What is an Influencer invoice?
An influencer invoice is the document that an influencer would send to a brand or PR agency to collect payment for work they have recently completed or due to complete. It would list the services provided alongside the agreed-upon fixed rate per service and the payment details.
Influencing services mostly consist of sponsored posts on social media in the form of photos and videos, but they can also include content creation for blogs, podcasts and email newsletters. An influencer invoice template allows you to organize payment information efficiently for each of these services to encourage a faster payment response from clients.
Ultimately, many influencers that are new to brand partnerships may fall into the trap of sending unprofessional or incorrect invoices. An editable influencer invoice template can help you to avoid common mistakes, unnecessary delays and build your credibility in the industry.
Note: Sign up now to get your free influencer invoice template. It will walk you through the production process step-by-step so that you can send out professional invoices in minutes.
What to include in the Influencer invoice
If you want to get paid promptly, it’s important to have a professional influencer invoice template for billing clients. You can come up with your own invoices as and when you need them. However, it’s easier to have one master invoice template that you adapt for different projects so that you can stay consistent with the aesthetic and your branding.
The best influencer invoices are simple and concise. They display all the significant details in a clear layout that is easy to digest.
1. Personal details
There is some information that product or service providers are legally required to include in any invoice that they send to other businesses.
First of all, you have to list your contact info and essential details, such as your:
- Business name, business entity and/or logo
- Full name (legal name)
- Website URL
- Business address
- Contact details, such as an email address and/or phone number
The company you’re partnering with may need these details for tax purposes when it comes to filing independent contract forms like the W-9 and 1099-NEC.
As well as your own information, you need to feature the brand or agency’s basic information. Specifically:
- The company name
- Your contact’s full name
- Your contact’s email address and/or phone number
- The company’s address
All of this information usually goes at the top of an invoice in the header where it can be extracted quickly and effortlessly.
2. Invoice details
In the next section of your influencer invoice template should be all of your invoice details.
As well as stating an invoice date, it is a legal requirement to provide a unique invoice number. This is essentially a number that you come up with and both parties can refer to if the invoice needs to be discussed at a later date.
Most freelancers and sole traders tend to start with ‘invoice #1’ for their first project’s invoice number, or ‘invoice #001,’ and then go from there. That said, if you’re not a fan of this system or don’t want the company to know that this is your first project, you could just use the date. (For instance, this may be ‘invoice #070122.’)
3. Your payment details
Your payment details should be in prime position on an influencer invoice template, whether this is part of the header or in bold underneath the header. To put it simply, this information needs to be obvious to your client so that you can get paid faster.
You should have already agreed on a payment method with the brand or agency before sending through the influencer invoice. It’s common courtesy that there are no surprises so the payment can be processed without any further discussion.
If you’ve agreed to be paid via PayPal or Stripe, state your associated email address. On the other hand, if you’ve agreed to be paid via direct deposit, you will need to include the necessary bank details here for a speedy and pain-free transaction.
Note: Bonsai’s invoicing and online payments allow you to send invoices automatically at the end of your project, and clients can then pay you at the click of a button.
4. Payment terms
The payment terms for this project should have already been agreed upon with the brand or agency. If they haven’t, clarify this before you send through your influencer invoice. (It will avoid confusion later on!)
Your preferred payment terms will likely differ from another influencer’s, but it’s okay to communicate what they are. Alternatively, you can leave the payment terms up to the client and just enquire as to what they are.
The most common payment terms for freelance services are:
- Net 7, 15 or 30 — this means that you must be paid within 7, 15 or 30 days
- Upon receipt — this means that you require payment as soon as the client receives the invoice
- In advance — this tends to be for projects where you’re invoicing and requiring payment prior to completing any work
The idea is to stick to a consistent billing schedule so that you can track and manage your payments with minimal effort.
To make it as clear as possible and avoid potential issues, you could include an invoice due date in this section. There’s just something about placing a payment due date on there for all to see that eliminates any questions and ensures you will get paid on time.
Speaking of being paid on time, you can also include any terms and conditions of the project in this section. For example:
- You could have a clause that allows the company to review all content that you produce prior to being published.
- You may decide to allow the company to review all content once it’s published and have the opportunity to suggest edits that you implement within 3 working days.
- If the company is late issuing the payment according to the due date, you may decide to charge late fees, such as 1% of the total amount due each day until the invoice has been paid.
Be sure to keep the information concise so that you’re not taking up valuable influencer invoice space. After all, it’s typical that business invoices are kept to one page so they can be viewed wholly on a computer screen or just use one sheet of paper when printed.
5. Listed services
The final section is where you list each service provided (or that you will provide) one by one in table format.
Each service should have a name (like ‘sponsored post’) as well as a clear description of what you’re charging for (i.e. ‘Instagram Reel discussing the gifted product’).
If you’ve already created the content, it’s common practice to include a URL to the published content in the description to serve as a reminder for the client. They may want to check it against their original brief.
Your next columns should be ‘unit cost’ (the agreed-upon services fee) and ’quantity’ (the number of Reels you published or will publish, for instance).
At the end of your list of line items, there should be a ‘balance due’ section where you state the total cost. It helps to make this bold so that it stands out against the rest of the information and draws the eye of the recipient.
Have a long list of line items to include in your influencer invoice? Not to worry — you can break the ‘one page per invoice’ rule and spill onto two pages if you really need to.
How to create an Influencer invoice
The truth is, you’re unable to create an influencer invoice without an agreement set up with a brand or PR agency.
To obtain all the details you need for the invoice, follow the below steps.
Find out exactly what the client wants
During your initial email or phone conversation, confirm with the company what services they would like you to perform for them. Which types of social media content do they want? How many pieces of content do they need? Does each piece of social media content need to include key information?
Ideally, you will have a written list that you can use to form an influencer contract and have it signed off so that both parties are on the same page with the project.
Discuss terms and details
Next, you need to finalize how much you’re getting paid per piece of content and via which medium, such as PayPal or bank transfer.
Will you be requiring standard payment upfront? Or will you adhere to the company’s strict payment terms of within 30 days post-publication? What happens with late payments? All of these details need to be discussed in advance.
You also need to gather any necessary information for your influencer invoice that you may not already know, such as the client’s contact information.
Input all of the information
The only thing that’s left to do is actually produce the influencer invoice using the information that you’ve gathered. You may decide to build it from scratch in Word or Pages, or even Excel or Numbers, depending on your computer type.
Alternatively, the most straightforward and fastest way to edit, export and send an invoice is by using a free invoice template. It will make your life as a sole trader much easier!
Creating an Influencer invoice is simple with Bonsai
Bonsai’s invoice template takes all the hard work out of invoicing brands and agencies. The structure and content are already in place. In fact, all you have to do is edit the information and export it with the click of a button.
As well as being plug-and-play, you can automate everything from:
- Creating a professional invoice
- Reminders for issuing late fees
- Sending through read-receipts
You can also choose from a variety of global payment options for the convenience of your client.
You can save valuable time, money and resources trying to figure out how to create your own. Instead, you can use a trusted platform that has helped over 500,000 businesses with their documents (and counting!).
Influencer invoice FAQs
What format does this influencer invoice template come as?
Every Bonsai invoice template can be edited within the app and downloaded as a PDF for you to send onwards to your clients.
Do I need this influencer invoice template if I’m working via freelance platforms?
You don’t necessarily need to create an invoice template if you’re working with clients via freelance marketplaces. These types of platforms have built-in contracts and invoices that you can download.
Even so, it’s rare that influencers work solely on these platforms. They also tend to accept work through their own website, social media accounts and influencer platform. Therefore, it’s handy to have a high-quality, polished and professional influencer invoice template ready for when you need it.
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