The work is done, the files are sent, and now comes the part nobody teaches: actually getting paid for it. A clean invoice, sent at the right moment, with the right details and the right terms, is most of what stands between "delivered" and "paid." This guide is the whole process: what goes on the invoice, when it goes out, which terms to use, and what to do on the days after the due date passes.
What belongs on the invoice
Keep it simple, but do not skip anything:
- Who it is from and who it is to. Your name or business, and the brand's name with the contact who commissioned the work. If they gave you an accounts-payable address, put it on the invoice.
- An invoice number. Sequential, so a follow-up can reference it in one word.
- Issue date and due date. Both, explicitly. "Due on receipt" is not a date.
- Line items. What you delivered, broken out. "2 × 30-second UGC video, organic use" and "Paid-ad usage, 3 months" are separate lines, not one vague total.
- The total. Add it up and make it impossible to miss.
- How to pay. The exact method and the details: a pay link, bank details, or the platform account. Every step a brand has to ask about is a day of delay.
- Terms. The net period and, if you use one, the late fee.
A sample invoice, line by line
Here is what the example deal from earlier in this series looks like as an invoice:
| From | Maya Lindqvist, Seattle WA |
| To | Kindred Candle Co., Partnerships |
| Invoice | #0042 · Issued Sep 9 · Due Sep 16 (net-7) |
| 30-second UGC video, vertical, organic use | $350.00 |
| 15-second cutdown | $100.00 |
| Paid-ad usage, 3 months, US | $150.00 |
| Total due | $600.00 |
| Pay by | Card or bank via the pay link below |
| Terms | Net-7. 2% per month on balances past 14 days. Usage rights transfer on payment. |
Three details do the work. The usage line is separate, so the brand sees what the rights cost. The pay method is one link. And the last sentence of the terms is the leverage if it goes quiet: the content is not licensed until it is paid for.
When to send it
At delivery, in the same message as the files. Not a week later, and not before the work is done. Sending it with the deliverables keeps the ask tied to work the brand just received; waiting makes it easier to forget and easier to deprioritize.
Deliver and invoice together. "Here are the finals, and the invoice is attached, due on the 16th." One message, two attachments, no separate conversation about money later.
Net-7, net-14, or net-30
The net period is how many days the brand has to pay from the issue date. For UGC, shorter is normal, because the work is finished before the invoice exists.
| Terms | When it fits | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Net-7 | Small and mid-size brands, direct contacts, anything under about $1,000 | Nothing; this is the default to ask for |
| Net-14 | Brands with an approvals step, agencies | Fine, but start the follow-up clock on day 17 |
| Net-30 | Large brands whose accounts-payable process genuinely runs monthly | Ask for a deposit to cover the gap; do not accept net-30 on small deals out of politeness |
| Net-60 or longer | Almost never | You are financing their marketing. Decline, or price the wait in |
If a brand's process requires net-30, that is a reason to take a deposit, not a reason to work for free for a month.
Deposits and late fees
Deposits. For a new brand or anything over a few hundred dollars, ask for 50 percent before you start and the balance at delivery. It is normal, it filters out the brands that were never going to pay, and it turns the delivery invoice into a smaller, easier number. Returning brands with a clean history can move to full payment at delivery.
Late fees. A modest fee, commonly 1.5 to 2 percent per month on balances past a grace period, belongs in the terms even if you never charge it. Its job is to be there when the day-14 notice goes out, so the consequence is one the brand already agreed to.
When a payment goes quiet
Most late payments are oversight, not refusal. The fix is a schedule, not a better-worded email:
- Day 3 past due: a friendly one-line nudge with the invoice number.
- Day 7: forward the invoice to accounts payable and copy your contact's manager.
- Day 14: a formal notice restating the deal and the terms, including that usage rights transfer on payment, with a date seven days out.
- Day 30: withdraw the license and, if the content is in use, request a takedown.
Each message, with copy you can send, is in the brand ghosted after delivery playbook.
Protect yourself before you start, not after
An invoice can only collect what was agreed. Before the first frame: get the deliverables and the price in writing on something the brand accepted, put usage rights behind payment in the terms, and take the deposit. The contract guide covers the terms; the tax guide covers what to do with the money once it lands.
Build one in seconds
The free UGC invoice generator builds a clean PDF with every line above, no signup. Fill in the deal, download, attach.
How invoicing works on Plug Pro
Inside Plug Pro the invoice is part of the deal rather than a separate document. It fills from the deal's agreed price and deliverables, goes to the brand as a pay page they open in a browser and pay through your own Stripe, PayPal, or Venmo, and marks the deal paid automatically when the payment lands. The license certificate on the same deal says the rights transfer on payment, so the day-14 notice quotes terms the brand already accepted. Every invoice and every payment stays on the record, which is what your accountant asks for in January.