Friday 5: Get paid faster with these 5 invoice tips!
Listen Now:
As you progress through your artistic career, you’ll likely be asked one day to?invoice for a service (i.e. a gig) or a product (a piece of your work, merchandise, etc) in order to get paid. ?Invoices are required by most people paying?you for contract work and it’s an important way to keep track of your income for tax time.
Having spent over a decade as a professional bookkeeper, I’ve had the chance to see how invoices are processed within businesses and have compiled a list of tips to help?you get PAID FASTER by having fantastic invoices!
Remember: the person who is actually paying?your invoice (i.e. bookkeeper/accountant) may not know anything about you or what you do, so it’s important to include all the necessary info to receive a timely payment.
Here we go!
1. BE SURE TO INCLUDE your name and contact info. (If you want to have payments issued to a name other than you own, make sure to highlight that, i.e. ?Please make all cheques payable to The Smart Artist?). I once had an invoice come across my desk that only had a graphic logo at the top- no name, no contact info, no way to pay.
2. Date your invoice, and include payment terms and/or due date. (I.e. “net 15” means due within 15 days of invoice date; “due upon receipt” is also a good term meaning pay ASAP). ?If you charge interest on unpaid invoices, make sure that information in listed on the invoice (and in the contract you issue for services).
3. Provide enough detail in the memo section that an accountant who has never met you or talked to you would know what the invoice is for, i.e ?Jazz Trio for Valentine?s Day, Feb 14, 2016? is awesome; ?Gig? is not.
4. Make sure to let the person paying you know how you would like to be paid– i.e. include an e-transfer email (and suggested password), Paypal address, or link to credit card payment system.
5. Whether you use paper or online invoicing, make sure you are tracking invoices with a unique numbering system. Accountant insider tip: we may assume invoices from you that have the same invoice number to be duplicates, which can result in a delayed payment (in fact, when we enter it into our accounting software it will often get flagged as a duplicate invoice- D’oh!) ?If you are sending manual invoices (i.e. created in Word or a similar system), we suggest to create a master tracking document (spreadsheet is ideal; your accountant will love you) with the basic details every time you issue an invoice (date, invoice number, client you sent invoice to, description, amount).
Bonus Tip: Never send a word doc invoice; these can be edited (and some templates mess with your date). Always save as a PDF and send, or use an online invoicing system like Invoicely or Due.com
Additional resources:
Sample Master?Tracking Document
http://quickbooks.intuit.com/r/getting-paid/get-paid-on-time-the-complete-guide-to-invoices
http://quickbooks.intuit.com/r/getting-paid/infographic-whats-wrong-with-your-invoices
