What is proper these days?

[Runner]

I have done freelance work for the same person full-time for the past 6 years. The first few years he always offered to buy software to enhance his application (ie Acrobat, etc.). Since the enconomy has been hurting, he no longer offers. From his conversations, he certainly isn't hurting, but perhaps offering to pay for these additional software that he wants his applications to work with is no longer required for him to pay for and is now become the programmer's expense. Can you please tell me what the norm is? Thanks

[Lori]

Runner,

I can't speak for what the "norm" is, but I would say that your client should expect to pay for any applications that are required to run his applications on the client side. (He'll need the licenses for the clients anyway.) Any additional tools that *you* need to do your development are subject to negotiation. You should include these additional costs for him when you spec the job, and if you prefer that he pay for them, make sure he knows up front that you'll expect to be reimbursed for those.

Lori
DevX

[Runner]

Thanks for your input.