The money arrives eleven weeks after delivery. The decision that set those eleven weeks was taken before you switched the camera on.
The purchase order is the hinge
What it really is
It is the number attaching your invoice to a budget already approved internally. Without it, your invoice is not refused: it sits in an inbox, with no owner, until somebody wonders what it corresponds to. With it, it enters an automatic circuit.
Why it has to exist beforehand
Because it is the proof the spend was approved. An enthusiastic contact can order a video without that approval; the problem only surfaces at payment time, when a retroactive authorisation has to be requested from somebody who took no part in the decision.
The second gate nobody warns you about
That is supplier onboarding, dealt with above. The two gates are independent: clearing the first says nothing about the second, and many creators discover the second having thought the hard part was over.
Where invoices actually get stuck
Seven blocking points, from the most frequent to the rarest.
The absence of a purchase order number, dealt with above.
Incomplete supplier onboarding.
An invoice sent to a person rather than to the accounts address.
A service description that does not match the one on the order.
An amount differing from the order, even slightly.
An approval waiting on somebody on leave, with no deputy.
And a monthly payment run missed by two days.
What speeds up a payment with no chasing
Five gestures, all free.
Delivering a day before the promised date.
Sending the invoice the same day as delivery.
Naming the file with the purchase order number.
Writing the message subject with that same number.
And thanking the person who unblocked the previous payment.
Three lines in the first email
Three questions asked before accepting settle almost every problem: is there a purchase order number for this assignment, is there a supplier form to fill in, and to which address should the invoice be sent. Those three lines cost nothing, offend nobody, and move the payment date several weeks forward.
What to write on the invoice
Seven mentions, always the same.
The purchase order number, prominently.
The exact name of the ordering entity, not the brand name.
The service description, copied word for word from the order.
The actual delivery date.
The amount, identical to the order.
Your full bank details.
And the calculated due date, written in plain terms.
What to ask before delivering
Seven pieces of information, obtained before the shoot.
The purchase order number, dealt with above.
The exact address to send the invoice to.
The name of the person approving the spend.
The accepted invoice format, paper or electronic.
The payment run, weekly or monthly.
The receipt deadline for making the next run.
And the contractual payment term, in days.
How to track your invoices without spending time on it
Six habits are enough.
Keeping one line per invoice, with its due date.
Checking that list once a week, always on the same day.
Chasing automatically the day after the due date.
Keeping the invoice attached in every chase.
Noting the name of the person contacted and the date.
And archiving paid invoices, so you only track what is left.
When it is genuinely late
A delay is not lateness until the agreed due date has passed. Lateness starts the day after that date, and not before, which presupposes that a date exists. That is why the due date has to appear on the quote, not only on the invoice. After that day, chasing happens in writing, with the invoice attached, then by phone, and the question of recovery is put to a professional depending on the amount.
What to prepare before the first assignment
Six documents to keep ready, to hand.
Your bank details in the format companies ask for.
Your professional and tax identifiers.
An insurance certificate, if your activity requires one.
A compliant invoice template, already approved once.
An identity document, often requested at onboarding.
And a quote template containing the payment due date.
What is fixed before starting
| The point | What you write | Where |
|---|---|---|
| The payment trigger | At ordering or at approval | The quote |
| The term | A precise number of days | The terms |
| Transfer fees | Who bears them | The terms |
| Late payment | A stated penalty | The terms |
What genuinely protects you
Proof the files were delivered and the written approval. Those two documents turn a disagreement into a readable file, whereas a verbal exchange proves nothing at all.
What is asked on a first order
A deposit. It offends nobody when presented as a rule rather than as distrust, and it eliminates almost every unpaid invoice with new clients.
The most frequent mistakes
Six reflexes that add weeks.
Delivering before having a purchase order number.
Waiting until the end of the assignment to ask for the supplier form.
Sending the invoice to your creative contact alone.
Changing the service description from the one on the order.
Rounding the amount, which blocks automatic matching.
And writing no due date, which makes lateness impossible to demonstrate.
One last marker: the payment delay is decided in the first exchange, not at the first chase. Three questions before accepting, a form filled in during preparation, and eleven weeks become four without having had to push once.
Sources
Checked on 27 August 2026. Thresholds and rates change: where this guide and the official source disagree, the official source is right.
