Making Invoices for Set Work
This article is for working on set and the invoices you would create for it. This is not for Bolt Lighting Rental work in the shop.
There are three ways you can get paid. In cash, filling out a time card and a w4 form, or sending an invoice with a w9 form. When sending an invoice taxes are not taken out and it is best to save 30-35% of the funds after getting paid to make sure you can pay the tax on that income when tax season comes around.
Anatomy of an invoice
must include:
- Your name
- Your phone number
- Your email
- Billing address
- Invoice Number
unique number that is related to this invoice and this invoice only, can be any number. The next invoice you create will be the next sequencial number.
- Who you are billing
production company name and producer name along with their phone and email.
- Itemized List of Expenses
itemize labor expenses and any reimbursements
- position, rate, date, cost
Your labor line item will contain these details. ex: grip @ $800/10, 4/4/24, $800
- When payment is due (net 30 days)
- Send W-9 with invoice
Almost all 1099 or invoice jobs will require you sending your client a w-9 IRS form.
- Confirmation they have received your invoice
- Include project name or number.
Reimbursements
These should be in a seperate invoice ideally to help keep them seperate from your taxable income. Reimbursements are not subject to income tax. Reimbursements include, milage, lunch, and any other reimbursement where production is paying you back for using your personal money to by something for them. Reimbursement invoices should be accompanied by a receipt. A digital photo of the receipt usually works fine. Also note that spending your money on something for production needs to be approved by production before spending the money. Verbal approval is usually ok. The more expensive the purchase the better it is to have writen approval, say 200 dollars in expendables, send them a quote from retailer and ask, is this approved? and have them respond via email which will be your writen approval.
Invoicing Apps
There are a ton of invoicing apps out there if you don't want to create your own from scratch. Here is one that is free and simple to use.