Voice Over Invoice Template

A client's accounts team should be able to pay a voice-over invoice without emailing you to ask what it covers. That means it needs these fields:

• Your details. Your name or business name, address and contact details. There is also a tax ID field. Fill it in if your client or your tax authority needs it, and leave it blank if not.
• Invoice details. The invoice number, invoice date, the client's PO or job number, payment terms and due date. Number invoices in sequence. Print the due date as an actual date alongside terms such as "Net 30", so nobody has to work it out. Ask for the PO number when you're booked, because the client's accounts team may need it to approve payment.
• Bill to. The company that pays you, for example the agency or production company that booked you, plus the producer's name, the billing address and an accounts email.
• The project. The project name, which should name the brand or end client. Then the scripts (how many spots or pieces and how long each one is), the total finished length, when you recorded and when you delivered, in what format.
• The usage license. Media, term, territory and exclusivity. More on this below.
• The fees, in three sections. The recording session, the usage and license fees, and any pickups. Each section has its own subtotal.
• Totals. Subtotal, sales tax if it applies, the total, then the deposit you already received as a deduction. The last line is the amount due.
• How to pay. The methods you accept and the reference the client should quote. Put your own bank details in place of the placeholders.

The usage license block states the usage you agreed when you were booked. Use plain words, so it can't be read more widely than you meant:

• Media: where the recording may be used. Examples are broadcast TV, radio, online video ads, organic social, a website, in-store, internal training or a phone system. List each one. "All media" is a very different promise from "web and social".
• Term: how long the use is allowed and when it starts. You can give fixed dates (1 Nov 2026 to 31 Oct 2027), or tie the start to an event, as the sample does with "12 months from first airing". If you use an event, ask the client to tell you the date, so you know when the term ends.
• Territory: where it may run, for example one city or region, one country or worldwide.
• Exclusivity: whether you agreed not to voice a competing brand for a period. The sample says "None". If you did agree, state the category and the period.

If the usage differs between spots, say so in each line's description, as the sample does. The template's license terms note says the license covers only the media, term and territory shown, and that any other use is licensed and invoiced separately. Edit it so it matches what you agreed.

The invoice records what was agreed. The agreement itself is in your booking confirmation, email thread or contract. Make sure the invoice uses the same wording, and if the client sends their own terms, read them before you invoice. If a client asks for unlimited or perpetual use, or for all rights in the recording, agree that in writing before the session and price it accordingly. Get legal advice where you work if the terms are unclear to you.

• Deposits. For a new client or a large job, you can ask for part of the fee before the session. Send a separate invoice for the deposit, or put it in your terms when you quote. On the final invoice, enter the deposit you received on the "Less: deposit received" line below the total. You can add the date it arrived or the deposit invoice number to that label. The amount due is then the total less what was already paid. The deposit invoice template covers the up-front request.
• Payment terms. Agree them at booking, and print both the terms and the due date. An agency or a large client may have its own payment schedule, so ask what it is before you book rather than after you invoice. The template's footnote asks the client to quote the PO and invoice numbers with the payment, which makes it easier to match the money to the invoice.
• Late fees. Charge them only if the client agreed to them in advance, and check the rules where you work before you add one. The late fee calculator can work out an agreed fee.
• Sales tax or VAT. Whether it applies to voice-over work depends on where you and the client are. Check with your tax authority. The template's "Sales tax, if applicable" line is set to 0%. Change the rate only if tax applies to your work, and use the label your jurisdiction uses (VAT or GST, for example).
• Union work. If you're booked under a union agreement, that agreement may set the rates and how you get paid. Check it, or ask your union, before you send an invoice.

In the Excel file, each line amount is the quantity times the rate. The section subtotals, subtotal and total add up by formula. Tax is the subtotal times the rate in its own cell, which is set to 0%. Leave it at 0% if tax doesn't apply. The amount due is the total less the deposit, which you type in. If there were no pickups, clear that line's quantity and rate. If there was no deposit, set it to 0.00. Don't delete the rows, because the totals refer to them.

In the Word file the amounts are typed, not calculated, so retype the line amounts and totals whenever you change a figure. The PDF is a blank form to fill in by hand.

If you quote before you book, Billed can convert an approved estimate into an invoice, so the session and usage lines don't have to be retyped (estimating software). It also shows which invoices are partly paid, which helps you keep track of jobs where a deposit has come in (features).