Streamline Your Operations with Our Billing Terms and Conditions Template for Entertainment

Billing terms and conditions template for Entertainment

hey guys julian lalo here melbourne based fashion and food photographer and in today's video i'm going to take you through contracts for the freelance photographer [Music] now the contract example i'll be taking you guys through today is my personal contract it's not something that i've had drawn up legally by a lawyer it's a pdf document that i have created myself over the years of experiences as a freelance photographer every time i get in a little situation with a client and an important point is raised that i feel is important for future clients to know prior to a shoot i amend this document now as you guys probably know most people do not read t's and c's and fine print so i like to keep this document to one page if possible i have subheadings and then dot points under each keeping it really nice and simple in the hope that people actually take the time to read over it because there's some really important stuff in there now as i mentioned it's not a legally binding document and the reason i say this and the reason i haven't gone to the experience of getting a lawyer to draft it and look over it is because most of the issues that arise or that have arisen over my career as a photographer between myself and a client haven't been issues that are big enough to warrant the time or expense of pursuing it legally and taking it to court so it's really just something if a situation or disagreement does arise from a photo shoot i can professionally go back and show the client this document and have a nice calm discussion where hopefully we can come to a middle ground so with that being said i'm going to take you through the subheadings of this document and some of the dot points i have under it so the first of these subheadings is image usage i'm sure anyone who's already had some experience as a freelance photographer has been in that awkward situation where a client has requested all the raw files or doesn't understand why they don't receive them as they have paid for a photo shoot so it's always great to specify under this subheading that raw files unless of course you wish to give them to the client or you have made a prior agreement raw files are not included with the edited images i also include in there where the photos are allowed to be used so for example all my photo shoots automatically are allowed for digital usage so that be social media website edms i stay in there about print usage print usage requires an additional license again these are all things that are in my contract if you price ingly and allow your clients to use images for digital print give them the raws that's completely fine as i said these are just the things to be mindful of and use as dot points under each of these subheadings so that first subheading image usage i include where the images can be used whether or not they have access to the raw files and an important one is that i own all the copyright to the images the second subheading is additional costs now this contract is a document that i attach to every rate card or every quote that i send a client however throughout the course of planning a shoot or after a shoot some additional costs can arise and it's always great to let the client know prior to the shoot of these additional costs so that there's no hard feelings or back and forth if you have to charge any extra so some of these additional costs may be things like additional images you may have quoted for a half day shoot that includes 20 images and the client has selected 35 they should know upfront what you charge per additional image or group of additional images any additional photoshop retouching you may be providing a digitally optimized image with a clean lightroom edit and color grade but the client then wants a photoshop retouch or wants something removed out of the image that is extra time and you may or may not want to charge for it so it's great again to let the client be aware of this prior to just sending an invoice with additional costs may be shocked by time on location and travel time you may have quoted again for a half day which includes four hours on location and you spend five it's your choice whether you want to charge for that extra hour or not but again having that in the contract allows you to be able to charge if need be also travel time you may have discussed a location around the corner and then some time between planning the shoot and shoot date they may request a location that's three hours away so you may want to quote for your time to get to and from this location so these additional costs are just some of the things that will cover you from awkward conversations after the fact moving on to my next subheading and that is payment terms now me personally i always ask for a deposit upfront i think it's really important as a freelance photographer it just helps the client take you a little bit more serious and commit to the date that you've locked in the worst thing for me is cancellations last minute and i have lost a day's income because i can't rebook that date so close to so getting a deposit whatever you may choose whether it be 25 50 or otherwise whatever you may choose getting a deposit is really important and i know starting out i didn't want to take deposits but i have never lost a client because i've asked for a deposit in fact clients have taken me more seriously because of this so state your deposit and also the terms of your deposit does that mean if they cancel due to bad weather they don't get it back does it mean if they cancel because of change of mind or a model cancels they don't get it back have a think about these things and what you're happy with personally and have some nice fine details around your deposit in the contract the next point under this subheading is quotation time and that is how long that quote is valid for when quoting a client that quote is valid for two weeks i've been in situations before where i've quoted a client and they haven't booked the shoot until six months later and they come back to me with the price that i quoted them six months ago now this was prior to having a contract and i had to honor that price but for me personally things had changed and my rates had changed and i would have quoted that differently the other thing to have in there which is also really important is when the final payment or balance payment is due is that due on the day of the photo shoot is that due seven days from the photo shoot is that due once you hand over the edited images again completely up to you but one of those things that you should really specify in your contract now these three subheadings that i've gone through and the dot points underneath each of them are the main body of my contract like i said i like to keep it really simple because i want people to read it and these are the issues that in the past four or five years as a freelance photographer i've come across and i feel are really important to convey to your client before they book with you now again like most people don't read a contract a lot of people do not sign them and send them back so down the bottom of the contract and on my quote or rate card i state that by paying the deposit for a photo shoot you have agreed to the terms and conditions of my contract again probably not legally binding but at least it gives me the grounds to have professional conversations should issues arrive so guys that's it i hope you got a little something out of this discussion about photography contracts i hope you can go away now and start piecing together your contract again it is something that will evolve over time and you'll find little bits and pieces that you want to add into it all the time when starting out if you are new photography and this is your first contract that you're riding i know that it is a little bit nerve-wracking handing over a contract or asking a client for a deposit because you think you may lose them trust me over years of experience i've found that contracts and deposits only make your clients trust and respect you more so if you enjoyed this video and have any other questions or video topics around the business of photography that you'd be interested in me making let me know down in the comments help me out with a like a subscribe and as always thank you for pressing play you