Social Media Manager Invoice Template
This social media manager invoice template is already filled in with the line items the job usually carries. Change the numbers, add your details, and download the PDF. Nothing is uploaded and no account is needed.
A social media manager's invoice has to separate the fee from the ad spend, because one is income and the other is money passing through.
Your details
Bill to
Invoice details
Line items
Tax & discount
- Subtotal
- $6,200.00
- Total due
- $6,200.00
Notes & payment details
- Invoice no.
- —
- Issued
- —
- Due
- —
| Description | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly management retainer, 4 channels | 1 | $1,800.00 | $1,800.00 |
| Content production: 12 posts, 4 short videos | 1 | $950.00 | $950.00 |
| Paid media management fee (15% of spend) | 1 | $450.00 | $450.00 |
| Ad spend (pass-through, at cost) | 1 | $3,000.00 | $3,000.00 |
- Subtotal
- $6,200.00
- Total due
- $6,200.00
Ad spend is passed through at cost and is not a fee. Platform receipts are available on request. The management fee is calculated on spend at the percentage shown. Retainer covers the channels listed. Additional channels are quoted separately.
Prefilled as a social media manager invoice. The rates shown are round placeholder figures to make the document readable, not rate guidance. Saved in this browser only.
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How social media managers usually bill
| Convention | Value |
|---|---|
| Billed by | Monthly retainer, with ad spend billed separately |
| Usual payment terms | Monthly in advance |
| Money up front | First month in advance; ad spend prepaid or on the client's own card |
| Also called | social media invoice, marketing retainer invoice, SMM invoice |
| These are the common conventions in the trade, not rules. The terms that matter are the ones in your own agreement with the client, and this template will carry whatever you set. | |
What belongs on a social media manager invoice
- Fee and ad spend on separate lines
- Combining them inflates your apparent income, confuses the client's bookkeeping, and makes a spend increase look like a price rise.
- The management fee basis
- A percentage of spend should show the percentage and the spend it was calculated on, so the client can check it.
- Deliverables by count
- Twelve posts and four videos is a scope. 'Content creation' is not, and it is what gets stretched.
- Which channels are covered
- Naming them is what makes a fifth channel a new quote rather than an assumption.
The mistake that costs social media managers the most
Running client ad spend through your own account
Putting a client's advertising budget on your card makes you their lender, inflates your revenue for tax purposes, and leaves you exposed if they stop paying. It also means their advertising history and audience data live in your account rather than theirs. Have the client hold the ad account and the payment method, and bill only your fee for managing it.
Sales tax on a social media manager invoice
Marketing and advertising services are untaxed in most states, but a few tax advertising services specifically, and the treatment of pass-through ad spend is not always the same as the treatment of the fee.
The template has a tax field with an editable label, so it will say VAT or GST if that is what you need, and it applies the rate to the subtotal after any discount. Leave the rate at zero if you are not registered to collect. Nothing here is tax advice, and a question about your own registration is one for your state's department of revenue or your accountant.
Templates for related work
Per project, with an hourly rate for work outside scope
Per hour, or a monthly block of retained hours
Quoting the job before you bill it is what the quote generator is for, and working out what to charge in the first place is what the freelance rate calculator does.
Questions about social media manager invoices
Should ad spend go on my invoice?
Only as a clearly marked pass-through line, and preferably not at all. The cleanest arrangement is the client's own ad account on their own card, with you billing only the management fee. If you must front the spend, show it separately at cost so nobody mistakes it for income, including your own accountant.
How should a social media management fee be structured?
A flat monthly retainer for the work, plus a percentage of spend for paid media if you manage it. A percentage of spend alone gives you an incentive the client should not have to think about, and a flat fee alone underprices a growing account.
What should the retainer specify?
Channels, deliverable counts and response times. All three are what get stretched otherwise, and all three are easy to state in one line each on the invoice, which is the document that gets reread each month.