Doing voice work directly for mid-sized to large corporations usually means having to bill on a 30-day net basis. This means, in essence, that you end up offering 30 days credit interest-free. The good thing is risk of not getting paid is usually low. Will some companies push payment out 60 days and even further? Yes, but again you’ll eventually get paid.

Payment Options

So, let’s go through individual types of clients and your payment options.

For individuals, request immediate payment. As described above, play completed voiceover down phone to prove it was done and then ask for payment. Once payment is made, deliver voice over.

For direct work with larger companies, ad agencies, and production houses, request immediate payment upon receipt of invoice. If they say their policy is 30 days, try for 15. For long-form voiceovers involving many pages and a large talent fee, try requesting 50 percent up front and 50 percent upon delivery of project. Remember everything is negotiable. You can even barter for part of your fee. Remember how I received a TV in lieu of cash? Of course, keep track of your receivables (what’s owed you). When a client does not pay by due date, send a statement. Make a polite but firm phone call requesting payment. Be proactive. Most people pay their bills. But for many clients your invoice will not be top of pile, so to speak.

Payment via ‘Net

Now, back to collecting via ‘Net. PayPal is a very popular site for collecting or sending payments. Just visit www.paypal.com and sign up. Clients can pay by credit card or through electronic transfer from a checking account. You’ll receive an email telling you when transfer of funds has occurred. This makes it perfect for collecting an up front payment. As soon as you receive email, you can deliver voiceover. www.worldpay.com and www.verisign.com are two other online payment processors you can check out, too.

Want to take credit cards? You’ll have to open a merchant account in order to accept them. It will cost you a fee to open account, a monthly fee, a fee for each transaction, and a percentage of each sale. Do an online search for credit card merchant accounts and compare costs and services to get best deal.

Direct wire transfer is a third electronic payment option. Set up a checking account used exclusively for wire transfers. You supply client with your checking account number and banks routing number, and client transfers funds directly from his account to yours. It works well and can cost virtually nothing depending on deal on account you get from your bank. One of my TV imaging clients pays by wire transfer. I email an invoice out of my QuickBooks and usually next day money is in my account!

With a payment policy in place, you’ll gain greater control over how and when you get paid. Hey, it might be a really fun business, but it’s no fun not getting paid.

Happy collecting!

©Peter Drew