How to invoice a brand as a UGC creator (and actually get paid)

Send a clear invoice the day you deliver, with the payment terms you agreed in writing, and follow up on a schedule instead of a feeling. That is most of it. The rest of this guide covers what goes on the invoice, which terms to ask for, and exactly what to do when the money does not arrive.

Do UGC creators need to send invoices?

Yes, in almost every case. A brand's finance team usually cannot pay you without one. The person who hired you is often not the person who sends the money. Your invoice is what moves your fee from "approved" to "paid."

Some platforms and agencies pay you through their own system. If that is the deal, follow their process. If a brand contacted you directly, plan on invoicing them yourself.

What to put on a UGC invoice

A good invoice answers every question the finance team might ask, so it does not sit in a queue. Include:

1. Your details: your name or business name, email and mailing address.
2. The brand's details: its legal company name and the billing contact. Ask your contact who should receive invoices before you send one.
3. An invoice number and date: number them in order so you can find any invoice later.
4. A purchase order (PO) number, if the brand gave you one. Larger brands often will not pay without it.
5. The deliverables, line by line: for example, "3 UGC videos, 30 seconds, vertical, raw files included."
6. Usage rights as their own line, if you charged for them. Write the term and channels, like "Paid usage, Meta and TikTok, 6 months."
7. The total and the currency.
8. Payment terms and the due date, written as a date, not just "Net 30."
9. How to pay you: a payment link, bank details or another method you accept.

Keep the language plain. "Video 2 of 3, delivered Oct 14" beats a vague "content services."

Which payment terms to ask for

Payment terms say when the money is due. Net 30 means 30 days after the invoice date. Net 15 means 15 days. "Due on receipt" means now.

Agree on terms before you start, and get them in writing. The email where the brand says yes is fine. Terms you never discussed are terms the brand will choose for you.

Three patterns creators use:

• Deposit up front, balance on delivery. Good for new brands or bigger projects. It also tells you early whether a brand pays.
• Net 15 or Net 30 from delivery. Common with established brands that run payments in batches.
• Paid before final files are released. Useful for one-off deals with brands you do not know yet.

None of these is wrong. Pick one, say it clearly, and put it on every invoice.

One detail trips people up: when do the 30 days start? Make it the invoice date, and send the invoice the day you deliver. If the contract says the clock starts when the brand approves the content, ask for a deadline on that approval too. Otherwise the clock never starts. Our brand deal contract checklist covers the payment clause and the approval window in more detail.

When to send the invoice

Send it the same day you deliver the final files. Waiting a week to "get around to it" adds a week to every payment.

If you agreed on a deposit, send that invoice when the deal is confirmed, before you shoot. If a deal has several videos delivered on different dates, ask whether the brand prefers one invoice at the end or one per delivery. Then stick to it.

What to do when a brand pays late

Late payment happens, and it is rarely personal. Invoices get lost, contacts change jobs and finance teams batch payments. Your job is to make paying you the easiest thing on their list.

Use a simple schedule:

1. A few days before the due date, send a friendly heads-up: "Invoice 0142 for the October videos is due Friday. Let me know if you need anything from me."
2. The day after it is due, follow up. Reference the invoice number, amount and due date, and attach the invoice again.
3. About a week later, ask your contact who in finance handles payments. Email that person directly, with your contact copied.
4. After that, send a firm, polite note. Say the invoice is overdue, restate the terms the brand agreed to, and ask for a payment date.

Keep every message short and factual. Keep a record of each one: the date, who you wrote to, and what they said. If you ever need to escalate, that record is what you will point to.

If a brand goes silent for weeks, pause new work for them until the old invoice is paid. You are running a business, and that is a reasonable business decision.

Make it easy to pay you

The fewer steps between "approved" and "paid," the faster the money arrives.

• Offer a pay-by-card link. A finance person can pay in a minute instead of setting up a bank transfer.
• Use the same name on your invoice and your payment account. Mismatches can hold up a payment.
• Have your paperwork ready. US brands often ask a new creator for a W-9 before they pay. Keep a signed copy you can send the same day. What forms you need depends on where you live, so check with an accountant if you are unsure.

Know who has paid you

Most missed payments are not stolen. They are forgotten, by both sides. Once you have more than a few deals going, you need one place that shows, for every invoice, what you billed, when it is due, and whether the money arrived.

That is its own habit, and we wrote a separate guide on it: how to track brand deal payments. It covers deposits, partial payments and a weekly money check.

How Cadant handles this

In Cadant you create the invoice from the deal, so the brand, deliverables and fee come from what you already agreed, and the due date follows the payment terms you set. If you connect Stripe, brands can pay the invoice by card, and it marks itself paid when they do. For a bank transfer, you mark it paid yourself. Invoices show as Draft, Sent, Overdue or Paid, an overdue invoice shows up on Home with how many days late it is, and an overdue invoice sent through Stripe has a Send reminder action that emails it to the brand again.

A quick checklist

• Terms agreed in writing before work starts
• Billing contact and PO number collected
• Invoice sent the day you deliver
• Due date written as a date
• Usage rights on their own line
• A heads-up planned for a few days before the due date
• Every follow-up logged until it is paid