Invoicing, tax and collection systems differ between countries, and what follows is a way of organising your work rather than legal or financial advice. For any tax obligation or a real dispute, ask an accountant or an adviser in your own country.
He delivered the video on time. They replied the same day: "lovely work, thank you." He asked about payment a week later, and it was with the manager for signature. He asked after two weeks, and finance was closing the month. He asked after a month, and the person he had been dealing with had left the company.
Three months passed. The money did arrive in the end, but he had turned down two other jobs in the meantime because he was waiting.
The problem was not that they did not want to pay. The problem was that he never asked one question before starting: how do you pay?
Payment is arranged before delivery, not after
The whole idea is one line: once you have delivered, your negotiating power is zero. The work is in their hands, the video may already be published, and you are waiting.
So everything in this article happens before you shoot a single frame. It is the natural extension of the items you put in writing before you begin, set out in what to agree on before you film any paid job.
Five things that decide when your money arrives
Ask about them in one message before you accept the job. They are ordinary administrative questions and nobody finds them strange.
1. Who authorises payment? The person talking to you may be in marketing with no connection to money. Ask for the name of the finance contact or whoever signs off payments. That name is the most useful thing you will get.
2. What is your payment cycle? Many companies pay only on set days of the month, and an invoice arriving after the cut-off rolls into the following month entirely. Knowing that day means you send your invoice before it.
3. What do you need to register me as a supplier? Some companies need a full file: ID, a tax or commercial registration number, a bank certificate, an internal form. That file takes two weeks on its own, and it can be done on day one instead of the last day.
4. What invoice format do you accept? Some companies reject an invoice that does not carry a purchase order or contract number. Ask which items are required and put them in your template.
5. How do you transfer the money? Bank transfer, a payment platform, or an intermediary. And ask who pays the transfer fees, a question that saves you a deduction you did not expect.
Five questions in a short message before you agree saves you months.
The deposit: the figure that changes everything
Asking for part of the fee before you start is not distrust, and it is ordinary practice across production work.
Its practical function is not only the money but the test: a company able to transfer part of the fee before filming is a company able to pay, with an administrative path that works. And a company that declines any deposit for any reason has told you something important about itself before you lost a week of your time.
And tie the remainder to a clear event rather than a judgement: do not write "on satisfaction with the work", write "on delivery of the final cut". Satisfaction cannot be measured; delivery can.
Invoices: why they get sent back
Most payment delay is caused by an incomplete invoice rather than bad intent. An invoice that passes first time carries:
- Your full name or business name, and your address
- Your tax or registration number if you have one
- The company's full registered name, not the name people call it
- A sequential invoice number of your own, and its date
- A description of the work in a line or two, matching the agreement
- The amount and currency, with any applicable tax shown separately
- The payment term stated explicitly: "due within X days of this date"
- Complete bank details
- The purchase order or contract number if they asked for it
And send the invoice in the same message as the delivery, not a week later. An invoice that arrives with the work enters the administrative cycle at once; one that arrives late starts the cycle again.
A three-message follow-up schedule
Do not follow up at random, and do not chase daily. Fix three moments and stick to them.
Three days before the due date: a short friendly message noting the invoice, its number and its due date. That message alone resolves most cases, because the invoice may be asleep in somebody's inbox.
Two days after the due date: a message saying the date has passed and asking whether anything is missing from your side. Make the question about what is missing; it opens the door without confrontation.
A week after that: a message to the finance contact, copying the person you dealt with. Escalating here is not hostility; it is moving to whoever holds the decision.
And each time: one message, short, with no apologising and no threatening. Long text gets read less.
A follow-up template
Subject: Invoice [number] · [job name] · due [date]
Hello [name],
I am following up on invoice [number] for [amount], sent on [date] for
[the work in half a line], due on [date].
Is there anything missing from my side to complete it? Happy to send any
document you need.
A copy of the invoice is attached for convenience.
Thank you,
[your name] · [phone]
When to stop working with them
Some relationships are not worth continuing even if they pay in the end. Stop accepting new work from a client if:
- Payment has run past its term more than once with no clear reason.
- They asked for additional work before settling the previous job.
- The person you deal with has changed twice and nobody handed you over to anybody.
- They refuse to put anything in writing and the whole agreement is verbal.
And the practical rule: do not start a second job for a client who has not paid for the first. That rule alone protects you from most large losses.
Cross-border transfers
If the client is in another country, ask three things before agreeing: which currency you will be paid in, who bears the transfer and intermediary fees, and whether a withholding tax in their country will be deducted from the amount. The gap between what you agreed and what lands in your account can be large, and the right place to deal with it is before the contract.
A simple record
One table with six columns replaces a year of accounting stress:
| Client | Job | Amount | Invoice date | Due date | Received? |
Review it once a week at a fixed time. Five minutes is enough, and it is what makes you spot a delay on the day rather than two months later.
The general principle
Money is not late because somebody wants to cheat you, but because nobody is responsible for it. Everything above has one purpose: to make yourself a clear line item in an administrative system rather than a message in a crowded inbox.
And if you are at the start and have not reached paid work yet, the right order is set out in when should you start thinking about making money from your channel. If you are about to make first contact with a brand, start from your channel's media kit for brands.