A folder of PDFs called Crew Invoices
After a busy month, the production accountant has dozens of freelance crew invoices: camera operators, sound recordists, gaffers, runners, hair and make-up, drone operators. Some are PDFs, some Word documents, one is a photo of a handwritten invoice. They reference jobs as the trainers job, Tuesday's shoot, or a job number from a different company.
For each one she has to find the job, work out which days the person worked, find the rate agreed by text or email, and check the kit fee, mileage and overtime. She asks producers, who are on shoots. Crew chase for payment. A camera operator posts in a freelancer group about slow payers, without naming anyone, and everyone at the company wonders if it is about them.
Why crew invoices are so hard to check
- Every freelancer uses their own invoice format and job references.
- Rates, kit fees and extras are agreed by text or WhatsApp with the producer.
- Worked days differ from booked days because shoots move or run over.
- The accountant cannot tell what was agreed without asking the producer.
- Invoices sit waiting for a producer's approval that gets forgotten.
How freelancers are engaged, their tax status and anything employment-related are for your accountant and adviser. This build only deals with processing the invoices you receive.
What slow crew payments cost
The freelance crew world is small. Crew talk about which companies pay slowly, and the best people become harder to book. Overpayments slip through when checks are rushed, and underpayments cause disputes. The production accountant spends days a month on work that is mostly matching, and producers get dragged into invoice questions in the middle of shoots.
How we build the crew invoice intake
- Crew send invoices to one address, or upload them from a link. The address can be the one they already use.
- Each invoice is read by an extraction step, using a language model such as OpenAI or Anthropic Claude, into supplier, invoice number, dates worked, day rate, kit fee, overtime, mileage, expenses and total.
- The invoice is matched to the freelancer's booking on the crew board, which holds the agreed rate, kit fee and dates confirmed.
- Differences are highlighted: an extra day, a different rate, overtime not recorded, an expense without a receipt.
- Invoices that match are passed for payment. Those with differences go to the producer with the question, in one tap to approve or query.
- Approved invoices are created as bills in Xero or QuickBooks through their API, coded to the job, with the PDF attached.
- Crew can see the status of their invoice from a link: received, approved, scheduled for payment.
| Check | Compared with |
|---|---|
| Days invoiced | Days confirmed on the crew board and call sheets |
| Day rate | Rate agreed in the booking |
| Kit fee | Kit agreed in the booking |
| Overtime | Wrap times recorded on the shoot |
| Expenses | Receipts attached and your expenses rules |
Month end, a lot quieter
Invoices arrive through the month and are processed as they come. Most match the booking and go straight to Xero as bills. A few are queried: a sound recordist's extra day is confirmed by the producer from her phone, a drone operator's mileage needs a receipt. The accountant deals with the exceptions rather than every invoice.
Crew see their invoice has been approved without having to chase. Payment runs happen on your usual schedule, with nothing waiting on a forgotten approval.
The awkward invoices still come in. A handwritten one gets read and checked like the rest, with a note for the accountant to confirm the scan. An invoice that cannot be matched to any booking goes to a short list for someone to look into, rather than sitting in a folder.
Do your crew invoices look like this?
- Crew invoices arrive in every format and reference jobs loosely.
- Rates are checked against text messages.
- Invoices wait for producer approval for weeks.
- Crew chase you for payment.
- The accountant spends days a month on crew invoices.