An invoice is a dated request for payment against named work. Send it to the correct legal entity when the agreed trigger occurs, with enough detail for accounts payable to process it without asking marketing for clarification.
Agree the trigger before you shoot
Write down: advance or not, whether approval or go-live starts the clock, and net-15 / net-30 / due on receipt. “After the campaign” is not a date.
Build it from the campaign, not from memory
Your invoice should match the confirmed deliverables. If the live work drifted (“we added two stories”), either amend the fee in writing or invoice the original scope only. Surprise line items delay payment.
Use the influencer invoice template. Number invoices sequentially. Never reuse a number.
India: GST and TDS (ask a CA)
If you are GST-registered, brands often expect a tax invoice in their format. They may also deduct TDS on professional fees. Thresholds and rates change. This is not tax advice, but it is worth confirming why the credited amount may differ from the invoice total.
For the current rules, start with the GST Portal's invoice-field guidance and the Income Tax Department's TDS compliance guidance, then confirm how they apply to your work with a CA.
Send, then log
Mail (or portal) + PDF. Record: sent date, due date, amount, contact. The product-shaped version of this workflow is How to create invoices and track payments.
If the due date passes
Do not skip straight to anger. Use the sequence in What to do when a brand doesn't pay and the follow-up wording.
When you are ready to run this in one place
Send the invoice against the work they approved
The cleanest invoices sit next to the campaign and the deliverable that triggered them. That is how follow-up stays factual.