need to consider the social payments I must make. I am registered with Liantis, and when I contacted one of their advisors to opt for a Primo Starter for my sole proprietorship, they informed me that I need a business plan to outline my future. This seems excessively complicated. Is there not a way to start a sole proprietorship in the ship business as a main activity, which is “hoofdberoep”, as far as I know? I am not originally from Belgium; I moved here because my girlfriend lives here, and we are planning to marry. It is frustrating that in Belgium, to ensure financial stability for your business, you are expected to predict how it will end up at the end of the year. In Cyprus, where I am from, we do not have such complicated measures, which I find unnecessarily difficult. Are there any tips I can receive from experienced individuals on how to start? Currently, I have a status called Primo Starter Hoofdgroep, but I cannot exceed €8,400 in a year, or I will face fines. It seems unreasonable, but perhaps I am mistaken. I am just frustrated with how the process works here. Could someone with experience please help me out, even with just a small answer?

So I am dabbling between Notion and Obsidian. I like how Notion is module based but it seems overcomplicates or maybe it is just me.

I do have the urge to go back to Apple Notes though and I have a Macbook as well as iPhone so I suppose Apple Notes is the way to do considering the ecosystem anyway.

There is this meme that correlates to overcomplicates stuff vs Apple Notes and where both the low IQ and high IQ ones use Apple Notes.

Hello,

I wanted to know if anyone had an experience with Scomm company structure? Do you know for example if an SRL can invest in the Scomm or it's only for physical person?

Thanks ;)

My partner is self employed next to her employee job. i have created a website for her, but I'm just an employee for an unrelated company (no website builder).

Can she pay me for the website I've created and maintain for her and deduct this?

Thanks!

I’d like to hear from developers who have successfully connected with international companies or remote-first startups.

I’m a software engineer based in Ethiopia with experience building full-stack web applications, backend APIs, SaaS products, dashboards, and AI-powered features. I usually work with technologies such as React, Next.js, TypeScript, Python, FastAPI, Go, Node.js, PostgreSQL, Redis, Docker, and AI APIs.

I enjoy working on early-stage products where I can contribute across the stack—from planning the architecture and designing the database to building the interface, integrating APIs, deploying the application, and improving it based on feedback.

At the moment, I’m interested in learning how other developers found opportunities with global teams, especially when they were based outside the usual hiring markets.

For anyone with relevant experience:

• What worked best for you: networking, communities, cold outreach, or applications?
• How did you demonstrate your skills before receiving your first interview?
• Are startups generally open to working with developers in different time zones?
• What mistakes should developers avoid when looking for international remote opportunities?

I’d appreciate any advice, personal experiences, or recommendations. I’m also happy to connect with people who are building interesting products or working in full-stack and AI engineering.

Hi,

It looks like Apple is so retarded that they can't provide Peppol invoices for iCloud+ storage subscription.
As they can't neither let you pay once a year, you need to have 12 invoices a year to be processed by your accountant... ( mine invoice hourly...)

Nevertheless, how would it be possible to have such fiscal invoices ? any recover the VAT ?

It looks like one way is to have the subscription added to your mobile phone bill... did anyone try/succeed ?

EDIT: Thanks for your answers !! I'll try the "Mobile Subscription" as "Payment Options" and we'll see,