Should You Charge an Initial Consultation Fee?

As a professional photographer, you may want to bill clients for consultations, sitting fees, and your work product. For business-to-consumer transactions, you might decide to offer free initial consultations, while charging your business clients for their initial consultations. When you charge a consultation fee and your potential client offers you the job, you can decide to apply all or part of the fee to your contract price. To charge or not to charge? The answer is whatever works best for your business model, marketing strategy, and cash-flow goals.

Things to Include in Your Photography Invoice Template

Your contract with your customer or client determines what goes into your photography invoice template, though you always want to separate your contract price –which is the amount the client pays for your work – from any goods and services tax (GST) and harmonized sales tax (HST) and Quebec sales tax (QST) you must collect. Learn more about sales taxes here.

Imagine you’re a wedding photographer and you have a contract with a couple that wants studio portraits shot the week before their wedding, as well as coverage of the wedding ceremony and reception. You don’t charge an initial consultation fee, but under your standard agreement, clients pay 50% of the contract price up front. When you complete the final photo session, your clients pay the remaining 50% plus tax and additional costs. The price includes a package of two large framed portraits, two 8x10s, two 5x7s, eight wallet-size photos and a large wedding photo book with 15 photos of their choice. The clients can also purchase additional custom photo packages or single photographs. 

Now that your clients are happily married, it’s time to collect your balance. Your photo invoice template should show: 

• The contract price for the studio, wedding, and reception sessions and package ($5,000)
• A brief description of the work location and your scope of work
• The dates you started and finished the work
• Credit for the 50% initial payment you received ($2,500) and the date you received it
• The amount of GST/HST/QST you must collect
• The balance owed ($2,500 plus GST/HST/QST) and the due date 

Your photography invoice should also include to whom the payment should be made, acceptable payment forms, and the names, addresses, and contact information of the invoice sender and recipient.

It is common for photographers to have an assistant’s help while on the job. In this case, a photo assistant invoice will also be necessary. A photo assistant invoice can be structured the same as the main photographer’s invoice, but it should include the specific details that the assistant was responsible for.

Photography invoice payment terms

When using photography invoice templates remember to include a unique invoice number to distinguish between clients, and even to distinguish between different projects that are for the same client. 

The date the invoice was sent along with payment due dates also need to be clearly stated on the invoice. 

When it comes to breaking down the payments for your photography business, you should be as specific as possible so the client knows exactly what they are paying for. 

Wedding and event photography invoice payment terms can include (but are not limited to):

• All-day coverage of the Wedding, Reception and couple session before the wedding
• Walk around photographers for the whole event
• Photo booths
• Graffiti wall
• Green screen
• Magnets of the guests
• Wedding album - 175 photos from the event

Food photography invoice payment terms can include (but are not limited to): 

• Drink Photography
• Food Packaging Photography
• Catering Photography
• Restaurant Photography
• Menu Photography
• Cookbook Photography
• Food Styling`

Other photography invoice payment terms may include: 

• Professional Headshot - Models, Actors, Etc.
• Profile Pictures
• Family Photos
• Holiday Portraits
• Pet Portraits
• Milestone Announcements
• Executive Business Portraits - for a newspaper article or a press release, or professional social
• Social media profile pictures

Each invoice should further break down each line item with the following information: 

• Quantity - how many items/services they are purchasing 
• Price - how much does each individual item or service cost
• Total - the total cost of each item and than added up at the end for the entire package 

When to Send Photography Invoices

While some photographers invoice clients monthly to reduce their administrative paperwork time, small-business experts recommend sending invoices immediately after you finish a project. Immediate invoicing keeps you from carrying your clients’ debts for longer than your contract requires, and it also strengthens your cash flow. Cloud-based software and mobile apps can streamline your invoicing processes.

If you have a larger project that requires more planning ahead, you may opt to set up a prepayment invoice to receive some money up front before the work begins. 

Speed Up Payments With Mobile Invoicing

Using mobile invoicing to receive payments faster is a good option for busy self-employed photographers. Choices including the QuickBooks Online app and QuickBooks Self-Employed simplify creating and sending invoices, saving you administrative time. You get a message as soon as your client or customer sees your photography invoice, and they can pay you right in the app. Convenient and downloadable, this app even sends your money straight to your account. Instead of waiting to deposit cheques, you can focus on snapping up business.