How to invoice brands and get paid on time

Payment problems on brand deals are easier to prevent than to chase. The fixes are boring: payment terms in writing before you film, an invoice the day you deliver, and a clear plan for late payers. This guide covers all of it, plus the US tax forms you will see.

What should a brand deal invoice include?

A brand deal invoice needs enough detail that the brand's accounts team can pay it without emailing you back. A missing purchase order number or the wrong billing contact can leave an invoice sitting unpaid for weeks.

• Your legal name or business name, address, and email.
• The brand's legal name and billing address, plus the contact who approved the work.
• An invoice number and invoice date.
• The purchase order or campaign number, if the brand gave one.
• Each deliverable on its own line, with the post date and link.
• Add-ons on separate lines: usage rights, whitelisting or Spark Ads, exclusivity, rush, raw files.
• The total, the currency, and the due date written as a date, not only "net-30."
• How to pay: bank transfer details or a payment link.
• The late fee terms from your contract.

Send it the day the content goes live or the day the brand approves it, whichever your contract names. Waiting a week to invoice adds a week to every payment.

What do net-30 and net-60 mean?

Net-30 means payment is due 30 days after a trigger date, and net-60 means 60 days. The trigger is often the invoice date, but contracts sometimes start the clock at content approval, campaign end, or the brand's receipt of the invoice. That one phrase can turn net-30 into three months.

Ask for net-30 from the invoice date, or shorter. Some US freelance laws set 30 days as the default when a contract names no date at all:

Where	Who is covered	Default payment deadline	Source
New York City	Freelancers with contracts worth $800 or more in a 120-day period	30 days after you complete the work, if the contract has no date	NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection
New York State	Freelancers paid $800 or more, counting all contracts with the same client over 120 days. In effect since August 28, 2024	30 days after completion, if the contract has no date	New York State Department of Labor
Illinois	Work worth $500 or more in a 120-day period, for contracts taking effect after July 1, 2024	30 days after completion, if the contract has no date	Illinois Department of Labor
California	Work worth $250 or more, for one project or all contracts with the same client within four months. In effect since January 1, 2025	30 days after completion, if the contract has no date	California SB 988

These laws also require a written contract above their thresholds. If none of these laws covers you, your contract terms are your main protection, so put a due date in them. The brand deal contract checklist shows where.

Should you ask for a deposit?

A deposit makes sense on a first deal with a brand you have not worked with, and on any deal large enough that non-payment would hurt. I suggest half on signing and half on delivery. Established brands may refuse because their accounts systems do not pay upfront. That is a fair answer, and it is a reason to keep net terms short.

Platforms change this calculation. Some marketplaces collect the brand's money before you start and release it when the brand approves your content. Check how each one handles payment in the platform reviews, such as Collabstr or Insense. When a platform holds the money, you usually do not need a deposit.

How do you add a late fee?

A late fee only works if it is in the signed contract before you start. A late fee added to an invoice after the fact is a term the brand never agreed to. Some states limit how much interest you can charge, so check your state's rules before you choose a number.

A clause like this one is a reasonable starting point to adapt:

Payment is due within 30 days of the invoice date. Invoices unpaid after the due date incur a late fee of [amount or percentage] per [month], to the extent permitted by law. Usage rights granted under this agreement begin only when payment is received in full.

The last sentence carries the most weight. If the brand runs your content as an ad before paying, it is using rights it does not yet hold. That is a strong point to raise in a dispute. Usage rights, whitelisting, and Spark Ads explained covers how those rights are priced.

What should you do when a brand doesn't pay?

When a brand misses a payment, escalate in steps and keep every message in writing. Start polite, because a late payment may be a lost invoice rather than a refusal.

1. On the due date, check that the invoice reached the right billing contact and has any purchase order number the brand needs.
2. Three business days late, send a short reminder in the same email thread with the invoice attached.
3. Ten days late, send a second reminder that names the late fee from your contract.
4. Thirty days late, send a final notice with a firm deadline and the steps you will take next.
5. If the deal ran through a platform or agency, open a dispute there. If an agency booked you, the agency may be the party holding the money.
6. If a freelance law covers you, file a complaint. New York City says freelancers who are not paid on time have a right to collect double the unpaid amount. Illinois takes complaints through its Department of Labor.
7. File in your local small claims court. Limits and fees vary by state.

Stop all further work for the brand once a payment is 30 days late. Hold off on posting publicly about the brand while you are owed money. Anything you post can end up as part of the dispute.

If an offer asked you to pay anything upfront, or the "brand" contact used a free email address, read how to spot a fake brand deal before you chase.

Which US tax forms will you see?

US creators will see four IRS forms on brand deals: the W-9 you give to brands, and the 1099-NEC, 1099-K, and Schedule C at tax time.

Form	Who fills it out	What it does	Threshold
W-9	You, for each brand that asks	Gives the brand your taxpayer identification number. The current revision is dated March 2024	None. Without a TIN, the payer may withhold 24% of payments
1099-NEC	The brand	Reports what it paid you for services. Due to you by January 31	$2,000 or more for payments made in 2026. The threshold was $600 before 2026
1099-K	Payment apps and card processors	Reports payments you received through them	Payment cards, all amounts. Third-party networks, more than $20,000 and more than 200 transactions
Schedule C	You	Reports profit or loss from your creator business	File a return if net earnings from self-employment are $400 or more

Sources: IRS, "A guide to information returns"; IRS, Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC; IRS news release IR-2025-107, October 23, 2025; IRS, "About Form W-9"; IRS, "Backup withholding"; IRS, "Manage taxes for your gig work."

The threshold rules decide when a form gets filed, not whether you owe tax. The IRS says, "You must report all income on your tax return, even if you don't receive Forms 1099 from the businesses that pay you." It also says you may have to pay quarterly estimated taxes on independent contractor income.

Keep a simple record of every deal: brand, invoice number, amount, date paid, and how it was paid. It makes reconciling 1099s in January quick, and it catches brands that never sent one. This is a high-level summary, not tax advice. A tax professional can tell you what applies to your situation.

What if you are not in the US?

Creators outside the US should check their own country's rules on invoicing, sales tax or VAT, and income tax before their first deal. A US brand may ask a non-US creator for Form W-8 BEN instead of a W-9. The IRS says foreign individuals should "Submit Form W-8 BEN when requested by the withholding agent or payer."

Contract terms and late fees still matter wherever you live. Put the currency, the due date, and who pays transfer fees in the contract. Then use how much to charge for a brand deal to price the work and how to get paid brand deals to find the next one.