How to track brand deal payments: who owes you, and how much

To track brand deal payments, record every invoice with its amount, due date and status, tie each invoice to the deal it belongs to, and only call a deal paid when every invoice on it has been paid. Then check the list once a week. Done that way, you can answer "who owes me what?" in a minute instead of reading your bank app against your sent folder at midnight.

This guide is about the money side. For tracking the deal itself (brief, deliverables, dates), see how to track UGC brand deals without a spreadsheet.

The three numbers that matter

Every payment question comes down to three numbers:

1. Invoiced: what you have billed.
2. Collected: what has actually arrived.
3. Outstanding: invoiced minus collected. This is what you are owed right now.

Keep all three for each deal and for your business as a whole. "I delivered" is not on this list. Delivered work you have not invoiced yet is a to-do, not money.

What to record for every invoice

An invoice is one request for one amount. For each one, write down:

• Invoice number, so you and the brand can refer to the same document
• Brand and billing contact, the person who actually pays
• Amount and currency
• Date sent
• Due date, as a date, worked out from the payment terms
• Status (see below)
• Date paid and amount received, when it arrives
• Follow-ups: the date of each reminder you sent and any reply

That last line is easy to skip and worth keeping. If a payment is ever disputed, your follow-up record is what you point to.

What to record for every deal

A deal can have more than one invoice, so the deal needs its own view of the money:

• Agreed fee in total, including usage rights and other extras as separate amounts
• Payment terms, such as Net 30 or a deposit and a balance
• Every invoice that belongs to the deal
• Invoiced, collected and outstanding for the deal as a whole

If the deal and the invoices live in different places, they drift. The deal says "done" while an invoice is still unpaid. Keep them linked.

Deposits and partial payments

Deposits

A deposit is simplest as its own invoice. Send a deposit invoice when the deal is confirmed and a final invoice when you deliver. Each has its own number, amount and due date, and each gets paid on its own. The deal is paid only when both are.

Partial payments

Sometimes a brand pays part of an invoice. When that happens:

1. Record the amount received and the date.
2. Keep the invoice open. The balance is still outstanding.
3. Email the brand to confirm the balance and when it will be paid.

If a brand regularly pays in parts, agree on a schedule up front and send one invoice per payment instead. Several small invoices that each get fully paid are easier to track than one invoice that is paid in pieces.

Cancelled invoices

If you cancel an invoice, mark it void rather than deleting it. A voided invoice is not money owed and not money collected, so leave it out of both totals. Keep it on record so your invoice numbers stay in order.

Use clear statuses

Pick a small set of statuses and use them the same way every time:

• Draft: written, not sent.
• Sent: with the brand, not yet due.
• Overdue: sent, past the due date, not paid.
• Paid: the money has arrived in your account. Not "the brand said it's processing." Arrived.
• Void: cancelled. Not owed.

Overdue is the one that needs action. It is also the easiest to miss, because nothing changes on the invoice itself the day it passes its due date. Check due dates, not just statuses.

A weekly money check

Once a week, take fifteen minutes and go through this:

1. List everything outstanding, sorted by due date.
2. Mark anything that arrived as paid, with the date and amount.
3. Flag anything overdue, and send the next follow-up. Our guide on how to invoice a brand has a simple schedule for chasing late payments.
4. Send any invoice you have not sent yet for work already delivered.
5. Look at the week ahead: what is due to arrive, and what deposits you should be sending.

The same day every week works best. It turns "I think they paid?" into a routine instead of a worry.

Getting ready for tax time

This is not tax advice. What you owe, what you can claim and which forms you need depend on where you live and how your business is set up. Ask an accountant. What you can do yourself is keep records an accountant can work with:

• Record income when it arrives, with the date, amount, currency and which brand paid.
• Record business expenses as you go, with receipts. Gear, software, props and travel for a shoot add up, and they are hard to rebuild months later.
• Keep income and expenses in one place, so you can pull both for any date range.
• Save the paperwork brands send you, such as tax forms or payment summaries, with the deal it belongs to.
• Ask your accountant early what they want from you and in what format.

When the records are already there, tax time is an export, not a weekend of digging.

How Cadant handles this

In Cadant, a deal can hold several invoices, so a deposit and a final invoice both sit on the same deal. The deal's finance card shows what has been collected and what is still outstanding, and a voided invoice counts as neither. The Invoices list filters by Draft, Sent, Overdue, Paid and Voided, with Overdue worked out from the due date. Overdue invoices also show up on Home with how many days late each one is. You log expenses in Finances alongside your income, and Settings can download a CSV of revenue and expenses for any date range to hand to your accountant.

A quick checklist

• Every invoice has a number, amount, due date and status
• Every invoice is linked to its deal
• Deposits sent as their own invoice
• Partial payments recorded, balance still outstanding
• A deal is paid only when every invoice on it is paid
• Voided invoices left out of both totals
• A weekly money check on the same day
• Income and expenses recorded as they happen