Real Estate Photography Invoice Generator

What goes on a real estate photography invoice?

Everything the agent's office needs to pay it, and everything you'd want in writing if a payment or a photo use is ever disputed:

• Your business name and contact details, so the payment and any questions come back to you.
• The agent and the brokerage. The agent who booked you is usually your client.
• The property address, plus the MLS number if there is one. Agents pay for several listings at once; the address is how they match your invoice to the right one.
• An invoice number, the invoice date and the shoot date.
• Each service on its own line: the photo package, then each add-on. Itemizing makes an add-on visible as something the agent chose, which makes it easier to sell next time.
• The total, any deposit already paid, the balance, and the date it's due.
• How to pay you.
• A license paragraph saying who may use the photos, for what, and for how long.

Our guide to real estate photography contracts covers the rest of the terms worth writing down, such as cancellations and reshoots.

Example: a real estate photography invoice

Here are the line items for an average-size home with drone and a hosted tour, priced at the defaults in our pricing calculator: a photographer who wants $60,000 take-home, spends about $8,300 a year on the business, sets aside 25% for taxes, and shoots six homes a week for 48 weeks at about 3.5 hours of work each.

Those are floors for that photographer, not market rates. Run the calculator with your own numbers before you copy them.

When should the invoice be due?

Match the terms to the client. An agent who books you every week can pay on net terms, such as Net 15 or Net 30, and chasing a deposit from them only adds friction. For a new client, take a deposit of 25 to 50% when they book, or ask for payment on delivery before you release the photos and the tour link. Enter a deposit above and the invoice shows it as paid and bills the balance. Whatever you choose, put the due date on the invoice itself, not just "Net 15", so nobody has to count days.

Do I charge sales tax on real estate photography?

It depends on your state, and sometimes on what you deliver. Some states tax photography services or digital images and others don't. Check with your state's revenue department or your accountant. The tax rate box is 0 by default; if you enter a rate, the invoice adds it to the whole subtotal as its own line.

Why put a license paragraph on the invoice?

You own the copyright in the photos you take. The agent gets permission to use them to market the listing. Most disagreements come from photos turning up somewhere else later: in the agent's portfolio after the sale, on the next agent's listing, or with the new owners. A paragraph on every invoice puts the terms in writing at the moment the agent pays. The generator fills in the paragraph from our guide to real estate photo licensing and copyright, which covers the edge cases.

Not sure what to charge? Work it out with the real estate photography pricing calculator.