Paperwork is never fun...

Just a note about the business side of photography.  It is never fun, but it is very important!  Today, I was going through my invoices and I noticed one client had paid me fifty dollars less than the invoice stated, one client is thirty days past due for payment, and another sent a check, but I had misplaced it in a pile of mail.

If I didn't have a clear and consistent billing system, I wouldn't have caught these issues, and I'd be out thousands of dollars!  I have a very basic, but very accurate invoice tracking plan, and I know when something isn't right.  If you are just starting out as a pro, you may think it's easy to keep track of your payments.  True, as you are probably only doing a few shoots a month.  You probably only have a couple clients to track.  Well, that will all change as you add more and more clients, and it can get very confusing very fast!  So, develop a plan that is simple, and one that allows you to make sure everything gets paid... because, if you don't get paid for that shoot, you just worked for free.