Accounting and invoicing for content agencies
Blog posts, videos, photos, newsletters and social media material: a content agency delivers quantities for many clients, often with an editorial plan and fixed monthly quotas. Saldiqo bills quotas, deducts unused parts and shows effort and return per client.
What comes up for content agencies
Quotas instead of unit prices
A client books ten articles and four videos a month. What is not delivered is not billed, or it expires.
Many freelancers
Writers, photographers and editors work on commission. Their invoices are expenses and partly pass-through items.
Revisions and approvals
Every approval round costs time. Whoever does not record it prices too low.
How Saldiqo helps
- Quota as a recurring invoiceThe monthly quota as a line, with adjustments to the delivered quantity in the invoice.
- Record freelancersFreelancers’ invoices as expenses with the client’s cost centre.
- Time trackingRecord effort for revisions and coordination to evaluate or bill it.
- Cost centre per clientEvaluate income, freelancer costs and time per client.
Typical invoice lines
Examples that often appear on invoices in this industry. You set the prices yourself.
- Content package November: 8 articles, 2 videos
- Additional article, 1,500 words
- Editing and approval, hours
- Freelance writer fee, passed through
- Photo shoot for the blog, half a day
- Newsletter copy, four issues
Tax and invoicing in the UK
What applies to invoices in the UK, in short. As of October 2026.
- VAT
- Standard rate 20 %, reduced rate 5 % and zero rate 0 %. Saldiqo calculates each invoice line with the rate you pick.
- VAT registration
- You must register once your taxable turnover passes £90,000 over any 12 months, or you expect to pass it within the next 30 days. You can deregister below £88,000. Until you are registered, your invoices show no VAT, and Saldiqo adds up your 12-month turnover for you.
- What goes on an invoice
- If you are VAT registered: your VAT number, the tax point, unit prices and the VAT total in pounds. A limited company shows its registered name on every invoice, and its company number, registered office and part of the UK on letters, order forms and the website.
- E-invoicing
- There is no mandate today. From April 2029 e-invoicing is planned for all B2B and B2G sales that carry VAT, through Peppol. The exact date and standard are not yet in law, and the government’s roadmap follows with the Budget on 28 October 2026.
- VAT returns
- VAT returns go to HMRC through Making Tax Digital, usually quarterly, due one month and seven days after the period. Saldiqo shows sales and VAT per rate and exports CSV. It does not submit to HMRC, and for Making Tax Digital you need software recognised by HMRC.
- Record keeping
- Keep VAT records for 6 years.
- Late payment
- Statutory interest on late business payments is the Bank Rate (3.75 % in the second half of 2026) plus 8 points, so 11.75 %. On top comes fixed compensation of £40, £70 or £100, depending on the amount owed (under £1,000, from £1,000, from £10,000). Consumers have no statutory interest.
- Getting paid
- Your sort code and account number are on every invoice. Customers pay by Faster Payments or Bacs, and banks check the account name with Confirmation of Payee. There is no QR standard in the UK.
Frequently asked questions
Can I bill quotas automatically?
Yes. A recurring invoice per client creates the monthly package, and you adjust the delivered quantity in the invoice.
How do I re-invoice freelancer costs?
You record the invoice as an expense with the client’s cost centre and re-invoice it as a line.
Do content agencies in the UK have to charge VAT?
Only once they are VAT registered. Registration is required when taxable turnover passes £90,000 over any 12 months, or is expected to within the next 30 days. Below that you may register voluntarily. If you are not registered, you must not show VAT on your invoices.
Do content agencies in the UK need e-invoicing?
Not today. A mandate for B2B and B2G sales with VAT is planned from April 2029, and the details were still open as of October 2026. You can keep sending PDF invoices for now.
How long should content agencies keep invoices?
Keep VAT records for 6 years. You can store receipts digitally in Saldiqo. The legal duty to keep records stays with you.
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As of October 2026. General information, not legal or tax advice, without guarantee. For your case ask your tax adviser.