How to invoice brands as a talent manager

Every invoice you send a brand should trace back to one signed agreement. Most disputes over brand invoices start with an invoice that bills something the agreement never said, bills it before the agreement said it could, or goes to someone who can’t approve it. Before you write the first invoice, read the payment clause and pull out these facts:

• The fee and its currency. One agreement, one currency. If a brand pays part in another currency, that part is a separate amount, never added to the first.
• What triggers each payment: signing, delivery of the content, the content going live, or calendar dates for a longer partnership.
• The payment terms, such as net 30 or net 60, and whether they count from the invoice date or from the end of its month.
• Who receives invoices. Usually an accounts payable inbox or a supplier portal, not the marketing contact who signed.
• Whether the brand needs a purchase order (PO) number on the invoice, and who issues it.
• Anything billed apart from the fee: a kill fee if the brand cancels, an extension of usage rights, or costs the brand agreed to repay.

Write these down once, where your whole team can see them. The talent’s manager, whoever sends invoices and whoever pays talent should all work from the same numbers.

Most brand agreements with talent use one of a few payment structures: everything on delivery; half on signing and half on delivery; equal monthly installments for an ambassador partnership; or a separate payment for paid usage of the content. Whatever the structure, invoice on the day the trigger happens. Brands pay invoices in batches, often weekly or every two weeks, so an invoice sent a few days late can miss a batch and move the payment by a whole cycle.

The second invoice waits for the last deliverable to go live on Nov 13, 2026, as the agreement says, and not for the end of the month. Sent that day on net 30, it is due Dec 13, 2026. Sent at the end of the month instead, it would be due Dec 30, 2026, more than two weeks later, for the same work.

When the talent has several deliverables, keep track of which ones are live. A deliverable that went live and was never invoiced is the most common way agencies leave money on the table without noticing.

Accounts payable teams match each invoice against a vendor record, a purchase order and an approval. Anything they can’t match goes back to the sender or waits in a queue. Give them everything on the first page:

• Your agency’s legal name and address, exactly as on the agreement and on the Form W-9 you gave the brand.
• The brand’s legal entity and billing address as the agreement names them. Large brands often contract through a subsidiary, and an invoice to the wrong company is sent back.
• A unique invoice number you never reuse, and the date you issued it.
• The brand’s PO number, when they gave you one. For many accounts payable teams an invoice without it can’t be matched.
• What you are billing: the talent, the campaign, each deliverable with its live date, and the usage period the fee covers.
• The amount and its currency, one currency per invoice, the same as the agreement.
• The payment terms and the due date, written as a date (“Due Oct 31, 2026”) and not only as “net 30”.
• How to pay you, as already set up in the brand’s vendor records, and who at your agency answers questions about the invoice.

Most US brands ask for your agency’s Form W-9 before their first payment, and some ask for a vendor setup form or proof of insurance. Send what they need with the first invoice to a new brand, so vendor setup doesn’t hold the payment. Never send new bank details in an invoice email: they are easy to fake, and a brand should confirm any change through its own vendor process.

Net terms count calendar days from the invoice date: an invoice dated Oct 1, 2026 on net 30 is due Oct 31, 2026. Some brands use end-of-month terms, which count from the last day of the month the invoice was dated in. The same invoice, dated the same day, can be due more than a month apart depending on the terms:

Large brands usually set their own terms in their vendor agreements, and those can be longer than what your agreement with the talent assumes. Read the payment clause before you promise the talent a date, and write the due date on every invoice so there is nothing to interpret. Charge a late fee only if the agreement provides for one.

Longer partnerships are often paid in installments. Split the fee in whole cents and let the last installment carry what is left, so the invoices add up to the fee exactly. $10,000.00 in 3 monthly installments is $3,333.33, $3,333.33 and $3,333.34:

A kill fee is owed only if the agreement provides one and the brand cancels under its terms. Invoice it on its own, naming the clause and the work done before cancellation. An extension of usage rights, or a renewal, is an opportunity until the brand signs it: don’t invoice it, and don’t count it as money owed, until there is a signed change to the agreement.

1. Within a few business days, ask accounts payable to confirm they received the invoice and when it is scheduled for payment.
2. If the brand pays through a supplier portal, submit the invoice there as well and keep the portal’s reference.
3. Put the next follow-up date on your calendar: the due date, or sooner if something was missing.
4. When the money reaches your bank, record the payment on the invoice with the date and the amount received. Until then the balance is still owed, whatever anyone promised.
5. Tell the talent their share is on its way, and pay it on the schedule your management agreement sets.

If an invoice turns out to be wrong after you sent it, don’t send a different document under the same number. Void the invoice, with a note saying why, and issue a new one with its own number, so your records and the brand’s show the same history. An invoice the brand has already paid in part can’t simply disappear: record what was paid, then settle the difference with the brand.

If the due date passes, follow the routine in How to follow up on late brand payments. For the talent’s share of each payment, see Commission splits and talent statements.