A key part of doing business: Getting paid. Thankfully, Braintrust makes it easy for you to submit invoices to your clients.
In this macro guide, we’ll answer any questions you might have about the invoicing process, as well as some best practices for invoicing.
Table of Contents
- Submitting Invoices
- Where can I submit invoices?
- How do I submit invoices?
- When can I submit invoices?
- When do I get paid?
- What does “Processing Payment” mean?
- Other Invoice Questions
- How do I track my hours?
- How do I add a due date to my invoice?
- When should I select “Mark as Paid?”
- Can I view past invoices?
- How do I copy past invoices?
- What if I’m having trouble adding my bank account?
- What tax information do I need to know?
- Additional Resources
Submitting Invoices
Where can I submit invoices?
Click on your profile on the right hand corner of the Braintrust app. You should be presented with a list of options, including “My Invoices.” Click on that, or go directly to the invoices page with this link.
How do I submit invoices?
Start by clicking the “Create Invoice” button in the upper right corner. To submit an invoice, you must have 2-step authentication set up — if you don’t already, then you will be prompted to do so:
Once you have 2-step authentication, you’ll be taken to the “New Invoice” page.
Select Project: You will only be able to choose jobs that a client has already accepted you for — if for some reason they haven’t yet, go ahead and message them and ask for them to finish the job acceptance process.
Invoice Number: Once you select a project, Braintrust will automatically draft a number for you, but you can adjust this to fit your particular invoicing system if you would prefer.
Address: This should auto-populate to the right of the Invoice Number once you select the project.
Date: This is the date you are submitting the invoice on.
Next, click “Add Item.”
Date From/Date To: Fill in the dates of the work you are invoicing for with this item.
PO/Order: Some clients may ask you to include a PO or Order # to help their accounting department know how to route the invoice. This is optional.
Description: Describe the project! Ideally this should reflect your contract with the client and stated duties in the contract or scope of work. Of course, projects sometimes change, so you’ll want to note any additional (or different) work done.
Unit price and Quantity: How you fill this out may depend on your client arrangement. If you’re charging a flat fee for the week, month, or other period of time, then you may want to just include that full rate here with a quantity of “1.”
If you’re charging an hourly rate, then you likely will be asked to include your hourly rate in the unit price, and the number of hours for quantity.
The total listed in the “Amount” section should adjust accordingly.
How you fill out the rest will depend on the client. In the “Notes to Recipient” section, it doesn’t hurt to include the name of the manager who approves your work or otherwise supervises you.
If your client requires a time sheet or any other documentation, you may need to attach that here as well.
When you’re ready, press the submit button!
When can I submit invoices?
This varies by client, but a safe rule is to submit an invoice at the end of each week. This means, unless instructed otherwise, you can submit the first invoice at the end of your first week on the job.
If your client has special invoicing instructions or a specific cadence, our team will reach out directly and let you know when to submit an invoice.
When do I get paid?
All Talent members receive payment when the client pays their invoice.
What can you do to ensure that you receive your payment on time?
Invoice on time, and communicate with your client contact to ensure they’re aware you’ve submitted the invoice and the deadline for payment.
Please note that money transfer timing depends on the country and your individual bank account. The process can be as short as a few seconds, or as long as a few days depending on these factors.
What does “Processing Payment” mean?
This is good news! It means the money is on the way to you through our payments partner.
This process can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days, depending on a few factors: your bank, your country, your account type, and the currency you have requested when setting up your deposit account.
If 10 days have elapsed in "Processing Payment,” it could mean something may have gone wrong between our payments partner and your bank.
Please email support@usebraintrust.com if your payment takes longer than 10 days.
Other Invoice Questions
How do I track my hours?
Time tracking varies by client. Some clients require only the invoice, others want to have a time tracking sheet attached to the invoice, while some clients want an approval email attached to the invoice from their internal tracking system.
It is a good idea to track your hours, regardless of the client, just in case they ask for a report. Some people use Google Sheets for this, others use Clockify, but you may use any time tracking you wish unless the client has specific requirements.
Some clients have their own systems, so if you are required to enter time in their system, you will also have to submit an invoice on your Braintrust profile and the hours must match.
How do I add a due date to my invoice?
The system automatically assigns the correct due date based on contract terms, so you do not need to set a due date. Braintrust’s standard terms are “net 30,” meaning payments are due 30 days after invoices are submitted.
When should I select “Mark as Paid?”
All payments should be made through the Braintrust platform. However, in some rare cases — for instance, if an upfront payment was agreed upon, but the client hasn’t yet filled out the job proposal on the platform itself — you may be sent money directly before the start of a job (or otherwise receive payment outside of the platform).
In these situations, it is OK to submit the invoice through the platform once the client has successfully accepted you to the job, and then select “Mark as Paid.” This lets the network know you’ve received payment, and ensures that Braintrust is able to collect client fees, which drive network operations and allow it to charge zero fees on Talent.
Can I view past invoices?
Yes! Braintrust makes it easy: The tab “All Invoices” is automatically shown when you open the “My Invoices” page. You can also select to view just paid or unpaid invoices, and can search through past invoices or projects.
How do I copy past invoices?
Once you’ve submitted an invoice for a client, you may want to make the invoicing process quicker next time by copying your last invoice.
Simply click the “copy last invoice” button, and you’ll be given a copy with the send date and Invoice Number updated and the work dates and PO/Order number empty — fill in everything that’s left, depending on the client, and click send!
How do I delete an invoice?
You may cancel an invoice at any time from the “My Invoices” page. Click on the three-dot ellipsis in the very right row of the submitted invoice, and click “Cancel.”
What if I’m having trouble adding my bank account?
Braintrust offers payments via Wise and Stripe.
In the payout method, if you click on ‘Add bank account’, you will be getting paid through Wise.
Our payments partner Wise keeps our international money flow in compliance. They follow rules regarding which currencies they can send to which countries and to which type of bank account (personal vs. business).
You may learn more on their site (https://wise.com/us). When adding Banking Information in Braintrust, we connect to the Wise API to pull supported values.
Here are common solutions if your country does not appear in the list:
1) Select to receive money in a different currency on your Banking Information screen in your Braintrust profile.
2) Investigate creating a Wise multi-currency account: https://wise.com/us/multi-currency-account/ (formerly “Borderless” account). Wise describes it briefly in this marketing video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRqfUpUlyZc.
3) Create a Payoneer account: https://www.payoneer.com/accounts/ and use those account details to enter in the Banking Information page: https://app.usebraintrust.com/settings/payments/
In the payout method, if you click on ‘Stripe Account’, you will be getting paid through Stripe.
Click here to set up your Stripe account.
What tax information do I need to know?
You may use the W9 or W8 for you as an individual, or your company. When you submit invoices, your name will appear and you also can enter your business name to display on invoices that we send to clients, but it is not required.
At the end of the year, the Braintrust accounting team sends you a 1099 (or equivalent) using the tax form on file. You will use that in your respective tax returns, whether you submit as an individual or as a business.
You can submit the following forms via the platform to be attached with your invoice to clients.
Under the Profile Settings, select payments, and upload the completed W8 or W9 form, which will be saved to your profile and added when submitting invoices.
W9 forms for US workers:
- Form: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf
- Instructions for form W9: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/iw9.pdf
W8 forms for International workers:
- W8-BEN (Individuals)
- Form: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw8ben.pdf
- Instructions for W8-BEN: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/iw8ben.pdf
- Under Line 5 you should enter your Social Security Number (SSN) or Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN). If you DO NOT have a SSN or ITIN leave this field blank.
- Under Line 6 enter your tax identification number issued by your country. This field is required by law.
- Line 7 is filled by a withholding agent. So you may leave this field blank.
- Line 9 and 10 are completed only if you are claiming treaty benefits as a resident of a foreign country.
- W8-BEN-E (Entities)