What is the purpose of an invoice?

The simplest way to think of an invoice is a bill to clients showing the services rendered. The invoice serves as a formal record of any services your client is being charged for, and ensures there are no disputes or discrepancies regarding payment.

Why might some clients request an invoice?

• For some companies, it is required by their accounting department as part of their bookkeeping. Many departments will not issue a check to vendors/contractors until an invoice is received.
• It serves as an official record/receipt for tax purposes, showing exactly what the company paid for and when.
• It shows a clear breakdown of the services you are billing your client for, and the exact amount they owe you.
• It can assist a company in tracking which bills still need to be paid.
• Formal records may be required by law for clients based in certain countries.

What type of information should be included on a VO invoice?

Header

• Your name or legal business name
• Your contact information (this may simply be an email address, unless you are expecting payment by check in which case you’ll want to include your mailing address)
• Name of client/company being billed (and their contact information – again, email address is typically fine, but if you know their company’s mailing address you may include this here too)
• Invoice number (If you are using an online invoicing service, they will assign this automatically – otherwise you may assign a unique invoice number for later reference)
• Date of invoice issue
• Payment term or due date (NET-30 is common, meaning the client will have 30 business days to pay the invoice)

Body

• Date(s) work was performed
• Description of services provided (example: “Voiceover Recording Services – [Project Title]”)
• Hours/units of work, if applicable, + rate (example: 2 hours @ 250.00 per hour, 100 lines @ $5 per line, or $500/flat)
• Total Amount Payable – listed prominently at the bottom. Don’t forget to include the currency (USD, CAD, GBP, etc!)

Footer

A footer is optional, but some people prefer to include any miscellaneous information here, such as the payment method they prefer and any additional terms of service.

*If client will be sending a check, be sure to include your mailing address.

*If client will be issuing a bank wire or ACH direct deposit, be sure to include your bank name, routing number, account number, and IBAN/SWIFT code (for international payments)—unless you have filled out a separate form to the client with this info.

*If client will be issuing payment via PayPal and you are already invoicing directly via PayPal, you do not need to include any separate instructions.

Does this sound complicated? Don’t worry—there are plenty of free automated invoicing systems, such as the one built into PayPal, that will prompt you for this information and then generate and send the invoice for you!

creating + sending an invoice

The easiest way to create and send an invoice is to use an automated invoice generator. If you already subscribe to an accounting app such as QuickBooks or Stripe, there will be a built-in invoicing option, eliminating the need to format one yourself. Some services, such as Square and Wave offer a free invoicing service without the need for a subscription!

With an online invoicing system, your client will receive an email with a link to view and pay the invoice. You can track when payments are overdue, and even set it up to send automatic reminders to clients if the invoice has not been paid yet. For recurring clients, you can create a template or start by duplicating a past invoice so you do not have to manually enter in all the information each time.

PayPal Invoicing

If your client will be paying on PayPal, as is fairly common in the online/indie scene, you can create and send an invoice directly on the PayPal website! This is the simplest way to invoice clients who use PayPal. Read their how-to article here.

What if the client requests a PDF?

Some companies will require a PDF invoice for their records. By going to your invoicing software and clicking “view” on your invoice, you should see an option to download the invoice in PDF format. You can then email the PDF as an attachment to your client.

If you want to use an automated system to create the invoice but don’t want it to email your client at all, you can try using the system to create your invoice, sending it to yourself through the system instead of to your client and downloading it that way.

Can I create my own invoice manually rather than using a service?

Yes! While many freelancers prefer the ease and features of automated invoicing, some may prefer to create their own invoice from scratch or from a template in order to completely customize the format.

To give yourself a baseline, you can Google “freelancer invoice templates”, or check out our super basic sample invoice (to use and modify, go to File > Download.)

What if my client wants to pay an invoice without using the automated system?

Invoicing software will often allow the client the option to pay online via ACH or credit card directly through the system. However, what happens if your client wants to send a check, bank wire, or direct deposit without using this service?

No problem—just list your preferred payment method on the invoice itself or discuss it via email with your client. When you receive the payment, be sure to mark the invoice as “paid” in the system so that your client will not receive an automated reminder for a bill they already took care of.

Do I need to send an invoice if my client doesn’t request one?

No, but it can be helpful for keeping track of payments and ensuring details are accurate, particularly when working independently with clients online. Note that if you are working with a professional recording studio, they will often have you fill out a time sheet in lieu of sending an invoice.

How can I help ensure that my client will pay on time?

Late payments are a routine problem in the VO industry, and simply listing “NET-30” doesn’t always guarantee that you’ll actually get your payment in that time frame.

So, what are some invoicing tips to help combat this, and what should you do if your payment is taking too long?

Understand your client’s normal payment timeline.

While smaller indie clients are often able to pay immediately upon receipt of files/invoice, note that the payment timelines often take longer for larger companies that have to go through an accounting department, payroll processor, etc. They may also only issue payment on a certain date each month—so for instance if payroll gets processed on the 15th of each month but you work on the 16th, that could mean an extra month of waiting to get paid. Additionally, a studio or other intermediary may need to wait to get paid by their own end client before being able to distribute that money to their contractors, causing the process to take months!

Some clients may issue specific invoicing instructions, which will commonly include an estimate of how long payments will take to arrive. Otherwise, you may assume that payment may take up to 90 days for a nonunion project.

Understanding a client’s typical payment schedule is important so that you do not inadvertently annoy them by following up and asking for updates too soon. While no one likes to wait around to get paid, badgering a client after two weeks for a payment scheduled as a Net-60 will leave a bad taste.

List a payment deadline on the invoice, and set up automatic reminders.

Online invoicing services will allow you to set a payment term – such as Net-30 or Net-60 – which will automatically calculate the due date for your client. You can also schedule reminders within the system to automatically email your client when the payment deadline is either approaching or past due.

Be realistic with your deadline according to your client’s terms—for example, if the client states they pay all their contractors on a Net-60 schedule but you set your invoices for Net-30, it’s not magically going to make them pay the invoice faster and may annoy them by sending the reminder prematurely.

Follow up with your point of contact directly if payment still has not come through in a timely fashion.

Sometimes an invoice may get sent to the spam folder, a new person might be put in charge of accounting, or a session was mistakenly marked as paid when it wasn’t.

Give your client the benefit of the doubt and follow up with a polite check-in. Example: “Hello [Name], I just wanted to follow up and make sure you received the invoice I sent on [date]. Please let me know if you need it re-sent or have any additional questions!”

If you were given the contact info for an accountant at the company (sometimes, you’ll be requested to send invoices to that email), be sure to CC them as well as your usual point of contact.

If the payment still does not arrive, follow up on the same email chain with a message such as the following: “Hello [Name], I just wanted to check in on the status of this invoice as per our previous email. Do you have an estimated timeline for when this payment might be issued? Thank you!”

Can I charge late fees?

As tempting as it may seem to charge late fees to help combat the pervasive late payment problem, these are generally not standard in most areas of the non-union VO industry and may not even be enforceable, especially if such a term was not present in the original contract and signed off on by the client. Furthermore, a client or especially an intermediary such as a recording studio or localization agency may refuse to work with any talent who tries to impose these fees. Read more about this here.

While late fees may help you theoretically recover a bit of money in the short term, it is usually not worth costing a client relationship in the long-term. If you routinely work with a client who never pays on time, you may wish to consider withholding any new work from them until previous overdue invoices have been settled.