Free Artist Invoice Template

An artist commission invoice bills a client for an artwork you made to order: a painting, drawing, sculpture or other original piece. It describes the work, adds any extras the client asked for, such as another revision round, a frame or shipping, and takes off the deposit the client paid when the commission started. What's left is the amount due.

Fill in the "Artwork" block so the client can match the invoice to the piece they commissioned: the title, the medium, the size with its units, and the date you finished it. Use the same title and description as your commission agreement, and give the agreement's reference and date in "Commission agreement".

The line in the table can repeat the essentials, as the sample does: "Original painting, Harbor at Dusk", with "Oil on canvas, 30 x 40 in." in the details.

Keep these in the "Framing and delivery" table, so the client can see what the artwork itself cost and what was added for presentation and delivery. Describe the frame, and say where the work is going, such as "To the client's address".

If you hold the work until the balance is paid, say so in the notes. The sample's note says: "The painting ships within 5 business days of payment of the amount due." Whether shipping is insured, and who pays for damage in transit, are terms to agree with the client and your carrier.

In the US, the Copyright Act says copyright "vests initially in the author or authors of the work" (section 201(a)). Selling the artwork doesn't hand over the copyright by itself: under section 202, "Transfer of ownership of any material object, including the copy or phonorecord in which the work is first fixed, does not of itself convey any rights in the copyrighted work embodied in the object". And under section 204(a), a transfer of copyright ownership "is not valid unless an instrument of conveyance, or a note or memorandum of the transfer, is in writing and signed by the owner of the rights conveyed or such owner's duly authorized agent" (U.S. Copyright Office: Copyright Act, chapter 2).

A commission isn't automatically a "work made for hire" either. The Copyright Office's Circular 30 says a specially ordered or commissioned work is one only if it falls within one of nine listed categories, such as a contribution to a collective work or part of a motion picture, and the parties expressly agree in writing, signed by all parties, that it is a work made for hire. "If a work fails to satisfy any of these requirements, it is not a work made for hire." (U.S. Copyright Office: Circular 30, Works Made for Hire)

So agree what the client may do with the image in your commission agreement, such as display only, or prints under a license, and restate it on the "Licensing and usage" line. The sample's placeholder reads "[Usage terms, e.g. personal display only; reproduction rights stay with the artist]". Treat that line as a summary of the agreement, not the agreement itself. For questions about your rights, talk to a lawyer. Outside the US, check the rules where you work.

1. Add your business details, then the invoice number, invoice date, payment terms, due date and your commission agreement reference.
2. Enter the client under "Bill to (client)".
3. Fill in the "Artwork" block, including the usage terms you agreed.
4. Add the artwork and any extra revision rounds, then the frame, crating and shipping.
5. Set the sales tax rate, or leave it at 0%, and enter the deposit you received.
6. Edit the commission notes, replace the placeholders in "How to pay" with your own details, and send the invoice.

The PDF is a blank form for filling in by hand. The Word and Excel files have the same layout with the sample filled in, for you to overwrite.

In the Excel file:

• each line amount is "Qty" × "Rate";
• the artwork and framing and delivery subtotals, the subtotal, the tax, the total and the amount due are formulas, and the amount due is the total minus the deposit received;
• to leave out tax, set its rate to 0%; to leave out the deposit, set it to 0.00. Don't delete those rows, because the totals refer to them;
• each table has one blank row. For more lines, insert a row inside the table and copy the amount formula into it, then check that the subtotal includes it.

In Word or on the PDF, work out the amounts yourself.

For a general layout rather than an artwork one, see the invoice templates for Word, for Excel, as a PDF, for Google Docs and for Google Sheets, or browse all invoice templates.

In Billed, you can save the services and products you sell, such as framing or shipping, and pull them into each invoice. Clients can pay online by card or PayPal, and Billed automatically sends payment reminders to your customers.