Billing How-To ?

[oahu_surfa]

I usually try to get paid cash for any freelance gigs. I got kind of a fat client this time (finally). But, now I gotta send this company a bill to accounting to get paid. I know what a bill looks like all too well but does anybody have any advice of a bill design or layout or something? I kinda wanna look like a pimp all the way through this

[Tenebrini]

I had a pimped out invoice for a short time and eventualy settled on a pretty simple word document layout. Accounting people usually just want the numbers and don't give a shit what the layout looks like.

But that's just MY experience in the world of Interactive Media not Illustration.

[standard]

true that. If it truly is a fat-cat client, your bill will go directly to..... the Billing Dept. And they don't give a shit. Settle for easy-to-read with a pleasant logo in the corner.

[Brute666]

Yeah. What they said. Add color and a logo if you have to, but nobody important to the decision-making proccess for that company will see it.
Make sure to double-check the spelling of your address! That's the most important info on it. I almost sent out an invoice with the numbers transposed on my address. Saw the mistake just before sticking it in the envelope. My neighbor would have been a very happy guy if I hadn't noticed.

[oahu_surfa]

Thanks everyone. Logo, address, total, description, date... i guess thats everything.

[philaarts.com]

get a gun... not everyone pays....

or to start a good bat..

[rohan]

Maybe have an invoice reference number.
I just started out so i used 03001, then 03002 and so on

just gonna help me keep track of things.

[kallok]

I have been using a program called ABInvoice for over a year now to keep track of invoices. Before that I made a fancy invoice in photoshop I think, then things got unorganized so I just looked around for some crappy program to keep everything togher. It's nifty...

[Grzeca]

I agree with Standard AND Mayer. For the "pimp" look- go for some simple ultraviolence. Baseball bats are currently in vogue. Other than that the simple paper with address and dollar amount seems to work well. Of course, with some people you have to send them, oh, a hundred copies or so.

[Grzeca]

And in all seriousness, I am very happy with Quickbooks Pro.