This is not an end-of-month formality. The document you know how to issue decides the size of the clients who can work with you.
What the document must carry
Always the same elements, whatever the regime.
Your identification, the client's as registered, the date, a number that runs in sequence, a description of the service, the amount, and the mentions specific to your tax situation.
The point that sticks most often is the client's name: the brand's is not always that of the entity that pays. Ask for it in writing before shooting, not at the moment of issuing.
The description counts more than people think
Write what you did, not what you are.
Video content production, transfer of usage rights for a given duration, editing, adaptation: those wordings are not treated the same way in every case, and a vague heading slows the approval circuit at the client's end.
If the service includes a production part and a licence part, say so in two separate lines rather than one.
Issuing before or after payment
That depends on the regime and the type of operation, and it is not a matter of personal preference.
The applicable rule is checked with an accountant once and for all, then written into your procedure. What is certain is that the client will not pay without a document, and that many require it before scheduling the transfer.
The large client has its own circuit
It does not pay when you send, it pays when its system accepts.
That often means being registered as a supplier, providing identification documents, sometimes bank details validated separately, and respecting a fixed payment calendar.
Ask about that circuit in the very first exchange. Two questions are enough: what do you need from me to set me up, and what are your payment days.
The foreign client does not have the same requirements
They will sometimes ask for a document in English, a different description, or information your usual format does not carry.
The rules applicable to services provided abroad, any withholdings and the records to keep depend on both countries: they are checked with an accountant before the first international order, not after.
Keep everything
The documents issued, the contracts, the exchanges that confirm an order, the proofs of payment.
The applicable retention period is worth checking, but the habit is simple: one folder per client, one file per month, and a backup that is not on your phone.
What is fixed before the first invoice
| Point | What you decide | Where to write it |
|---|---|---|
| The currency | Local or foreign | The quote |
| The exchange rate used | The one on the issue date | The invoice |
| Transfer fees | Who bears them | The terms |
| The term | A precise number of days | The terms |
What costs more than expected
A conversion done twice, a badly routed transfer, and a bank delay that shifts cash flow by a week. These three are anticipated, never recovered afterwards.
What is confirmed with a local accountant
The filing regime for services invoiced abroad, the currency obligations and the documents to keep. Those rules move and are not copied from a peer.
When to call in an accountant
Earlier than you think, and not when a problem arrives.
One consultation at the start makes you choose the right regime, know your deadlines and avoid costly catching up. It is the spending that pays back most in the first year of activity.
