Part of being a professional voice talent is being professional in how you conduct your business. It really is a package deal. You can’t have one without the other. How you conduct your business is going to directly impact how much business you enjoy.
One of the foundational pieces of any business, including your voice over business, is your invoice.
We all like to get paid. But if you want to make sure you get paid properly and on time, having a professional and thorough invoice can be the difference maker.
5 Must Haves For Your Invoice
1) Contact Information: How can a client mail you a cheque if there’s no mailing address? How can a client call with questions if there’s no phone number? It’s essential to include your full mailing address, a phone number and an email address.
2) Cheques Payable Info: Do you have a name for your business, but actually accept cheques under your personal name? Do you use a stage name but actually accept cheques under your personal name? Make sure there is a bold and clear line that states, “Please make cheques payable to {insert name}.”
3) PayPal Account: More and more people are using PayPal to make and accept payments. It’s obviously very quick and easy. If you accept payment for your voice over business with PayPal make sure your invoice includes your PayPal account information.
4) Invoice Number: For bookkeeping purposes it’s absolutely essential to have a number system for your invoices. This sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people fail to do this. For my invoices I use the numbering sequence of year/number. For example, 2013-001. Invoice numbers make tracking easier on your end and the clients end if there are any issues.
5) Client and Job ID: On each of my invoices I include the company name, my contacts name and a very clear title and description of the job. This makes life easier for both you and your client when tracking invoices. Especially if you do multiple jobs with the same client. It provides an easy way to differentiate. It also provides multiple reference points for the client in the event of any issues.
Make Getting Paid Easy
The more information you provide on your invoice the easier you make it for both you and your client. The easier you make it for your client to send payment, the more quickly and easily you’ll receive payment. If that’s not motivation to create a professional invoice, I don’t know what is!
QUESTION: Do you include anything on your invoice we should know about?
