Invoicing App Starter · Industry version
Creative Studio Invoicing Template
Deposits, kill fees, revision overages, and usage rights that expire — the billing shapes creative work actually takes, in code you own.
Creative billing has its own physics: half up front before a brief is touched, a licence line worth more than the labor, a third revision round that was never in scope. This starter gives those things columns instead of email threads — and gives you the codebase.
- 6 core entities
- Aging report built in
- Code you own
- Vibe + Governed modes
01 · The problem
Why a generic Invoicing falls short
In creative work, what you deliver and what you license are different products with different prices. A brand shoot might bill the day rate once and the usage three ways — web, print, paid social, each for a term. Generic invoicing has one line-item shape with no notion of rights, territory, or expiry, so licensing lives in a contract PDF nobody rereads — and renewals, the easiest revenue a studio has, silently lapse.
The deposit isn't a payment detail; it's the gate that protects the calendar. Studios book weeks around a 50% deposit, and a cancellation triggers a kill fee scaled to how late it came. Tools that treat an invoice as a single event can't express 'half now, half on delivery, and a defined fee if this dies' — so the protections in the contract never make it into the books.
Scope creep arrives as revision rounds. Two are in the quote; the fourth is billable — but only if someone is counting. When rounds are tracked in a project tool and money in an invoice tool, the overage conversation happens late or never, and the studio eats the hours in between.
02 · Data model
The data model, adapted
Everything in the base Invoicing starter —
clientsestimatesinvoicesline_itemspaymentsexpenses— plus the entities this industry actually runs on:
| table | what it holds |
|---|---|
creative_projects | The engagement — brief, quoted fee, deposit terms, included revision rounds, and kill-fee schedule in one record. |
usage_licenses | Rights granted as billable objects — media, territory, term, fee, and the expiry date that drives renewal invoices. |
revision_rounds | Rounds counted against the quote's allowance, with scope notes — the evidence base when round four becomes a line item. |
03 · Screens
Modules through the industry lens
Deposit-first invoice flow
01Projects generate their invoice sequence from the agreed split — deposit on signing, balance on delivery, or thirds across milestones. The project's status tracks the deposit, so the calendar holds only work that's actually secured.
License-aware line items
02Usage lines carry media, territory, and term alongside the fee, printed clearly on the invoice the client signs off. Expiry dates feed a renewals view — sixty days out, the licence that's about to lapse becomes a renewal invoice, not a lost fee.
Overage-visible aging
03Aging reads per project, and projects show revision burn next to balance due — the client on round four with the delivery invoice unpaid is one row, and it's red. The awkward conversation gets scheduled by a report instead of avoided by a person.
04 · In practice
Workflows it models
Booking a shoot on a deposit
01The quote is accepted; a 50% deposit invoice generates from the project record and the shoot date holds as pending until it's paid. Payment lands, the date confirms, and the balance invoice sits pre-drafted for delivery day.
Licensing renewal, caught in time
02A campaign's twelve-month web-and-social licence expires in March. In January it surfaces on the renewals view; the renewal invoice goes out with the same terms priced for another year. The alternative — the client keeps running the assets, unpaid — never gets its chance.
Round four becomes revenue
03The quote included two revision rounds; the log now shows four, each with scope notes. The overage line lands on the final invoice at the rate from the project record, and the conversation is short because the record is shared.
Creative Studio Invoicing template — frequently asked questions
Can it bill usage rights separately from creative fees?
Yes — usage licenses are their own entity with media, territory, term, and fee, appearing as distinct lines on the invoice. Expiries feed a renewals view so licensing becomes recurring revenue instead of a one-time afterthought.
How are deposits and kill fees handled?
The payment split and kill-fee schedule live on the project. Deposit invoices generate from the split, and a cancellation generates the kill-fee invoice per the schedule you defined — the contract's protections, executable instead of merely written.
Does it track revision rounds against the quote?
Rounds are logged with scope notes and counted against the project's allowance. When the count passes it, the overage is a line item backed by a visible record — which is what turns scope creep from a grievance into an invoice.
I'm a solo freelancer, not a studio — does this still fit?
Yes. The entities are the same at any size; a solo photographer uses deposits and usage licenses as much as a twenty-person studio. And since the app is your code, you can strip anything that feels like overhead for one person.
Related
Dual7 App Starters
Build your Creative Studio Invoicing on your terms
Deposits, kill fees, revision overages, and usage rights that expire — the billing shapes creative work actually takes, in code you own. Describe your version to start — the output is a project you own.