Why Invoicing Is Still Needed When Working In the Graphic Design Industry

Producing quality graphic designs is most probably the main concern of an artist. However, there is more to creating designs when it comes to running your own graphic design company or building a career as a freelancer.

You need to keep your finances in order so that the money keeps flowing in, letting your business stay afloat. Keeping your finances in order is a tedious thing to do and not something you would enjoy like when you’re creating designs, but it’s something you need to do.

Here are several reasons why you need to send out invoices when you’re in the graphic design industry:

Sending an invoice reminds your client to pay on time.

Delayed payments could give your business financial issues. You also have your own bills to pay such as electricity, internet, rent, and staff salaries.

If you don’t get paid on time, this also means that payment for your staff and other bills could be delayed. This is never good for business. By sending an invoice to your customers, you are also reminding them to pay on time as there is usually a deadline on the invoices.

If you have a lot of customers and you worry about spending too much time creating invoices, there are invoices for graphic designers that you could download in order to make things easier for you.

An invoice serves as a legal document.

When you send an invoice, it can serve as a legal document in case there is a breach of contract. If the customer does not pay the invoice, it can be used in court along with the contract or agreement.

There are customers that don’t pay on time or not pay at all. In their defense, they would say that they forgot and didn’t know that they needed to pay on a certain date. With an invoice, such excuses can never be accepted as there is a date on when it was sent and a due date of payment.

You also need to keep these invoices after they have been paid so you have everything recorded. Ideally, there should be trust between you and your client, but being cautious will never harm anybody.

Invoices give your customers a detailed billing.

One thing you would want to avoid is to spend hours on the phone with each customer just to answer their questions about their payment. This is why it is crucial that when you send your invoice, you need to be as detailed as possible.

There are many customers that would also want to pay on time. However, if they have questions about the invoices and are unable to reach you immediately, it would cause a delay in payment.

Without an invoice, it would be difficult to break down what your customers are paying for especially if you only have to do it over the phone. By sending a detailed invoice, you can spend your precious time doing more important things like completing a project while your company will not have cash flow problems.

Tax can be clearly defined on an invoice.

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If you are doing business internationally, you should know that there are different laws when it comes to tax. There are countries that need you to apply GTS (good and services tax) as well as VAT (value-added tax). So, if you are sending invoices internationally, make sure you consult an accountant or tax lawyer and see which type of tax needs to be included in your invoices.

Your customers will appreciate it when you make the necessary tax calculations because they also need that reflected in their own bookkeeping.

Invoices allow you to set up recurring billing.

Some graphic designers are hired by companies as retainers. This means that they can give work to the graphic designers at a fixed rate weekly or monthly. This entirely depends on the contract.

If this is the case, it would make everyone’s life easier if an invoice is sent and paid for at the agreed dates. No one has to waste time calling someone else to remind them of payment.

Conclusion:

In this digital age, sending an invoice is even easier as there are also e-invoices available for download. Simply fill out the necessary details and then it is emailed to the customer. Find an invoice design that looks nice and professional, but easy to use.

Your hard work needs to be paid on time and one of the best ways to ensure that is by sending an invoice on time as well. You can even automate it so you don’t have to worry about forgetting it on the due date.