7 INVOICING TIPS FOR CREATIVE FREELANCERS & DESIGNERS
Introduction People in the creative industries are great at their crafts and art—but are notoriously unwilling to take good care of their finances. However understandable that is, creatives must understand that in order to continue doing business, they’ll need to stay on top of their financial responsibilities. This includes, primarily, getting a grip on their invoices, which will help them with their cash flow. Let’s look at some great invoicing tips for creatives.
1. Make great pricelist Your pricelist should be based on a few important factors: • • • •
Experience Location Competition level Variety of services and speed
After you combine these factors to create your pricelist, go ahead and make sure they are flexible. This allows you to negotiate for bigger deals and be beneficial in the long run.
2. Make clear terms Once you’ve got your client to choose you, you’ll need to create a quote or estimate which is clear and direct, containing: • • • •
price and payment due date interest on late payment upfront payment in full or partial number of revisions allowed
When you clarify these matters upfront, you’ll help prevent any future problems or surprises later on.
3. Be organized Even though, stereotypically, creatives are artistically messy, your invoicing and accounting doesn’t have to be: • keep your invoices in organized folders • use online invoicing software, such as InvoiceBerry • get finance reports when tax season comes around Once you’ve gotten yourself organized, you’ll see just how easy it can be to create and send invoices, and thereby get paid faster.
4. Make it nice Seeing as you are in the creative and design industries, you’ll probably need to extend that to your invoices as well: • use your skills to create beautiful invoices • download templates in various formats to make it easier • that way, you don’t have to create from scratch, but you can customize as you wish Your clients will get beautiful work and beautiful invoices, which will make you more memorable to them.
5. Invoice faster To get paid faster, you’ll have to send out your invoices faster, which means you’ll have to start on your invoices faster: • create invoices as soon as the job is finished • be careful and detailed in your invoices • send them off to the client immediately To that end, your clients will pay you much more quickly and you’ll enjoy your business much more.
6. Be detailed Just because you should invoice faster, it doesn’t mean you need to invoice sloppy. Be detailed on your invoices, including: • your bank account information • the payment terms • the due date, fees, and other things you’ve agreed on This way, the client can pay you much more quickly. While you’re at it, add a thank you not to the invoice as well, which will also help your invoices get paid faster.
7. Follow up on late payers One reason why you won’t get paid faster is out of your hands—your client. But you’ll need to follow these steps to get them to pay: • send a polite email reminder after the invoice is due • make a polite call a week later to ask about payment • if it fails, contact an attorney or their finance department It will rarely get to the legal step, but you must follow through.
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7 Brilliant Invoicing Tips for Creative Freelancers & Designers
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