Invoicing and Getting Paid

Doing the work is only half of it

Plenty of photographers are good at the shooting and bad at the getting paid, and it's the second one that keeps the lights on. What makes a freelance business survive is cash flow, meaning money that actually arrives and arrives on time. A tidy invoice, terms the client has already agreed to, and a calm routine for chasing are professional skills in the same way lighting a face is.

None of it is complicated. It does have to be done every time.

A professional invoice

Get the basics right and you get paid faster.

Send it promptly, on the day of the shoot or the day you deliver, rather than weeks later. It makes you look organised and it starts the clock.

Make it clear and complete: your name or business and contact details, the client's details, an invoice number, the date, a description of the work, the fee with any expenses itemised, VAT if you're registered, the total, your payment terms and your bank details.

State the due date rather than leaving it vague. "Payment due within 14 days" works much better than "payment on receipt", because a specific date is easier to enforce and harder to ignore.

Use proper invoicing software, or your accountant's. It numbers invoices for you, keeps them looking consistent, and tracks what's still outstanding.

Terms and deposits

Agree payment terms up front, in the contract or confirmation, so they aren't a surprise when the invoice lands. Fourteen or thirty days is standard; settle it before the job rather than after.

Take a deposit on bigger jobs. For weddings, large commercial shoots or clients you haven't worked with before, a deposit on booking with the balance on or before delivery protects you against cancellations and non-payers. For weddings in particular, full payment before delivery is both normal and sensible.

On large projects, consider staging the payments: a booking fee, something on the shoot day, and the balance at the end. That way you're never carrying the whole risk on your own.

Chasing late payment

It happens to everyone, so have a routine rather than a reaction. A polite reminder the day after the due date, a firmer one a week later, then a phone call. What gets results is consistency, not aggression.

Keep the tone professional and unemotional. "Just a reminder that invoice #123 was due on [date] — could you confirm when I can expect payment?" is enough. No drama required.

Know where you stand. In the UK you're generally entitled to charge statutory interest and a fixed recovery cost on an overdue commercial invoice. You'll rarely need to use it, but knowing it's there gives your reminders some weight.

Where the work hasn't been handed over yet, such as a wedding gallery or the final files, payment-before-delivery terms are your best protection. Chasing money for images a client already has is much harder.

Protecting your cash flow

Don't let invoices pile up unsent. The commonest cause of freelance cash-flow trouble is work that has been done and not yet invoiced.

Keep track of what's outstanding so you can see it at a glance, and follow up as soon as something goes past its date.

Be willing to let bad payers go. A client who pays late every time, or who starts haggling after the work is delivered, costs you more than they bring in. You can decline the next job.

The honest picture

Getting paid well and on time comes down to a system rather than luck: terms agreed before the job, invoices out promptly and looking the part, deposits where the risk warrants them, and a calm routine for chasing. With that in place, late payment turns into an occasional annoyance instead of a threat to the business. Without it you can be busy, fully booked and broke at the same time.

Related: what to charge, contracts and usage rights, and insurance, kit and going freelance.