Registering as an autonomo is the step that unlocks the most clients in Spain, and also the one most people postpone. The reason is simple: without an invoice, a company cannot pay you. And the brands that pay best are precisely companies.

Why the invoice decides your client list

An ecommerce store, an agency or a brand with a marketing department has books that must balance. Spending on creative work is booked as a contracted service, and that requires an invoice in your name.

Without one, your options shrink to small jobs paid person to person through Bizum. With one, you enter the same circuit as any production company or marketing freelancer.

What registration involves

Registration has two parts: a tax registration with the revenue office declaring the activity you will carry out, and a social security registration under the self employed regime.

Anyone registering for the first time can usually access a reduced monthly contribution for the first months, with extra reductions depending on age and region. The figures change with each year's rules, so ask an accountant before choosing the exact registration date, not after.

What your invoice must carry

A UGC invoice is not complicated, but it has mandatory elements:

  • Your tax details and the client's, with tax numbers.
  • A sequential number and a date.
  • A real description of the service: production of video pieces and, on a separate line, the usage licence.
  • Taxable base, VAT applied and, if the client is a company or professional, the income tax withholding.
  • The amount to be received, which will be lower than base plus VAT because of the withholding.

Splitting production and licence into two lines is not a whim: it puts in writing that advertising use is its own item, and makes it easier to charge for extending it later.

Clients outside Spain

Invoicing a company in another European Union country with an intra community VAT number changes how VAT is handled. Invoicing outside the Union does too. Do not improvise here: this is where a mistake costs surcharges, and where an accountant pays for themselves.

When to register

The honest answer is: when you have visibility on recurring income, not before and not long after. Many creators do their first two or three small jobs, confirm there is real demand, and then register so they can accept the first serious client.

What does not work is spending a year invoicing off the books. Large brands ask about invoicing in the first email, and being shut out of those conversations costs far more than the monthly contribution.

Where to go next

Registering as an autonomo does not make you a better creator, but it opens the door to clients who pay well. Our guide on how to become a UGC creator covers the rest of the path.

Sources

Checked on 26 August 2026. Thresholds and rates change: where this guide and the official source disagree, the official source is right.