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The Basics of Sound

We all like to pretend that sound is a dark art that only a few chosen ones have chosen to understand and practice. However, this dark art is actually not just for the few chosen ones, even if you do not want to practice it full time it is useful for you to know about it.

Sound is physics, we can all agree on that. But you do not have to be good at math or be a ‘techy person’ to understand the basics of sound. To understand sound, all you need is a bit of common sense. Being able to work out how A is connected to B, that is it!

What is sound?

Easy right? It is not more complicated than that! Sound comes from A. The object which transmits it to B. our ears.

We like to think that things are more complicated than they actually are. But with all things tech, a human has designed and invented it. So if we stop ourselves for a minute and go ‘hang on, what would the most logical solution be?’ you’ll find yourself knowing the answer. All things tech have a signal flow, and that is what you need to figure out. How to connect the A to B.

When we amplify sound, it works in a similar way. But rather than transmitting the sound over just air, we transmit it via microphones & cables, i.e., metal! We transmit the sound from the stage to the receiver, which will be the mixing desk. From the mixing desk, it goes out to the speakers, which transmit the sound to our ears in the audience. That is a simple signal flow.

Why is it good to know about the signal flow? If you regularly perform live or record at home or in studios, how many times have you encountered issues? I’d say that every session or live gig has technical issues that usually come down to signal flow. You’ll solve things quicker if you know what might cause the issue by tracing the signal flow.

What about me and/or my instrument sound?

It surprises me that a lot of the musicians and artists that come my way have very little knowledge about their sound and how it is being produced, but more importantly, how they want it to sound to other people.

The only instrument I know how to play is the piano. But I have the knowledge of how I want drums to sound, how to reskin them and how to tune them. Perhaps it has been an advantage of having worked with so many drum kits. I know what a good kit sounds like, but more importantly what a bad kit sounds like!

Like breathing, we often forget that we are doing it. We just do! It is the same with actually listening and tuning in to something. Paying attention at a gig, what does it sound like? What is a good sound?

What do I want to sound like?

Be curious! 

Ever thought about how something is done? Google it! Read and learn about it; knowledge is power!

As I mentioned with drum kits, I don’t play drums, but I was curious to know how it all works. What are the differences, why do they sound so different, why do they need so many cymbals, etc.

As passionate as I am talking about sound, most full-time musicians will passionately talk about their instruments. They have perfected their skills and put so many hours into practice that finally they can tell somebody about it! Ask away!

Communication:

It goes both ways, as sound technicians or as musicians, knowing what sound you like makes it easier for you to start the conversation with each other. We shall always thrive on working as a team and not as separate entities; we need to be able to communicate with each other.

 

 How to be the New Crew Person

 

 

In the live entertainment industry, you will find yourself working new venues fairly often; in the beginning, it might be every week! It’s not easy being ‘the new crew,’ and it can feel somewhat daunting at first. I remember when I started out and I used to not be able to sleep and get stomach ache because I was so stressed out that I was not going to fit in or that I was not going to be able to make some friends or do a good job.

Obviously, it was all in my head, and nowadays, I don’t lose any sleep over being new, but it took some time to get my confidence up and be comfortable with the unknown.

So let’s look at how we can tackle the basics of being new!

Pre-Gig

Look smart and wear practical clothing. Black is the standard colour in the industry because we are meant to be invisible, but it just always works. Honestly, any life situation where you feel like you do not know what to wear, wear black.

If you have got long hair or hair that tends to be in the way, put it up! It’ll be in the way when you’re working or get stuck into something you don’t want to have it stuck in.

Same with jewelry, make sure you’re not wearing anything that might come in the way or be at risk of being pulled out.

If you are new to a venue, make sure you look up the technical specifications of that venue and make sure to familiarise yourself with their equipment. If you are lucky and have got the time, ask to shadow the in-house person, or have a walk through their in-house system.

If you are working with new equipment, make sure you read the manuals beforehand, so you come prepared. Watch YouTube tutorials and make notes of handy tips and tricks to make sure your shift will run smoothly throughout the day/night.

The Gig

Be on time, or preferably be early! Time is not always on our side, so make sure you buy it as soon as possible. Being 30 min early might save you later on in the day, or you will have the time to actually have a little break later on. Either way, you will thank yourself later.

Introduce yourself!

To avoid assumptions on who you are, be the one to introduce yourself first. Let them know your name, who you are, and what job you’re there to do. This way, there will be fewer misunderstandings on who you are.

Ask for help, if you’re in a new venue, but there is a house technician, ask this person for help! That’s what they’re there for, and it will save you time rather than trying to figure everything out on your own. Although all venues are set up on the same basics, there are some differences due to XYZ.

Be friendly and keep the conversation light, if you are not as busy as somebody else ask them if they need a hand with anything.

Always bring a snack and water. There is nothing worse than working long hours on an empty stomach, and well, no one is pleasant to be around when they’re hungry and low on energy.

Post Gig

Hopefully, the gig has gone well, and you had a successful night with hopefully very minor to no issues at all. Before you leave, make sure everyone is OK, ask if anyone needs help with anything. Loadout goes a lot quicker with a helping hand, so make sure you do not leave anyone loading out on their own.

Drop them an email saying thanks; if you have covered someone’s shift, just let them know how everything went.

Find out whom to invoice and make sure to invoice as soon as possible to stay on top of your finances!

With these basics in the bag, you’ll make a good impression, and hopefully, with time and knowledge your confidence will come along, and you will no longer be ‘the new crew person

 

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Money, Money, Money…

 

Money & budgeting are two things people tend to avoid thinking about too much. Sure we all like to get paid, but actually sitting down and working with the numbers, that’s the least fun part of money. It is crucial to stay on top of your finances, whether it’s your personal finances or the company you work for.

So let’s break it down together, let’s get us off on to a good start. Let’s start with our personal/freelance finances.

Income vs. Outgoing 

The two most crucial bits to financing is Income vs. Outgoing, so the money that you earn and the money that you spend.

Outgoing

So let’s look at our expenses which are crucial and that we all will have in common: To give you an example of what life in London can cost, here are some numbers.

So that is over £1k on the basics every month, not including things like going for dinner with your friends, birthday presents, etc.

So we need to earn at the very least £1,350 per month to cover our basic day-to-day living.

Income

So income is the most fun part of working and earning money, right? But it is also important that we spend our income wisely and go through our budget monthly to keep on top of things. So we know our expenses each month, so let’s look at what we can do with our profit if we haven’t been breaking even this month.

Say that we earned ourselves £2,000 this month. After having paid all of our expenses, we’re left with £650.

It would be lovely to think that we can spend that £650 on gear ( My guilty pleasure is synthesizers), but sadly we should probably not do that.

Taxes

If you are a freelancer and have your own company we need to think about taxes and putting money aside for that time of the year where you need to declare your earnings. In the UK at a basic rate, you pay 20% in taxes.

So if we earn £2k a month, that’s £24,000 a year. 20% of 24,000 is 4,800 (24,000 x 0.20). However, in the UK, the first £12,500 are tax-free, so we only need to pay tax on £11,500 (24,000 – 12,500).  So 20% of £11,500 is £2,300 a year or £192 a month.

So out of those £650 in profit (after our expenses), we need to set aside £192 for tax which leaves us with £458.

I’d probably put £100 of that into a savings account, and the rest will likely cover some miscellaneous expenses.

If you feel like you cannot handle your finances on your own, it might be worth getting an accountant.

Forecasting

Budget – SUMMARY

It is important to estimate what you will spend, that is why you forecast. It’s always good to be a bit generous when you forecast to make sure you have some wiggle room. The example above is all a forecast; expenses vary from month to month.

Actual Spend

At the end of the month, you compare your forecasting to your actual spending. Did the numbers add up? Where you spot on or way off? What can you do differently next month? Here we can analyse our forecasting, spendings, and savings.

Yearly Summary

Whether you are a freelancer or working for a company/client, it is always good to do an annual summary. Compare the months, recognize patterns, spot the quiet months, and the busy ones. There is a lot to learn from a year, and planning for the next one gives you a head start.

Miscellaneous

Always account for the miscellaneous bits, there is still something we spend money on that we do not account for. A cab ride here, servicing there, something broke, and you needed to replace it. There are always unforeseen costs that are impossible to avoid, so it is better to give yourself some slack and account for a little bit extra for those times you need it.

Invoices

Stay on top of your invoicing game. Make sure you chase your invoices and keep track of which ones have been paid and which ones are overdue. There is plenty of accounting software on the market that makes invoicing easier, keeps track of which invoices have been paid, and also makes declaring your tax easier.

Editors note: Wave Accounting is similar to Quick Books and free.

The Budget Given by a Client or Company

If you have been given a budget to work with by a company or client, it is crucial that you stick to the budget. No one likes an over-spender, and it can get you into real trouble if you do overspend.

The same way you budget for your personal or freelance finances, you can apply the same method when working with a budget that was given to you.

It is important to meet client expectations, but also to be honest and realistic with what you’ve got. If a client is asking for more than they are willing to pay for you, have to be open and honest about it. Look at different options or see if they are willing to increase their budget. Communication is key.

Money and budgeting can cause a lot of anxiety; it affects us all. But if you set yourself up and tackle it heads on, I can assure you it will be a lot easier to deal with. Set aside a day at the beginning of the month and at the end of the month where you sit down with a cup of coffee or a tea to go over your budget and finances.

If you find yourself in some financial difficulties, please seek advice from accountants and contact your bank. The sooner the better.

 

Choose a Different Route

 

The other day I was on my way to work, and I always take the same route unless there are some disruptions on my tube line. There were, in fact, some disruptions this particular day so I had to take different trains, but luckily that route takes about the same amount of time for me to take me from my home to work.

I thought that I almost prefer this other route, it is mostly overground and you know, it is nice to change up your habits a bit. We tend to get stuck in the same routines. Mix a show in the same way you’ve always done, mic up a drum kit the same way as you always do, EQ monitors precisely the way you did yesterday. Sure it is tried and tested, but it gets a bit repetitive after a while.

Playing it safe:

In the live industry, you sort of have to play it safe most of the time, simply because there is no time to be adventurous. You got to make it sound good, and you have to do it fast.

However, if you are a venue engineer, you can easily get set in the same ways. But if you don’t challenge yourself, you’re not going to improve nor learn something new. It is like working out in the gym, if you work out a muscle the same way and not adding weight or variety to it you will not become stronger. You will simply just plateau.

The upside of being a venue engineer is that it is a safe environment. If you have been in a place for a little while, you probably feel relatively comfortable and will hopefully have a small bit of extra time to play around with things. This is a perfect environment to try and do things differently if you’ve got something that is tried and tested, you’ve always got that to fall back onto.

The ‘One-way’ route:

I work in a venue where the speakers are all hidden away and scattered around the building, surrounded by loads of marble. Not ideal for creating ‘the perfect sound.’ You just have to make it sound good with what you’ve got, and honestly, it is not that bad. However, anytime there is a visiting engineer they get entirely thrown off; because they are so set in the way they usually do things they can’t figure out a different route to get where they want to go..

The live sound industry is not a ‘one-way’ route. There are tons of roundabouts, disruptions, left turns, stops, and traffic lights. Some people work at 100mph and others are lingering around about 30mph. You have to adapt and treat every situation differently.

Very often you just have to work around it. With amazing gear nowadays, it is easy to forget the room and how critical it is for the overall sound of the show. Halls, venues, arenas, stadiums all sound different, there is not a ‘one-way route’ to mix a performance.

Challenge yourself:

We need to be thrown off in able to learn new things. Adapt the way you set up and tune to each venue, each artist. Work off the basics but work with space you are in vs. fighting it.  Ask engineers that work in that venue regularly, how they go about tuning the room. Always be willing to adapt, change, and learn new things.

So whenever you have any disruptions on your line, embrace it. Approach it with the right attitude, and you will see that it will not set you back as much as you might have thought it would. See it as a new learning experience, and hey, you might even find yourself enjoying the alternative route!

 

 

Let’s Talk About Mental Health

Recently the music industry has started talking about mental health. After many tragedies losing incredibly talented people in the music industry due to mental health issues, artists and the music industry people are finally talking about very stigmatized issues. I feel like you can never talk too much about mental health, and very often those of us who work hard behind the scenes are often forgotten, and I believe that we also need to start talking about our general and mental health.

Health in general:

In an ideal world, we would always sleep eight hours per night, eat nourishing food five times a day and exercise four times a week, but unfortunately, the world is not always ideal.

Sleep, food, and exercise are three critical factors when it comes to our mental health. It is easy to neglect all of these three things when working long hours when you have a tight schedule or if you need to meet a deadline.

Some periods in life will be busier the other, but you will be handling stress a lot better if you prioritise at least one of the three things.

Setting new habits can take some time, but if you start with one thing at least, the rest will follow eventually.

Unsocial working hours:

‘I’m sorry, but I can’t make it, I’m working’ – You hear yourself saying this often?

Having unsocial work hours can take an extreme toll on your mental health. Although a lot of our work can be incredibly social and we meet loads of fantastic people, nothing beats spending time with your absolute best friends and family.

The guilt you might feel when you are unable to attend family gatherings, birthdays, baby showers or drinks at the local pub can weigh you down. Often we have to choose work before friends and family because we all need to pay rent and feed ourselves. But hopefully, we also love what we do!

But don’t neglect your loved ones either. Set aside a day or two a month to catch up with your people. Make a phone call or send a message, reach out! Especially if your mental health is not tip-top or theirs for that matter — support one another.

Stress:

Someone described me as ‘Olive is 24/7’ and when I first heard it, I felt pride. I thought that makes me dependable and that I can sort out any situation at any time of the day at anywhere in the world.

But I quickly realised that no one should have to be available 24 hours, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Not even Olive.

Setting boundaries are essential; if you’re not supposed to work, then don’t. Of course, there might be an emergency, and we have to step in, but how many times has an actual crisis occurred? I can count mine on one hand. Trust me; most things can wait.

Having some time off is crucial. Otherwise, it will lead you to be burned out. If you do not give yourself space, you won’t be able to evaluate what is going on in your life, and frankly, we all need to deal with what is going on, no matter how uncomfortable we are with it.

Alcohol:

Alcohol is a big part of the live entertainment industry.

As a musician or a sound engineer, it is not uncommon to receive free drinks, in a lot of cases sometimes that is the only payment that you get.

Sometimes after you worked a 15-hour shift, you feel like you deserve a drink, especially as it might have been a challenging day and all of your patience has just run out. Or you’ve had a fantastic show or completed a full tour, and you’d like to celebrate with a couple of drinks, of course, you deserve that!

However, when consumed several days a week we need to step back and look at our consumption.

If you did not already know, alcohol is a depressant. So if consumed too often it will affect your mental and physical health.

These are only a few aspects of one’s life that can affect your mental and physical health, but more importantly, most of the above are things we can control ourselves. Change starts within yourself.

Care about yourself as much as you care about your work.

If you are not doing well, then take a step back and take a day off if you can. There are also plenty of help to get, both online and through counselling.

10 Mindfulness Practices from Powerful Women

Mental Health America

Top 25 Best Mental Health Apps: An Effective Alternative for When You Can’t Afford Therapy

Tips for Staying Healthy on the Road

 

Knowing your Limitations

As we are still at the beginning of the new year, it is now we should look at those new year’s resolutions that we made, our dreams that we want to become real and the goals we would like to achieve.

It is the time to evaluate what we need to get on with, to achieve our dreams and our goals. It is time to take a good hard look at yourself and your knowledge, time management, and work-life to see what can be improved.

Knowing your limitations is a good start for example; what is limiting your chances to achieve your goals? What does it take to get from point A to point B?

What do you lack to get to where you want to be?

Say you want to become the most celebrated pianist in the world, what does it take to get there? Take a look at your practising routine, are you putting in enough hours to become the greatest pianist in the world? Are you utilising your own time in the best way possible to be the most effective when practising? Are you already the greatest pianist in the world but no one knows it? Well perhaps then less time needs to be spent in front of the piano and more time in front of people networking.

This applies to any industry; if we want to improve we need to face the hard fact that we have limitations and flaws. We will always have weaknesses but that does not mean that we can not work on them and improve.

Give yourself some honest and constructive feedback, but do not talk down to yourself. Do not be upset with yourself because you are not getting something straight away. It is hard to admit your weaknesses to yourself, but we have to do it if we want to improve.

Do you know where point B is?

It is easier to follow a route if you know your destination. It is easy to get sidetracked if you do not have a north star to guide you and to keep you motivated. Want to work on a big festival stage? Absolutely, but maybe that big festival is point C.

So you start working at your local one-day festival. You can not get to point C if you have not been going through point A and B first.

The ability to achieve something is only limited by a lack of knowledge. You need to study to improve your understanding, but then you need to put that study into practice.

There is only so much you can learn in a safe and comfortable environment. You have to put yourself outside your comfort zone to improve and to learn from real life experiences. It is so important to be able to work under pressure and to find opportunities to fine-tune your skills.

As well as knowing your limitations, you will need to learn and respect your strengths. For some, not acknowledging your strengths is a weakness. You have got to be confident in your knowledge, you have to tell yourself ‘You know what, this is what I am good at’ and use that to your advantage and balance it out with your weaknesses.

If you struggle to see your weaknesses and strengths then ask a good friend; what are my strengths? In what areas do I need to improve? Be open to feedback from others as they see you in a different light than you do. Being open to critique can be incredibly difficult for some, but it will help you to be able to improve your skills.

Now is the perfect time to sit down and write it all down. Aim high but be realistic, some goals might not happen this year, but that does not mean it will not happen in the future. However, getting to know your limitations will put you on the right path towards your dreams and goals.

 

Things we learn in a year

As December is approaching us, another year is gone. Time flew by, and I swear it was just January!

A year ago I could’ve never imagined that I would’ve learned the things that I’ve learned and worked with some amazingly talented artists, some whose music I have grown up with. I would’ve never thought I’d work on big events, having to plan and prepare for the Brits Awards after-party in February, our first birthday party in May with the amazing Gabrielle on stage, and last week we had Sophie Ellis Bextor doing a surprise performance. I mean, what a year!

With big events comes great responsibilities but also great learning opportunities. When you continuously challenge yourself and learn from your mistakes you are always improving!

Here are a few things that I’ve learnt this year that I thought I’d like to share:

Power – It started with the Brits Awards after-party. The production we had in was insane, with extra everything! Extra lighting, extra sound system, LED screens, etc. All these extra things needed extra power, which we at the time did not have. Luckily we have some great electricians on site that helped me with getting all the extra power installed, with very short notice! Spending time with electricians is always useful as you learn so much from them, and without their knowledge, we wouldn’t be able to have such an extravagant show!

Brit Awards After Show

Brit Awards After Show

Network – Audio via network and Dante is great when it’s working. Not so much when it’s not, it is tough to troubleshoot where the issue might be. Our whole audio system stopped communicating the night after the Brits Awards after-party. I was about to cry after having worked an insane amount of hours. It took over a week to fix, and the basic explanation of the issue was the power to the switch inside our stage was powered off, which meant that it lost all the IP addresses, so it did not know where to send the audio! I’d like for that to never happen again!

Knowledge – If you do not know how something is working, then learn it! Due to some changes in one of our weekly nights we needed to be able to control our lights more in-depth. The issue was that none of us actually knew how to use the lighting desk properly. So I reached out and arranged for a full day of training for my team and me in how to use the Zero 88 Jester 24 lighting desk! It was a lot of fun, and it’s great to be able to incorporate out lighting rig into our shows. There’s not much room for us being able to be creative, but hey some colour here and there makes a huge difference!

Being a manager – Make sure to triple-check that everyone is doing what they’re supposed to do. That is to check in on everyone you’re working with and getting regular updates on what they’re doing. Sometimes people just need a reminder, but this is so important to make sure everything is running on time. On the day of a big event, you do not want to find out that someone hasn’t dealt with a particular thing, which can cause a lot of stress and issues on the day. You do not need that in your life.

Inequality – It’s frustrating when people treat you differently because of your gender or other reasons, however, try and not let it affect you. Just do your job and do it great. This is forever a reminder to myself to just let it go and focus on what I’m supposed to do, my job.

Back up – Back everything up. Thrice. On different USBs and laptops.

Learn from your mistakes – Admit when you messed it up and deal with it. Don’t repeat your mistakes!

Looking back at this year it’s been insane and went way too quickly. However, having taken the time to reflect, I realise now how far I’ve come and how much I’ve learned. Now it’s all about the new year and to continue advancing within the audio industry. Who knows where we will be this time next year?

 

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

I think we all reach a point in our lives where we might feel a little lost on our path. All of us who are in the entertainment industry, know how lucky we are to have the opportunity to work in a creative field. The few of us who actually followed our dreams or perhaps just happened to stumble upon them.

However, like anyone else we can also feel a bit lost and unmotivated, feeling like there is no purpose in what we do. I recently felt like this, craving something new and learning new things.  I felt like I wanted to move on from where I am currently at.

Writing this I felt a struggle, as I felt like I’ve been on autopilot the last two months, and therefore have nothing to say or write about, feeling generally unmotivated. Not because I had little to do, but because the festive season is approaching and having learned from last year, I wanted to get a head start on all the craziness that is waiting around the corner.

Looking back at these past two months, contrary to my feeling of lack of motivation, I have been very productive and done plenty! Is that perhaps why I felt like I wanted to move on as I know what to expect and the excitement (and stress) is not what it used to be? The adrenaline you get from the excitement of not knowing what is ahead of you? Maybe.

I guess that though we might feel stuck, unmotivated or lost, it does not mean that we actually are. Perhaps there are small changes we can do to change our circumstances, make things more exciting or possibly it is time to go, to move on in life and seek a new adventure?

Step back and evaluate

Look at where you are, what is going on around you? Are there things that could run better, smoother & more efficient? Is your workplace in order, do you have everything you need to do your job properly?

Sometimes you need to take a step back to take two steps forward. Identify what is causing you to feel unmotivated. Will moving on solve your problems or will it actually just make you feel more lost? Are you prepared to move on?

Can you change your situation?   

Are you able to change things at work to make things more/less challenging? It is important to feel challenged and to learn new things, but if it is too challenging it can result in stress.

Challenge yourself, set goals in your work- and personal life. There is always room for improvement even if you are already doing a great job.

If things are too challenging and stressful, ask for help and maybe take a step back. Troubleshoot and take one thing at the time.

What is your purpose?

We all need a purpose to feel fulfilled in life. What are you working towards, do you have a plan?

Sometimes you need to walk away from situations that are not fulfilling. Sometimes it is about saying no and establishing boundaries. Sometimes it is not your job that is unfulfilling, but your personal life and that affects your work life. Sometimes you need to stay to grow.

What do you need to reach your goal? Are you in the right place, right scene, right city or even in the right country?

Deal with it

It took me a good couple of months to shake away the lack of motivation and decided to make a few changes in my personal life rather than in my work life.  I felt like I wanted to leave and to move on just because I did not want to deal with things in my personal life. I took a step back, evaluated and changed my situation, and this is something we need to do regularly in life.

So the not so simple question is; will you stay or will you go?

 

 

Quick Guide on Invoicing

Whether you are a freelance sound engineer, session musician, tour manager, or backline technician, what we all have in common is that we like to be paid for the work we carry out. If you are not on a salary, you will most likely invoice the companies you work for.

It is incredibly important to get your invoice right from the start; it will save you and the company a lot of time if you get it right from the beginning.

You can find loads of templates online, and invoices might vary slightly from country to country. However, the basics are all the same, and there is some crucial information you need to include in your invoice.

Here is a simple guide on what a basic invoice needs to include:

Your Name / Company Name: This one is quite obvious, it needs to be clear who is invoicing the company.

Your contact information: Your full address, including city and country. You will also need to provide your phone number.

Date: The date you are sending the invoice. This is crucial, this way you can keep track of whether your invoice is overdue or not.

Invoice number: This one is important, especially if you are invoicing a company regularly, this way the accounts team can keep track of which invoices have been processed and which are due to be processed. It also helps you to keep track of your own invoices and how many you have sent.

For: Project or service description.

Bill to: The Company / Person you are invoicing and their address. Add ‘Attention’ depending on what department or person you are invoicing.

Description of the work carried out: The more accurate description, the better, where you have been working, what department, what date and for how long.

The amount: The amount you charge for your work.

Value added tax (VAT): If you are a VAT registered business, you need to add VAT, which is usually between 15%-20% of the amount charged.

Total amount: Sum up the amount (and VAT if you have a VAT registered business) to a total amount.

Bank Details: Now do not forget to add your correct bank details. This might seem obvious, but I’ve seen plenty of invoices which did not include their bank details, or their details were incorrect.

Add your bank, full name, sort code, and account number.

Format: PDF is the way to go. That way your invoice can not be altered with. Name your PDF after your invoice number. Also, include your name and surname, i.e., Invoice#1001FirstnameSurname.

Email: Make sure you are emailing the right department/person. If you send your invoice to the wrong department/person, it will take longer to process your invoice. Worst case, it will get lost between people, which will delay the process even further.

When emailing your invoice make sure you write something along the lines of:

“Dear Sir / Madame / Name of the person,

Please find attached my invoice for my (description such as DJ/session musician/sound technician) services at your company. If you have any questions concerning this invoice, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Kind regards,

First name Surname “

It does not have to be long, but it needs to be polite, professional and give them some information about the invoice they have just received.

It can take up to 30 days for invoices to be processed and paid which is standard. In the UK, usually, VAT invoices must be issued within 30 days of the date of supply or the date of payment (if you’re paid in advance).

Overdue fees: In the UK we have the ‘Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998′, which means that if a payment is overdue, you can claim a late payment fee. The statutory right to claim interest and compensation is not compulsory, and it is for the supplier to decide whether or not to make use of their rights.

Make sure to look up your rights and acts in your country and do not hesitate to get in touch with a solicitor to help you if you need further assistance with any claims or questions regarding any late payments.

 

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