how to send a proper invoice after a show

Why a verbal agreement is not enough

A verbal agreement is a contract in most states. It is also nearly impossible to collect on without corroboration. You have your memory of the conversation. The promoter has theirs. When those two memories disagree, whoever has the written documentation wins.

An invoice does not require the other party to sign anything. You send it, they receive it, and now there is a timestamp. If they dispute the fee, you have the document that contradicts them. If they go silent, you have the document that establishes the debt. The paperwork exists whether or not they acknowledge it.

What the invoice needs

Seven fields. Everything fits on one page.

1. Your legal name or business entity. This is the name attached to your bank account, your LLC if you have one, or your personal name if you are operating as a sole proprietor.
2. Your contact information: email and phone number.
3. The promoter or venue’s legal name and contact.
4. Event date and venue name.
5. The agreed fee. If you have multiple line items (performance fee, a waived merch table fee, etc.), list them separately. One line is fine if the deal was a flat number.
6. Payment method and the destination: Venmo handle, Zelle phone number, PayPal email, mailing address for check. Put the right information here or you will add a week to the conversation.
7. Payment due date. Net 7 from the date of performance is standard for small club shows. Net 14 is reasonable if the promoter asked for more time before the show. If you agreed to same-night cash and did not receive it, net 3 is appropriate.

That is the whole document. No legalese required, no formal contract language, no legal seal.

Where to build one

The fastest option is our free show invoice generator. It runs in your browser, handles a flat guarantee, a door split after expenses, or a guarantee against the door, takes out any deposit, and prints or saves a one-page PDF. Nothing you type is stored.

Wave (wave.com) is free, handles invoicing for freelancers and sole proprietors, and generates a clean PDF you can email directly from the platform. It also keeps a record of every invoice you send, which becomes a useful performance ledger over time.

If you already have a PayPal account, PayPal Business invoices are free and take about three minutes to fill out. The recipient does not need a PayPal account to pay via credit card.

For a one-off or occasional use, Google Docs has a free invoice template in its template gallery. Fill in the seven fields, export as PDF. That is the whole process.

If you are performing more than a handful of shows a year, set up a free account on one of these platforms once and use it for everything going forward. The time investment is under an hour and it does not require an accountant or an attorney.

Timing and delivery

Send the invoice the same day as the show or the morning after. The fee is freshest in the promoter’s mind then, and a prompt send signals that you run your business like someone who takes it seriously.

Email is the right channel. It creates a timestamp, a thread, and a searchable record. Text works as a supplement. If the promoter paid you in cash or Venmo at the end of the night, send a written confirmation the next morning: “Payment of $X for [show name] on [date] received. Thank you.” If payment did not happen, that same message becomes your first documented follow-up: “Following up on payment of $X for [show name] on [date]. Invoice attached.”

Following up when the money is late

First follow-up: email, the day after the due date. One sentence: “Following up on invoice [number] for [show] due [date]. Let me know if you have questions.” Attach the invoice again.

Second follow-up, three days later: phone or text. Direct is fine. “Did you get my invoice from [show]? Trying to close out the books.” This is not aggressive. Businesses follow up on unpaid invoices every day.

Third follow-up, one week after that: email with a specific deadline. “If payment is not received by [date], I will need to look at next steps.” What those steps are depends on the amount. Under $500, small claims court in most states handles exactly this situation without a lawyer, and your invoice plus the email thread is your evidence. Over $500, a one-hour consult with a music or entertainment attorney will tell you whether pursuit is worth the time. See the guide to disputing a promoter who stiffs you for the full sequence.

What you do not need

You do not need an accountant, a business structure, or formal contract language. A sole proprietor can invoice under their own name. An LLC just changes the name field. The document is the same either way.

The invoice does not need to look expensive. A clean, readable PDF with the seven fields is enough. A logo is optional. Professional line items matter more than design.

If you are still sorting out what the promoter actually owes you before you invoice them, the guide on guarantees, door splits, and merch cuts covers how those structures work and what a settlement sheet should contain. If you are getting into larger rooms and want to understand the contract before you sign it, read the venue contract guide.

The most common reason a performance invoice never gets paid is that it was never sent. Promoters who are busy or disorganized pay the person who followed up. Promoters running a scam use your silence to stall. Either way, the invoice takes you out of that dynamic.

Invoice within 24 hours. If it gets paid, good. If it does not, you have the paper trail to collect.