Invoice Crowd lets you build a video estimate with kit, crew, edit days and licensing as separate lines. Agree the extras with the client, save the final scope and request approval. Set out the deposit and final-balance schedule before the shoot.
What is inside
Quote video work in parts: days, kit, people, post-production and rights. Agree which parts the client wants before approval, then convert the accepted estimate into an invoice.
Every line the budget really has
A shoot day, a second operator, a gimbal, three edit days and a two-year broadcast term are five different costs, and a client will ask about all five. Save each as an item with its own rate and tax, then assemble the estimate from that list instead of typing rates from memory.
Price each extra separately so the client can discuss what to include. Save the agreed lines and quantities before requesting approval. Changes after sharing an estimate need a revised document for the client to review. Give the estimate an expiry date so a held shoot date doesn't stay open forever; the client can also decline it with a reason.
Before the shoot and before delivery
Crew and rental have to be paid whether or not the client changes their mind. A single invoice can carry a deposit now and a balance later, so the money before the shoot and the money before delivery belong to the same document and the same total.
Convert the approved estimate into an invoice using its saved lines, quantities and totals. Review the resulting invoice and payment schedule before sending it.
Post, costs and the final handover
Post is where a fixed-fee job quietly loses money. Log edit hours to a project on the timesheet while they happen, and record the rental, the drives and the freelance colorist as expenses with their receipts. The hours and the costs sit against the job rather than being reconstructed in December, and rentals tagged to the project can be re-billed on the next invoice, with a markup if you add one.
The portal is where a production client looks up its own paperwork: the estimate they approved, every invoice raised against the job, what they have paid and what is still open. Send the final invoice, watch it settle there, then release the delivery.
Also included
The same account holds the pitch, the schedule of payments and the costs of the shoot, so nothing moves between tools.
Pitch the concept, the crew and the schedule as a document the client signs in the browser.
Sell a fixed package, such as a highlights film, as a payment link the client pays online. They become a customer with an invoice automatically.
Let a client add a second shoot day themselves before the estimate is approved.
Bill a flat monthly retainer on a schedule, or set the edit hours it includes and bill extra hours on the next invoice.
Attach PayPal, Stripe, Square, Razorpay or nine others to the invoice you send.
Automatic reminders and late fees run on overdue invoices without you writing the email.
Record camera hire, drives, insurance and travel as expenses with receipts attached.
Add an editor or producer as a team member with a role that controls what they can open. The Team plan includes two members, Business three.
Invoice an overseas agency in their currency while your own reports total in yours.
Raise a purchase order for a gear rental, then record the bill and the payment against that vendor.
Pick an invoice template that carries the studio's logo and colors on every document you send.
The income report totals what a season of shoots billed, drawn from the same ledger.
A shoot is cancelled? Refund the online deposit through Stripe, PayPal, Square and five other gateways straight from the invoice, with the credit note made for you.
Turn on Item Costs and record what a line cost you, such as crew hire or a lens rental, as an expense, so what the job cost sits beside what you charged.
A booking fee paid before you invoice is recorded as an advance with its own receipt, then applied to the shoot's invoice.
Questions
Yes, with one catch. Turn on Remove Items and the client can drop lines before approving, and with Customize Quantity they can change quantities such as shoot days. Remove Items applies to every line, so if the base production cost must stay fixed, agree the extras with the client and save the final estimate before you send it.
Request a deposit on the estimate, and the client can accept it and pay the deposit in one step; the estimate becomes the invoice and the balance stays open on it. Split and partial payments take the rest before delivery, and the client can see what has been received and what is still outstanding.
It can. Turn on Auto Convert to Invoice and approval creates the invoice from the same lines and quantities. Otherwise convert it with one click. A deposit paid on acceptance is already on the invoice.
Yes. Projects and a timesheet are part of the same account, so hours logged during post are recorded as they happen rather than estimated afterwards. Rentals, drives and freelance invoices go in as expenses, with the receipt kept on the transaction itself.
Licensing is a line like any other, with its own rate and tax, so a two-year broadcast term or a usage extension can be quoted on the original estimate or raised later as its own invoice against the same customer.
The Basic plan is free forever: unlimited invoices, 5 customers, 1 business profile, 2 invoice templates and PayPal payments. Paid plans add recurring invoices, retainers, timesheets, the accounting statements and more, and each starts with a 30-day free trial with no card needed. Current prices are on the Pricing page.
Put the kit, the crew, the edit and the license on one estimate, agree the extras with the client, and bill it in two halves.
