How to get paid faster as a photographer
Chasing payments is the least fun part of running a photography business. Invoices sit unpaid, deposits get forgotten, and you end up sending awkward follow-up emails weeks after the shoot. This guide covers how to invoice properly, lock in dates with deposits, and set up payments so the money arrives without you nagging anyone.
Send a proper invoice, every time
A clear, branded invoice gets paid faster than a number in an email. It also protects you if there is ever a question about what was agreed.
A good photography invoice includes:
- Your business name and logo, so it looks legitimate.
- An itemized breakdown of the work, any extras, and any taxes or discounts.
- The total and the due date, stated plainly.
- How to pay, with as little friction as possible.
- An invoice number, so you can track it later.
Sending the same professional invoice every time also makes your bookkeeping at tax time far less painful.
Line names come from your Items catalogue rather than being typed fresh each time. That is what keeps them the same on every invoice.
Take a deposit to lock in the date
Never hold a date on a promise. A deposit does two jobs: it commits the client, and it protects your time if they cancel.
- Charge it up front, before the date is confirmed in your calendar.
- A common split is a deposit to book, then the balance before or on the day of the shoot.
- Make it non-refundable in your contract, so a late cancellation does not leave you with an empty Saturday you could have booked.
On a booking service, switch on Collect payment and payment is taken inside the booking flow rather than chased afterwards.
Split a total into instalments
An invoice does not have to be one payment. Set Payment type to Payment schedule and you get up to twelve rows. Each row has its own label, amount and due date: a deposit now, a second payment before the shoot, the balance on delivery.
Your client sees a Payment schedule on the invoice and a pay button that asks for the amount due next. Pay in full is there if they would rather clear the lot. A proposal carries the same editor behind its own Collect payment switch.
See Payment schedules.
Online card payments and manual methods
The easier you make paying, the faster you get paid. Most photographers offer both.
Online card payment is the fastest. The client clicks, pays, and the invoice records itself within seconds. Card payments run through Stripe, which you connect once under Payments → Settings → Payment methods. See Getting paid online.
Manual methods are anything you handle outside CoreHue: a bank transfer, cash, a check. You write the method's name and its instructions. Your client follows them, then presses I've made this payment. Require proof of payment is on by default, so you get a screenshot rather than a message. See Manual payment methods.
You can also send an invoice with no payment methods at all. It reads normally and offers no pay button, which is right for a client who pays through their own process.
Confirm the payments clients report
A manual payment is not recorded until you confirm it. Until then the client believes they have paid and the invoice says otherwise. That is where most "where is my payment" messages come from.
CoreHue tells you on Home, under Needs attention: N payments awaiting review, with the total waiting to be confirmed. That row takes you to them.
Open the claim, check the money has actually arrived, then Record payment. Amount received starts at what the client said they paid. If you record something different, CoreHue asks you to say why, so the record explains itself later.
Two things worth knowing. Confirming does not email the client, so tell them yourself if they are waiting to hear. Rejecting does email them, with the reason if you give one. An invoice also holds one claim at a time, so while one is waiting the client cannot start another payment.
Stop chasing with automatic reminders
Most late payments are not refusals. They are forgetfulness. A client means to pay, gets busy, and the invoice slips their mind.
Under Settings → Reminders, invoice reminders offer five points: 7 days before the due date, on the due date, and 3, 7 or 14 days after. Everything except 14 days after is on by default.
Each invoice also carries its own Pause, Resume and Send reminder controls, so you can stop chasing one client without changing the rule for everyone. See Reminders.
Make the numbers easy to check
Payments shows Total received, This month and Outstanding. The first two have refunds taken off already. Outstanding is the balance left on every invoice that is not paid or cancelled. Reports → Finance shows every entry including card fees, which sit on their own rows rather than being taken off a payment. See The payments list and Reports → Finance.
Next step
The fastest win is letting clients pay by card, so the money arrives the moment they are ready. Start with Getting paid online, or see the Payments overview for everything you can do.
Need a hand setting up payments? Email us at hello@corehue.co.