How to write an influencer invoice: details, special cases and credit notes
If you work directly for a brand, you usually send it an invoice with certain required details. For orders through creatordeal, on the other hand, you don’t write an invoice: creatordeal invoices the brand and settles with you through a credit note.
Do influencers need to send invoices?
If you provide services to companies on a self-employed basis, you almost always issue an invoice for them. This also applies to creators who publish a post for a brand, produce UGC or grant usage rights. The invoice is not just a request for payment but a record for your bookkeeping and the brand’s. One exception is self-billing: here your client, not you, creates the billing document, provided you have agreed on it. That’s exactly how it works on creatordeal. For orders outside the platform, you write your invoices yourself.
What goes on an influencer invoice
The following details are standard and usually required: your full name or business name with address, the client’s name and address, your VAT ID (mandatory in Austria if you are not a small business; in Germany, your tax number is sufficient as an alternative), for larger invoice amounts in Austria also the client’s VAT ID, the invoice date and a sequential invoice number. Add a precise description of the service, such as “one Instagram Reel including usage rights for paid ads,” and the date or period of the service. Finally, the net amount, the tax rate and the tax amount, or a note explaining why no VAT is charged. Which details are mandatory in your case is governed by your country’s VAT law.
Special cases: small businesses, EU clients, products
If you use the small business rule, you don’t charge VAT but note on the invoice that it doesn’t apply because of this rule. If you work for a company in another EU country, the reverse charge procedure may apply: the client then owes the VAT, and your invoice shows both VAT IDs and a corresponding note. If, besides money, you also receive a product you are allowed to keep, its value may matter for tax purposes. And it’s best to list usage rights as a separate line item so it’s clear later what was agreed.
Influencer invoice template or invoicing software
For your first invoices, a carefully built template is enough. Make sure your invoice numbers run sequentially without gaps and that you never use a number twice. Invoicing or bookkeeping software pays off once orders come in regularly, because it assigns numbers, tracks payments and collects records. Either way: keep all invoices and records organized, because legal retention requirements apply for several years. Ask your tax advisor which format is easiest for you and which details your tax office expects. Clean record-keeping saves you a lot of time later.
On creatordeal, you don’t write an invoice
For an order through creatordeal, creatordeal is your contracting party: creatordeal buys your service and resells it to the brand in its own name. The brand gets its invoice from creatordeal; you don’t send it one of your own. creatordeal settles your pay through self-billing, which you expressly agree to when you sign up. The credit note contains the required details — depending on the tax status you have on file, with VAT, with a note on the small business exemption or, if you are based outside Austria, with a note that the tax liability passes to creatordeal (reverse charge). You can object to a credit note and must enter changes to your tax status right away. The credit notes are available as PDFs in your creator area.
Direct orders and orders through the platform
For collaborations you arrange completely independently of creatordeal, you write your invoices yourself as usual. It’s different with brands you met through creatordeal: under the creator agreement, orders with them run through the platform for 12 months from the first contact, and then you get a credit note instead of writing your own invoice. Another exception concerns agencies or clients who use creatordeal only as software. For those bookings, they pay you directly, and the billing happens between you. Make sure you bill every order only once.
What this article does not replace
This article gives a general overview and is not tax or legal advice. Which details your invoices must contain, how you handle special cases such as foreign clients or payment in kind, and how long you keep records depends on your country, your tax status and your clients, and can change. Binding information comes from the tax office. The Austrian Economic Chamber (WKO) in Austria and the chamber of commerce (IHK) in Germany offer fact sheets and advice. For your personal bookkeeping, a tax advisor is the right contact, especially with foreign clients.
Frequently asked.
Key answers at a glance. Everything else is in the guides and in the FAQ.
Do influencers need to send invoices?
Almost always, if they work for companies on a self-employed basis. One exception is self-billing, where the client creates the billing document — as on creatordeal.
What needs to be on an influencer invoice?
Standard details are the name and address of both parties, your VAT ID (in Germany, alternatively your tax number), for larger amounts in Austria also the client’s VAT ID, date, sequential number, description of the service, service period, net amount and tax or a note on the exemption.
Is there an influencer invoice template?
You can build a template yourself with the usual required details; the chambers offer fact sheets for this. What matters is gap-free invoice numbers and a precise description of the service.
Do I have to send creatordeal or the brand an invoice?
No. The brand gets its invoice from creatordeal, and you receive a credit note for every payout through self-billing.
What do I put on the invoice as a small business?
You don’t charge VAT and note that it doesn’t apply because of the small business rule. Clarify the exact wording with the tax office or your tax advisor.
A credit note instead of your own invoice
On creatordeal, creatordeal bills the brand — you get a credit note for every payout.
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General information, not legal or tax advice. Last updated: September 28, 2026