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Video Production Invoice Template

A video production invoice has to do two jobs: bill the right share of the project at the right moment, and show the client exactly what that share covers. Most video work is quoted once and invoiced in phases, usually a deposit when the client books, an invoice at shoot wrap when the edit will run more than two or three weeks, and the balance when final files are approved. Each invoice should name its phase, quote the estimate and the client's purchase order, list the work as separate lines (pre-production, shoot days with the day length, each crew role, gear or rentals, edit hours, colour and audio, captions, cut-downs), state how many revision rounds are included, restate the usage licence by media, territory and term, and show what earlier invoices on the project have already billed. This template is for freelance videographers and small production companies billing brand, corporate, training and event video. The download is an editable HTML file with the usual invoice header, line table and totals, plus the production fields below. Fill it in your browser, then print it or save it as PDF.

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Download the HTML file to edit its fields, then print or save as PDF. Totals are entered manually.

What This Template Includes

  • Project name and estimate or contract reference
  • Client purchase order number
  • Billing phase (booking deposit, shoot wrap or delivery balance)
  • Pre-production: treatment, script, shot list, location scouting
  • Shoot days with day length, and overtime
  • Crew by role, with day rates
  • Equipment package or rentals (rentals at cost, receipt referenced)
  • Post-production: edit hours, colour grade, audio mix, captions
  • Deliverables: versions, aspect ratios and cut-downs
  • Revision rounds included, and the rate for extra rounds
  • Music, stock footage and other licences (reimbursed at cost)
  • Usage licence: media, territory and term
  • Earlier phase invoices on this project and amounts paid

How to Create Your Video Production Invoice

  1. 01

    Describe your work

    Type a plain English description of the services you provided, the client, and the amount.

  2. 02

    AI generates your invoice

    InvoiceQuickly's AI drafts the client, line items, dates, and totals for you to review before saving.

  3. 03

    Review, download, and send

    Check every detail, download the PDF, or use Pro to email the PDF directly to your client.

Recommended Payment Terms

Agree the phase schedule in the quote and repeat it on every invoice. For most freelance projects that is 30% to 50% at booking, enough to cover the dates you hold, the crew you book and any rentals or licences you pay for, then the balance on delivery of approved final files. Add a shoot-wrap invoice when post-production will run longer than two or three weeks, so you are not carrying shoot-day costs until delivery. Small businesses and individuals usually pay each phase invoice on receipt or within 7 days; corporate clients often insist on Net 30 or longer, so ask for the purchase order number before the shoot and put it on every invoice. Calculate the final invoice as the project total less what earlier invoices billed, rather than as another percentage, so rounding never leaves cents unbilled. If you release final watermark-free files only when the balance is paid, say so in the contract and repeat it on the delivery invoice.

Need help writing payment terms? Read our guide to invoice payment terms for best practices and templates.

Tax Information

Sales tax on video work depends on the state and on what you deliver: some states treat a production service differently from a finished video sold as a product, and pass-through rentals or licences can be treated differently from your own fee. Check your state revenue department's guidance for your exact service before adding tax, and apply it consistently. US business clients will usually ask for a Form W-9; for payments made in 2026 a client files Form 1099-NEC only if it pays you $2,000 or more in the year, and card or payment-network payments are reported by the processor on Form 1099-K instead. InvoiceQuickly applies one tax percentage to the whole invoice and copies saved tax IDs to new invoice PDFs, so a project with taxable and non-taxable lines needs separate invoices. This is not tax advice; check with your tax authority or an adviser.

Industry context (2026)

Video production is a field with a large self-employed workforce: the US Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook reports that 35% of camera operators and 35% of film and video editors are self-employed, with a median wage of $75,100 a year ($36.10 an hour) in May 2025 for employed workers in the combined occupation and projected employment growth of 3% from 2025 to 2035. That median is an employee wage, not a freelance rate, which also has to cover gear, insurance, software and unbilled days. At the larger end of the industry, commercial production bids follow a standard form: the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) introduced its bid form in 1975 to standardize bidding on commercials and released a revision on 5 December 2019 that integrates production and post-production categories and adds a section for social deliverables. Agency clients may ask you to bid on that form; this template is for invoicing the work afterwards. Ownership matters for invoicing too: under 17 U.S.C. § 101, a commissioned audiovisual work is a work made for hire only if both parties sign a written agreement saying so, which is why usage licences appear on video invoices at all.

Worked example

Hollis Creek Media quotes Pallas Software $8,250.00 under estimate EST-0112 (PO 7781) for four 3-minute training videos: pre-production scripts 4 × $350.00 = $1,400.00; two 10-hour shoot days with camera package 2 × $1,250.00 = $2,500.00; audio recordist 2 days × $500.00 = $1,000.00; teleprompter rental at cost 2 days × $95.00 = $190.00; edit including 2 revision rounds 28 hours × $90.00 = $2,520.00; captions 4 × $60.00 = $240.00; usage licence for internal training and the customer help centre, worldwide, 3 years, $400.00. Terms: 40% at booking, 30% at shoot wrap, remainder on delivery, Net 30, no sales tax assumed in this example. INV-0207 (booking): 40% × $8,250.00 = $3,300.00. INV-0219 (shoot wrap, after the second shoot day): 30% × $8,250.00 = $2,475.00. Pallas then asks for a third revision round, approved in writing, 3 hours × $90.00 = $270.00. INV-0231 (delivery) has two lines: 'Delivery balance, EST-0112 total $8,250.00 less INV-0207 $3,300.00 and INV-0219 $2,475.00' = $2,475.00, and 'Revision round 3, requested 14 November' = $270.00, total $2,745.00. Check: $3,300.00 + $2,475.00 + $2,475.00 = $8,250.00 quoted, plus $270.00 approved extra = $8,520.00 billed. The delivery invoice repeats the usage line, so a later request to use the videos in paid advertising is clearly outside the licence.

Common mistakes to avoid

One 'video production' line for the whole project

A single total gives the client nothing to approve and you nothing to point to when they ask for more. Itemize by phase and deliverable so extra cut-downs or revisions are visibly outside the scope.

No revision count on the edit line

If the invoice and quote do not say how many rounds were included, every further round looks free. Write the number on the edit line and bill extra rounds separately.

Final invoice as another percentage

Billing 30% + 30% + 40% of a figure with cents can leave the totals a few cents off the quote. Bill the last invoice as the project total less earlier invoices.

Missing purchase order number

Corporate accounts teams often cannot pay an invoice without the PO. Ask for it before the shoot and put it on every phase invoice.

Usage terms left to email

If the licence is not restated on the invoice, the client's finance team and legal team may assume a buyout. One line with media, territory and term prevents that.

Invoicing Tips

  • 1Write the day length on every shoot-day line ('10-hour day') and bill overtime in the increments your quote defines. Without a stated day length, overtime is a negotiation.
  • 2Bill each crew member as their own line by role. If you pay crew yourself and rebill them, say so in the description.
  • 3Put the included revision rounds on the edit line ('includes 2 revision rounds') and bill any further round as a separate line with the date it was requested.
  • 4Quote cut-downs and versions by quantity (3 × 15-second vertical). Clients often assume social edits come free with the main video.
  • 5Restate the usage licence in one line on the delivery invoice, for example 'Website and paid social, United States, 12 months from delivery'. A later request for broadcast or a second year then becomes a new invoice, not an argument.
  • 6Reference receipts for music, rentals and location fees, and bill them within days of the shoot rather than at the end of the project.

Related Resources

Frequently Asked Questions

What should a video production invoice include?

Your business details, the client, invoice number and dates, the project name, estimate and purchase order references, the billing phase, each service as its own line (pre-production, shoot days, crew, gear, edit, colour and audio, captions, cut-downs), licences at cost, the included revision rounds, the usage licence, earlier invoices on the project, the total due and payment instructions.

How do video production companies invoice a project?

Usually in phases against one accepted quote: a booking deposit, sometimes an invoice at shoot wrap, and the balance on delivery of approved files. Each invoice references the quote and shows what has already been billed, so the client's accounts team can follow the project without asking.

How much deposit should a videographer ask for?

Enough to cover what you commit before the shoot: held dates, booked crew, rentals and licences. On most freelance projects that is 30% to 50% of the quote. Say what the deposit secures and when, if ever, it is refundable.

Should usage rights be on the invoice?

Yes, as one line naming the media, territory and term. Under US copyright law a commissioned video is a work made for hire, owned by the client, only if both parties sign a written agreement saying so; otherwise you own the copyright and the client's rights come from the licence you grant.

How do I bill extra revisions or cut-downs?

As separate lines the client approved before you did the work, with the date requested and the rate from your quote, for example 'Revision round 3, requested 14 November, 3 hours at $90'. Bill them on the next phase invoice rather than folding them into the balance.

Can InvoiceQuickly create a video production invoice?

Yes. Type or say what to bill, for example 'Pallas Software shoot-wrap invoice, 30% of estimate EST-0112, PO 7781, net 30', and InvoiceQuickly drafts an editable invoice you review before saving. There is no deposit or phase feature and line amounts cannot be negative, so bill each phase as its own invoice and describe earlier payments in the line text or notes. Usage terms go in the notes or terms.