Stop letting freelancer payments drain your studio’s time
In the creative world, your talent is your biggest asset. But if you’re running an animation or games studio, managing that talent comes with a massive administrative burden; the monthly payment run.
When you’re dealing with dozens of freelancers, “payment day” isn’t just a quick task, it’s a huge time drain. Whether the burden falls on you the business owner or your accounting team, one wrong digit or a missed international IBAN number, and you’re spending your day on the phone with the bank instead of finishing a project and that’s not to mention the time it takes to manually enter every single payment and supplier details.
The trap of manual payments
Most studio owners start out by manually processing payments. It works for a while, but it’s a massive time drain. Beyond the boredom of it, it’s also where mistakes happen. Whether it’s an invoice paid twice or bank details that weren’t updated, manual entry is an open door for errors. In addition as your studio grows and your team of freelancers grow the few payments to process each month can grow pretty quickly and usually when you have limited time.
A better way to handle the UK run
We’ve found that the most efficient studios use a “batch” approach. By using Telleroo alongside Xero, you stop paying people individually. Once your invoices are approved in Xero, they sync to Telleroo. You check the total, upload the batch and the manual processing is done securely and efficiently.
The best part? It flags you if a supplier’s bank details have changed or if something looks off, so you don’t have to second-guess yourself and it builds in an extra layer of security.
What about international freelancers?
International transfers via traditional banks are usually slow and expensive. We recommend Wise for this. It gives you the real exchange rates without any hidden bank fees and most payments land the same day. Plus, like Telleroo, it talks directly to Xero, so your bookkeeping stays clean without extra effort.
The Result: Happy suppliers and more time to focus on the project
When payments are automated, they happen on time, every time. Your freelancers stay happy, and you get your head out of spreadsheets and back into the creative work.
If your still processing payment manually and have better ways to spend your time then get in touch with us to talk about automating your payments.
Written by Danielle Biggins & Shannon McDonald
