Freelance words in plain English

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A

Access rider or access document

A short document that explains what you need in order to work well and safely. It might cover communication, travel, rest breaks, working hours, lighting, step-free access, interpreters, captions, quiet space, medication or support workers.

An access rider can make a useful conversation easier, but it does not replace your legal rights. You do not have to use a particular template or disclose more personal information than is necessary.

What to check: Who needs to receive it, how the information will be used and kept private, which adjustments are agreed, who will arrange them, and whether any costs are covered.

Agent and commission

An agent represents you for agreed parts of your career, such as finding or negotiating work. Commission is the amount you pay the agent, usually a percentage of specified earnings.

An agent is not your employer, and having one does not guarantee work. Commission rules vary, so “standard commission” is not a complete answer.

What to check: Who needs to receive it, how the information will be used and kept private, which adjustments are agreed, who will arrange them, and whether any costs are covered. Ask for the agreed arrangements to be confirmed in writing, either in your contract, booking confirmation or a separate written agreement.

Allowable expense

A business cost that HMRC allows you to deduct when working out the taxable profit from your self-employed work. It reduces the profit on which tax is calculated. It is not a refund of the whole cost.

If something is used for both work and personal reasons, you can normally claim only the business part. Different rules apply to some costs, so do not assume that everything connected with your career is allowable.

Performing-arts example: The business portion of professional subscriptions, equipment, accountancy fees or travel to a temporary workplace may be allowable, depending on the facts. Ordinary personal clothing usually is not, even if you wear it for work.

What to check: Keep the receipt, record the business reason and use current HMRC guidance. Reimbursed expenses and costs paid through payroll may be treated differently.

Assignment

A transfer of ownership of intellectual property, such as copyright, from one person to another. A copyright assignment must normally be in writing and signed by the person transferring it.

An assignment is broader than a licence. If you assign copyright, you may no longer control how the work is used unless the contract keeps particular rights for you.

What to check: Exactly which rights are being transferred, for which work, whether the transfer is permanent, what payment you receive, and whether moral rights, future formats or AI uses are covered.

B

Basic fee, session fee or engagement fee

The agreed payment for the core work. Depending on the job, this might cover a performance, rehearsal period, recording session, workshop, design, commission or week of work.

The name does not tell you everything included. Usage, overtime, preparation, travel time, holiday pay, expenses and VAT may be separate, or the engager may try to include them in one figure.

What to check: What work and how many hours or sessions the fee covers, what is paid separately, whether the figure is gross, and when payment is due.

Brief, scope and deliverables

The brief describes what the engager wants. The scope sets the boundaries of the work. Deliverables are the things you must provide, such as performances, designs, reports, files, workshops or edited recordings.

Clear scope protects both sides. “Help with the project” can turn into much more work than either person first imagined.

What to check: The tasks, number of versions or revisions, deadlines, rehearsal or meeting time, technical specifications, access needs, approval process and what would count as additional paid work.

Buyout

A single payment for agreed rights to use your work or performance, instead of separate payments each time it is used. Buyouts are common in recorded performance, voice work, commercials, photography and some commissioned creative work.

“Buyout” does not have one fixed meaning. Its reach comes from the contract. A buyout might be narrow and time-limited, or it might seek worldwide, all-media use for a very long time.

What to check: Media, territory, length of time, exclusivity, editing, sublicensing, advertising, archive use, future formats, AI training or synthetic performance, and whether any further payment can arise. Compare the scope of the rights with the fee before agreeing.

C

Cancellation fee or kill fee

Payment agreed if booked or commissioned work is cancelled. Kill fee is an informal term often used for commissioned or project work.

There is no universal cancellation fee for every freelance job. Whether money is due can depend on your contract, any collective agreement, why and when the work was cancelled, and what loss you have suffered.

What to check: The cancellation scale, notice periods, non-refundable preparation, booked dates you turned down elsewhere, expenses already incurred, force majeure wording and when the fee must be paid. Agree this before keeping dates free.

Client, engager or hirer

Common words for the person or organisation buying or arranging your work. Different parts of the sector prefer different labels.

These words describe the commercial relationship, but they do not decide your legal status. A document can call someone a “client” while the real working arrangements point to worker or employee status.

What to check: The organisation’s legal name, who can agree changes, who will pay you and who is responsible for day-to-day working arrangements.

Collective agreement

An agreement negotiated between a trade union and an employer, producer or group of employers. It can set minimum fees, hours, breaks, holiday, overtime, touring terms, expenses, pensions, cancellation and other conditions.

A collective agreement may become part of your individual contract when the engager is bound by it or your contract incorporates it. A union minimum is a floor, not a ceiling, unless the agreement says otherwise.

What to check: The exact agreement, its current version, whether it covers your role and production, which tier or category applies, and which terms are incorporated into your contract. Do not rely only on “Equity rates” or “Bectu terms” without identifying the agreement.

Contract, terms and contract for services

A contract is an agreement that creates obligations between people or organisations. It can be written, spoken or formed through conduct, although written terms are much easier to check and prove.

Terms are the individual promises and rules inside the contract. A contract for services is a label often used for self-employed work, but the label alone does not decide employment status.

What to check: The parties, work, dates, place, hours, fee, expenses, payment date, employment status, cancellation, rights, credit, access, safety, complaints, insurance, confidentiality and how the agreement can end. Save the final version and any emails that change it.

Copyright and intellectual property

Intellectual property, often shortened to IP, is the umbrella term for legal rights in creations and identifiers. Copyright can protect original scripts, music, choreography notation, designs, photographs, recordings and other creative works when the legal requirements are met.

A self-employed creator is usually the first owner of copyright in work they create, unless a contract transfers it or a specific exception applies. Commissioning and paying for work does not automatically transfer copyright. Work created by an employee in the course of employment is usually owned by the employer. Performers’ rights are separate from copyright.

What to check: Who will own each contribution, whether the engager needs a licence or an assignment, permitted uses, credit, moral rights, materials supplied by other people, archive use, adaptations and AI-related uses. Collaborative work can be complicated, so get specialist advice if ownership matters.

D

Day rate, hourly rate, weekly rate or session rate

The unit used to price your time. The word “day” or “session” does not define how long it lasts.

What to check: Start and finish times, breaks, preparation, get-ins and get-outs, travel, overnight work, overtime, additional performances, cancellation, expenses and VAT. When comparing rates, compare what is included as well as the headline amount.

E

Employee

One of the main employment-status categories. Employees work under a contract of employment and generally have the fullest set of employment rights, including the rights workers have plus additional rights that may depend on length of service.

Status depends on the real relationship, including factors such as personal service, control and the obligations on both sides. No single phrase in a contract settles it.

What to check: Use the Acas or nidirect status guidance and seek advice if the engager’s label does not match how the job works in practice.

Employment status

The legal category that describes your working relationship for a particular job. For employment rights, the main categories are employee, worker and self-employed. Tax law uses its own tests and does not use exactly the same categories.

You can have different status for different jobs, and your tax status and rights status for the same job may not match. This is especially important in the performing arts, where short engagements are common.

What to check: Look at each engagement on its facts. Use Start here: how is this job engaging you? and get union or specialist advice if the answer affects minimum pay, holiday, tax or another important right.

Exclusivity

A restriction that stops or limits you from doing other work. It may relate to a competitor, brand, character, production, type of work, time period or geographical area.

Exclusivity can reduce your ability to earn elsewhere, even when the original job uses only a small amount of your time.

What to check: Which work is restricted, for how long, where, whether conflicts require approval, what happens if the production is delayed, and whether the fee properly reflects the lost opportunities.

Expenses, reimbursement and per diem

Expenses are costs connected with doing the work, such as agreed travel, accommodation or materials. Reimbursement means the engager pays back an agreed cost. A per diem or subsistence allowance is a set amount for daily costs, often while touring or working away from home.

Expenses are not the same as your fee. Tax treatment can vary depending on who paid, what the cost was and how you are engaged.

What to check: What is covered, spending limits, whether approval is needed, what evidence to keep, payment times, travel class, accommodation standards and what happens if plans change. Keep receipts even when you expect reimbursement.

F

Force majeure

A contract clause dealing with specified events outside the parties’ reasonable control that prevent or delay the work. Examples might include severe weather, government action or other major disruption, but the actual list and consequences depend on the wording.

There is no single force majeure rule that automatically applies to every freelance contract. A difficult or expensive situation is not necessarily force majeure.

What to check: Which events count, who must give notice, whether work is postponed or cancelled, what happens to fees and expenses, how long the clause can continue, and whether either side can end the agreement.

Freelancer

An everyday description for someone who works independently, often across different projects or organisations. It is widely used in the performing arts but is not, by itself, a tax status or employment-rights status.

A freelancer might be paid through PAYE for one job, invoice as a sole trader for another, and receive royalties or secondary payments from earlier work.

What to check: Never let “freelance” replace the practical questions about status, contract, pay, rights and tax for each engagement.

G

Gross and net

Gross pay is pay before deductions such as tax, National Insurance, pension contributions or student loan repayments. Net pay is what remains after payroll deductions.

For self-employed work, the amount on an invoice is not the same as take-home pay. It may still need to cover business expenses, tax, National Insurance, pension saving, unpaid admin, gaps between jobs and time off. Net profit is a separate accounting term.

What to check: When someone quotes a fee, ask what will be deducted, whether VAT is included or added, and which expenses or rights payments are separate.

H

Holiday pay

Pay connected with a worker’s or employee’s legal entitlement to paid annual leave. The calculation and way it appears can vary with working pattern and applicable law.

Being self-employed for tax does not automatically remove employment-rights status. Some performers and stage managers, for example, may be workers for employment law and entitled to holiday pay even when taxed as self-employed.

What to check: Your status, the agreement, the pay breakdown and current guidance. Do not assume holiday pay is included in a quoted fee just because the engager calls the job freelance. Rules and calculation methods differ in some respects between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, so use the correct national guidance or ask your union.

I

Invoice

A formal request for payment that lists what you supplied, how much is due and how to pay. Sending an invoice does not, by itself, prove that you are legally self-employed.

A standard invoice normally includes a unique invoice number, your details, the customer’s details, a clear description, supply date, invoice date, amounts, total due and agreed payment information. Sole traders must use their own name and any business name. VAT invoices have additional requirements.

What to check: The correct legal entity and billing address, purchase order, agreed fee and expenses, VAT status, payment deadline and bank details. Use the Invoice template and invoice checklist.

L

Licence

Permission to use intellectual property while the owner keeps ownership. A licence can be exclusive or non-exclusive and can be limited by purpose, media, territory and time.

What to check: What is licensed, who can use it, whether they can edit or sublicense it, where and for how long it can be used, exclusivity, payment, credit, termination and AI-related uses. A licence that says “all media, worldwide, in perpetuity” is very broad even though ownership has not transferred.

M

Minimum rate, recommended rate and union rate

These phrases can mean different things:

• The National Minimum Wage, including the age-based National Living Wage rate, is a legal minimum for qualifying workers.
• A collective-agreement minimum is the negotiated floor where that agreement applies.
• A union or professional body may also publish a recommended rate for work not covered by a binding agreement.
• The real Living Wage promoted by the Living Wage Foundation is voluntary and is not the same as the government’s National Living Wage.

What to check: Which rate is meant, whether it legally or contractually applies, the role and grade, dates, hours, overtime, holiday pay, expenses and pension. A minimum is a floor, not a target or maximum.

Mixed income or a mixed-status career

A working life that combines different kinds of income or engagement. You might have PAYE performance work, self-employed teaching or design work, a grant, royalties and casual non-arts employment in the same tax year.

This is normal in the performing arts, but it makes clear records important.

What to check: Keep documents for each source of income, including payslips, P45s, invoices, expense records and royalty statements. Do not put everything through your self-employed accounts just because you think of your whole career as freelance.

N

National Insurance

UK contributions linked to earnings and profits that help fund state benefits and the State Pension. Employees usually pay through payroll. Self-employed contributions are dealt with through HMRC rules and, where due, Self Assessment.

Rates, thresholds and categories change. National Insurance is separate from Income Tax, even though both may be collected together.

What to check: Use current HMRC guidance and keep your National Insurance number private. If your income is low or irregular, check whether gaps could affect your contribution record and whether voluntary contributions are relevant before paying anything.

National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage

Legal hourly minimums for qualifying workers in the UK. The applicable rate depends on age and, in some cases, apprenticeship status. The government uses National Living Wage for the highest age-based statutory rate.

These are different from the voluntary real Living Wage calculated by the Living Wage Foundation. The fact that someone is called freelance, paid a flat fee or self-employed for tax does not automatically answer whether minimum-wage rights apply.

What to check: Your employment-rights status and all the working time that legally counts. Preparation, required meetings, rehearsals, waiting time or travel during the working day can sometimes matter. Check the current GOV.UK rates or the nidirect guidance for Northern Ireland, and seek union advice if a fee appears too low.

NDA or confidentiality clause

An NDA, short for non-disclosure agreement, or a confidentiality clause limits what information you can share. A proportionate clause may protect unpublished work, personal data or genuine commercial information.

It cannot lawfully be used to prevent protected whistleblowing or reporting a crime. Other legal limits also apply. Very broad wording can make it harder to seek support or discuss your own experiences.

What to check: What information is covered, how long the restriction lasts, permitted disclosures to advisers, your union, medical or support services, and what happens if information is already public. Get advice before signing a broad clause or if someone uses one to threaten you.

O

Option

A right, but not usually an obligation, to take a further step within a stated time. An option might let a producer extend an engagement, reserve the right to acquire a script, commission more work or activate another use.

The word also has specific meanings in some film, television and union agreements, including named payment options. Do not assume that every “option” works in the same way.

What to check: Who controls the option, what triggers it, the deadline, the option payment, the fee if it is exercised, whether terms can change, and what you are prevented from doing while the option is open. An option is not a promise that the next stage will happen.

P

PAYE

Pay As You Earn, HMRC’s system for collecting Income Tax and National Insurance from employment income through payroll. You should usually receive a payslip showing gross pay and deductions.

PAYE explains how tax is collected. It does not, on its own, give the full answer about your employment-rights status. A PAYE engagement may involve employee or worker rights, depending on the facts.

What to check: The employer name, tax code, gross pay, deductions, holiday pay and pension information. Keep payslips, P45s and P60s with your tax records.

Payment terms

The agreed rules about when and how you will be paid. For example, “within 30 days” is incomplete unless it is clear what starts the 30 days and whether the organisation requires a valid invoice or purchase order.

What to check: Deposit or advance, invoice trigger, due date, accepted invoice format, purchase order, approval process, bank charges, VAT, expenses, late-payment consequences and who to contact. Put the calendar due date in your records and follow up promptly if it passes.

Payslip, P45 and P60

A payslip shows what you earned in a pay period and what was deducted. A P45 records pay and tax when you leave a PAYE job. A P60 summarises pay and tax for the tax year if you are still employed by that employer on 5 April.

Freelancers with several short PAYE engagements can collect many of these documents. They help you check tax codes, complete a tax return if needed and avoid counting PAYE income as self-employed turnover.

What to check: Save every payslip, P45 and P60. Check your name, National Insurance number, employer, pay, tax code and deductions. Ask the payroll team promptly if something looks wrong.

Performers’ rights

Legal rights that give performers control over certain recordings, broadcasts and uses of their live performances. They are separate from copyright in a script, score or recording.

Contracts often ask a performer to consent to recording and license particular uses. The detail matters, especially where a recording can be edited, reused, turned into another format or used with AI.

What to check: What will be recorded, purpose, media, territory, term, editing, reuse, advertising, archive, transfer to third parties, AI training, digital replicas or synthetic performance, credit and further payment. Ask your union before agreeing to rights you do not understand.

Purchase order or PO

An organisation’s internal authorisation and reference for buying goods or services. Some organisations will not process an invoice without a valid PO number.

A PO is not a substitute for a clear contract, but it can be essential to getting paid.

What to check: Ask whether a PO is required before starting work, make sure it covers the agreed amount and legal entity, and put the correct number on the invoice. If the scope or fee changes, check whether the PO must also be updated.

R

Reasonable adjustment

A change that removes or reduces a substantial disadvantage experienced by a disabled person. It might involve working arrangements, communication, equipment, physical access or providing support.

In England, Scotland and Wales, the Equality Act 2010 duty can apply in employment and to some workers, contractors and self-employed people who are engaged to do work personally. Northern Ireland uses separate disability-discrimination legislation, so the legal route and wording differ.

The legal definition of disability is broader than many people realise. Under the Equality Act 2010, it generally covers a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term negative effect on someone’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. Some conditions are protected automatically, and someone may meet the legal definition even if they do not personally identify as disabled. Read Acas guidance on what disability means by law.

What counts as reasonable depends on the individual situation. Relevant factors can include whether the adjustment would remove the disadvantage, whether it is practical, its cost and the organisation’s resources. An organisation saying that something is unreasonable does not necessarily settle the question, and the same adjustment may be reasonable in a different job or organisation.

You do not have to use an access rider, and choosing when to share information about a disability or access requirement is personal. Some people need adjustments during an application, audition or interview. Others prefer to discuss them after work has been offered. You should not have to share more personal information than is needed to understand the barrier and consider the adjustment.

What to check: Decide when you feel able to raise the requirement, while allowing enough time for any arrangements you need. Describe the barrier and the change that would help, agree responsibilities and timing in writing, and seek union or specialist advice if a request is refused or you experience discrimination. Read the current Acas reasonable-adjustments guidance.

Residual, repeat fee, royalty or secondary payment

Terms for money that may be paid after the initial work or when work is reused, sold, repeated or exploited. They are related ideas but are not interchangeable.

A repeat fee or residual is often linked to a further broadcast or reuse. A royalty is commonly calculated from sales, receipts or another agreed measure. Secondary payment is a broad sector term that can include several later payments under union agreements or collection schemes.

What to check: What triggers payment, the rate or formula, deductions, statements, audit rights, who tracks the use, how long payments continue and whether you must register with a union or collecting body.

S

Scope creep

When the work gradually expands beyond what was originally agreed, without a matching change to time, fee or deadline. It might look like extra revisions, another performance, new files, more meetings or responsibility for tasks that were not in the brief.

What to do: Pause and name the change. Confirm the original scope, explain the effect on time or cost, and agree a written variation before doing the extra work. This is project management, not being difficult.

Self Assessment

Self Assessment

HMRC’s system for reporting income and gains that have not all been dealt with through PAYE, calculating tax due and making payment. Many sole traders use it, but being paid through PAYE does not always mean you will never need a tax return.

Self Assessment is the reporting process. It is not another tax, and it is not the same thing as registering a limited company.

For most people completing their return online, the deadline for submitting it and paying any tax due is 31 January following the end of the relevant tax year. Different deadlines can apply in some circumstances, and a further payment on account may be due on 31 July.

What to check: Whether you need to register, your particular deadline, all income sources, allowable expenses, payments on account and the records you must keep. Use Registering and your first 30 days, and check the current HMRC deadlines rather than relying on dates or thresholds from a previous year.

Self-employed

For tax, this normally means running a business for yourself and being responsible for reporting its profits to HMRC. A self-employed person may quote for work, send invoices, bear some financial risk and decide how to organise the work, but status depends on the full facts.

For employment rights, genuinely self-employed people have fewer rights than workers and employees. However, being self-employed for tax does not automatically stop you being a worker for employment law.

What to check: Treat tax status and rights status as two related but separate questions. Do not agree to self-employed status simply because an engager prefers it or asks for an invoice.

Sole trader

A simple business structure in which one person runs the business as an individual. You and the business are not separate legal persons, so you are personally responsible for its debts and obligations.

You can use a trading name, but invoices and official records must still identify you correctly. Being a sole trader does not decide your status for every engagement.

What to check: Register with HMRC when required, keep business records, use the correct name on invoices and consider insurance. A limited company is a different legal structure, not a more professional name for the same thing.

T

Tax year

The period HMRC uses for personal tax. In the UK it runs from 6 April to 5 April the following year.

What to check: File income and expenses under the correct tax year, especially for jobs invoiced or paid close to 5 April. The date income counts can depend on the accounting method you use.

Territory, media and term

Three words used to define the reach of permission or restrictions:

• Territory: where the work may be used, such as the UK, Europe or worldwide.
• Media: the formats or platforms, such as live performance, broadcast, streaming, social media, games or advertising.
• Term: how long the permission or restriction lasts.

What to check: These details whenever you license rights, agree usage, accept exclusivity or sign a buyout. “All media, worldwide, in perpetuity” gives very broad reach and should be reflected in the fee and professional advice.

Turnover, expenses, profit and taxable profit

Turnover is the total income from your self-employed business before expenses. Business expenses are its costs. Profit is broadly turnover minus business expenses. Taxable profit is the amount HMRC taxes after applying the relevant tax rules and adjustments.

These are not the same as your bank balance or personal take-home income.

Performing-arts example: A £500 design fee adds £500 to turnover. If £80 of qualifying materials is an allowable expense, that cost may reduce the profit, but it does not reduce turnover.

What to check: Keep income and expense records separately and do not count PAYE wages as sole-trader turnover. Ask an accountant or HMRC if grants, reimbursements, overseas income or shared project money make the position unclear.

U

Usage or use fee

Payment for agreed use of a performance, image, voice, design or other work beyond the core session or creation fee. It is common in commercials, audio, recorded performance and other work that can be reused.

Usage might be a fixed fee for a defined period or calculated in another way under a contract or collective agreement.

What to check: The exact use, media, territory, term, audience, campaign, exclusivity, editing, renewals, AI-related use and payment date. Do not treat “online use” as precise enough.

UTR

Unique Taxpayer Reference, the reference HMRC gives you for Self Assessment. An individual or sole-trader UTR is usually a 10-digit number.

It is not the same as your National Insurance number, company number or VAT number. Having a UTR does not prove that you are self-employed for a particular job.

A UTR is not normally one of the details required on a standard invoice. An engager may sometimes request it separately for a particular tax or verification process, but it is reasonable to ask why it is required and how it will be stored.

What to check: Keep your UTR secure and use it only where genuinely required. Do not add it routinely to invoices. If an organisation asks for it, check why it needs the information and whether it can be supplied through a secure process. Retrieve a lost UTR through HMRC rather than sharing other identifying information with an unfamiliar person.

V

VAT

Value Added Tax, a tax charged by VAT-registered businesses on taxable sales. You must not add VAT to an invoice unless you are VAT-registered.

Registration becomes compulsory when taxable turnover passes the current threshold under HMRC’s rules, and voluntary registration is sometimes possible below it. The threshold and detailed rules can change.

What to check: Use the current HMRC threshold, understand which income counts and include the required VAT information on invoices if registered. VAT collected is not part of your fee to spend. Get advice before registering voluntarily or if you work internationally.

W

Worker

An employment-rights category between employee and genuinely self-employed. A worker usually agrees to do work personally for someone who is not simply a customer of a business the worker runs. Status still depends on all the facts.

Workers have important rights, which can include the National Minimum Wage, paid holiday, rest breaks, protection from discrimination and whistleblowing protection. Employees have these rights plus additional ones.

Many short-term performing-arts engagements can involve worker status. Being self-employed for tax, sending an invoice or signing a document headed “self-employed” does not automatically remove worker rights.

What to check: Use Acas guidance in England, Scotland and Wales, or nidirect and the Labour Relations Agency in Northern Ireland. Ask your union promptly if pay, holiday, discrimination or another right is at issue because legal time limits can be short.

About this page:

Research was conducted by the FMTW team using the sources below.

Last reviewed: September 2026

Links and guidance can change. Check the date and scope of any external information before relying on it.