Getting paid
How to Invoice Brands as a Creator (Template and Checklist)
Here is something nobody tells creators: the brand marketer you negotiated with does not pay you. They never touch the money.
Your invoice goes to an accounts payable function — sometimes a team, increasingly a piece of software — that has never heard of you, does not care about the campaign, and is measured on processing invoices correctly rather than quickly. That system accepts or rejects your invoice on formal criteria alone.
Get the criteria right and you are paid on schedule. Get one field wrong and your invoice does not get rejected loudly. It gets held, silently, until somebody chases it. That somebody is you, six weeks later, wondering what happened.
This guide is the criteria.
The eleven fields
Every one of these belongs on the invoice. There are no optional entries in this list.
| Field | Detail | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Your legal name and address | The name you file taxes under, not your handle | Must match their vendor record exactly |
| 2. Your tax/business number | VAT, GST, ABN, EIN — whatever applies | Often mandatory for the invoice to be valid |
| 3. Brand's legal entity | "Acme Brands Ltd", not "Acme" | The wrong entity is a guaranteed hold |
| 4. Brand's billing address | Their AP address, which is often not their office | Ask for it — do not guess |
| 5. Unique invoice number | Sequential, e.g. 2026-014 | Duplicates get auto-rejected |
| 6. Issue date | The date you send it | Payment terms count from here or from receipt |
| 7. Due date | An actual calendar date | "Net 30" alone is ambiguous; write the date |
| 8. PO number | If they use purchase orders | The single biggest cause of silent holds |
| 9. Itemised deliverables | Line by line, with the campaign name | Lets the marketer approve it without asking you |
| 10. Total and currency | "USD 6,563.00" — always state the currency | Cross-border ambiguity delays payment |
| 11. Payment details and terms | Bank details, and the late-fee clause | No details, no payment |
The PO number will cost you more time than everything else combined
Most mid-size and large companies require a purchase order before an invoice can be paid. If your invoice arrives without the PO number, it does not enter the payment queue at all. It sits in an exception folder.
Ask for it the moment the contract is signed, not when you are ready to invoice:
Before I raise the invoice — do you use purchase orders? If so, could you send me the PO number and confirm the correct billing entity and AP email address?
Three questions, one email, and it removes the three most common causes of late payment in a single move.
The template
Copy this. Adjust it once. Reuse it forever.
INVOICE
From: [Your legal name / trading name] [Address] [Tax or business registration number] [Email]
Bill to: [Brand legal entity name] [AP billing address] Attn: [AP contact or marketing contact]
Invoice number: 2026-014 PO number: [PO reference] Issue date: 12 September 2026 Due date: 12 October 2026 (Net 30)
Campaign: [Brand] Autumn Skincare — September 2026
Description Qty Rate Amount Instagram Reel, 30–45s, organic post 1 2,340.00 2,340.00 Instagram Story frames with link sticker 3 310.00 930.00 Production (one-day shoot, editing) 1 350.00 350.00 Paid media usage licence, 90 days, Meta 1 1,962.00 1,962.00 Category exclusivity, 60 days 1 981.00 981.00 Subtotal: USD 6,563.00 Tax (if applicable): USD 0.00 Total due: USD 6,563.00
Payment details Account name: [Name] Account/IBAN: [Number] Sort code / routing / SWIFT: [Code] Reference: 2026-014
Terms: Payment due within 30 days of invoice date. A late payment fee of 1.5% per month applies to overdue balances, as per the agreement dated [date].
Itemise. Always. A single line reading "Creator services — $6,563" invites questions, and every question is a week. The itemised version lets the marketer approve it in thirty seconds because they can see it matches what they signed.
Send it as a PDF, never a document that can be edited, and never as body text in an email.
Don't want to build the PDF by hand? Our free invoice generator turns these same fields into a printable invoice as you type, entirely in your browser — nothing you enter is ever sent anywhere.
When to send it
Send the invoice the same day you deliver, or the same day the content goes live — whichever your contract specifies. Payment terms almost always start from the invoice date, so every day you delay is a day added to your own wait.
If your contract has a deposit, invoice the deposit at signature and the balance at delivery. Two invoices, two numbers, both tracked.
Address it to two people: the marketing contact who approves it, and the AP inbox that processes it. Approval and processing are separate steps and they happen in different places.
The follow-up sequence
Late payment is not an edge case in this industry. Campaign has reported extensively on a creator-economy late-payment problem in which Net 30 quietly becomes Net 60 or Net 90 and creators routinely wait months after delivery. Assume you will have to chase, and have a sequence ready so that chasing costs you no emotional energy.
Day 0 — on delivery. Invoice sent to the marketing contact and the AP inbox.
Day 3 — confirm receipt.
Hi [Name] — just confirming invoice 2026-014 landed with AP and is in the queue for [due date]. Let me know if anything's needed from my side.
This one email prevents most late payments. It surfaces a missing PO or a wrong entity while there is still time to fix it.
Due date + 1 — the reminder.
Hi [Name] — invoice 2026-014 for $6,563 was due yesterday. Could you check where it is in the payment run? Happy to resend if it's easier.
Neutral, factual, no apology.
Due date + 7 — escalate politely.
Hi [Name] — following up on invoice 2026-014, now 7 days overdue. Could you put me in touch with your accounts payable team directly? Under our agreement a 1.5% monthly late fee applies from the due date; I'd rather not apply it, so any help moving this along is appreciated.
Mentioning the fee once, calmly, is what changes behaviour. This is why the fee has to be in the contract before it can help you.
Due date + 14 — formal. Resend the invoice with "OVERDUE" in the subject line, a statement of the fee accrued to date, and copy anyone senior you have a legitimate contact for.
Due date + 30 — final notice. A written final notice referencing the agreement, the amounts owed, and a deadline before you pursue formal recovery. Most disputes settle at this stage, provided every earlier step exists in writing.
The three things that prevent all of this
A signed contract with payment terms in it. Without one you have no due date, no late fee and no leverage. The terms clause matters as much as the fee — here is how to read the rest of the contract.
A deposit. Fifty percent up front on first-time clients. It filters out the brands who were never going to pay, before you have done the work.
A late fee in writing. 1.5% per month is standard and rarely challenged at contract stage. It converts your follow-up from a favour you are asking into a term you are enforcing.
Keep the numbers where you can see them
Lumanu's analysis of 255,000+ creator payments found the average payment at $1,645 and 80% of partnerships involving repeat collaborations with multiple deliverables. That is the real shape of a creator business: many medium-sized invoices, spread across a handful of brands, with several in flight at once.
That is also precisely the shape of business where invoices go missing. Three deals live, two invoices out, one deposit pending, and the thread you needed is somewhere in an Instagram DM from August.
Track, per deal: amount, invoice number, PO number, date sent, due date, date paid. Anything that shows you the overdue ones without you having to remember they exist.
Flossi generates the invoice from the deal you already have on file — deliverables, rate and terms pre-filled — sends it, watches the due date, and chases the brand automatically so you never have to write the day-seven email yourself.
Frequently asked questions
- What should a creator invoice include?
- Eleven fields: your legal name and address, your tax or business registration number, the brand's legal entity name, their AP billing address, a unique invoice number, the issue date, an explicit due date, the PO number if they use one, itemised deliverables, the total with currency stated, and your payment details plus terms. Missing any one is the usual cause of a silent hold.
- What is a PO number and do I need one?
- A purchase order number is the reference a company's finance system uses to authorise a payment before it happens. Most mid-size and large brands require one, and an invoice that arrives without it never enters the payment queue at all. Ask for the PO number, the correct billing entity and the AP email address as soon as the contract is signed.
- When should I send an invoice to a brand?
- The same day you deliver the content or the same day it goes live, depending on what your contract specifies. Payment terms almost always run from the invoice date, so any delay in sending is a delay added to your own wait. Send it to both the marketing contact who approves it and the AP inbox that processes it.
- Can I charge a late fee on an unpaid brand invoice?
- Yes, provided it is in your signed agreement. A rate of 1.5% per month on overdue balances is standard and rarely challenged at contract stage. Its real value is not the money — it is that mentioning it once, calmly, converts your follow-up from a favour into an enforceable term.
- How do I chase a brand that has not paid?
- Confirm receipt three days after sending, send a neutral reminder the day after the due date, escalate to accounts payable at day seven while mentioning the late fee, resend marked OVERDUE at day fourteen, and issue a formal final notice at day thirty. Keep every step factual and in writing — most disputes settle when the paper trail is complete.
- Should I ask brands for a deposit?
- Yes, particularly with first-time clients. Fifty percent up front is normal and it filters out brands who were never going to pay before you have done the work. Invoice the deposit at signature and the balance on delivery, as two separate numbered invoices.
Sources
Vibek is the founder of Flossi, an AI business manager for content creators. He spends his days reading brand contracts, rate cards and payment terms so creators do not have to.
Stop tracking brand deals in your DMs
Flossi reads your inbox and Instagram DMs, pulls every offer into one pipeline, checks the contract before you sign it, and chases the invoice when the brand goes quiet.
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