How to bill clients as an illustrator

Illustration billing has its own rhythm: a deposit before the first sketch, clear revision rounds, and a license fee that reflects where the art will actually live. Fee-Lion lets you spell all of that out in one estimate, so the client approves the terms before you ever touch the brush.

Build the estimate around how illustration really works

Start in Estimates in the left sidebar and create a new estimate for your client. Price each part of the job as its own line item so nothing about scope or licensing is left to a hopeful assumption.

1. Add your creative work as task line items (hours times your rate) for things like concepting, sketching, and final art.
2. Add the license as a fee line item, for example “Usage license, web + social, 1 year.” Naming the scope here is how you avoid the dreaded “can we also put it on a billboard?” later.
3. Add a fee line for revision rounds, such as “2 revision rounds included.” Anything beyond that becomes a paid add-on, not free overtime.
4. Set your tax and a deposit % on the estimate so the client sees exactly what’s due up front.

If you bill the same way on every job, set your tax and deposit defaults once at Settings → Preferences so each new estimate starts pre-filled.

Tip: Put licensing in its own clearly named line item rather than folding it into your hourly rate. When the client wants expanded usage next year, you have a number to point at, and a clean second invoice to send.

Cover rush jobs, expanded usage, and the brief that dies

The line items above set the happy path. A few extra entries protect you when reality gets messy.

• Add a surcharge for rush timelines, so a “need it by Friday” brief carries its true cost instead of eating your weekend for free.
• Add a surcharge for expanded usage, when the art jumps from a single web post to print, packaging, or paid ads.
• Include a kill fee as a fee line, billed if the brief is cancelled after work begins, so a dead project still pays for the hours you already gave it.
• Use a discount line for a portfolio piece or a long-time client, keeping the favor visible instead of quietly shrinking your rate.

Take a deposit, then turn the green light into work

The deposit is your starting gun. With a deposit percentage on the estimate, the client can approve and pay the up-front amount before you begin.

1. Send the estimate from the estimate view and let the client review it in the portal using their magic link, no login required.
2. When they approve and pay the deposit by card, the money lands in your own connected Stripe account.
3. Use Convert to turn the approved estimate into an invoice for the balance, or into a project if the job has real stages to track.
4. When the final art ships, the invoice carries a Pay button, so the closing payment is one click for the client.

In a hurry between sketches? Open the command palette with ⌘K and type something like “create invoice for Acme” to jump straight there.

What’s next

• Collect a deposit on an estimate
• Add discounts and surcharges to an estimate
• Price an estimate with tasks, fees, and units
• Convert an approved estimate