Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for photographers and videographers.
A checklist built from how photographers and videographers work, to print or save as a PDF and bring to any supplier meeting.
What the software should cover
Tick each one that matters to your business.
- Booking calendar with advances
- Crew and freelancer roster
- Equipment issue per shoot
- Deliverables and album stages
- Proofs, revisions and client link
- Raw file and drive record
- Payment milestones and reminders
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For studio owners
- For booking coordinators
- For photographers and crew leads
- For editors and album designers
- For accounts
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Shoots booked by date, with the crew assigned to each
- Advances received and balances still to collect, booking by booking
- Jobs at each stage, from raw files through edit to album delivered
- Albums past the date promised to the client
- Revisions used against those included in the package
- Freelancer payouts due for shoots already done
- Enquiries by source, and how many of them became bookings
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- WhatsApp click-to-chat
- Google Drive client gallery links for delivery
- Google Calendar for shoot dates
- Bank transfer and wallet records
- Accounting software, through an export agreed at set-up
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Is it suited to a wedding studio?
- Does it stop us taking two bookings on the same date?
- Can the client select photos online, and are the photographs stored here?
- Can we send a booking contract for signature, or a payment link for the balance?
- Can the crew update a shoot from the venue?
- How does it handle album revisions?
- Can we track what freelancers are owed?
- How does it handle tax invoices and our accounts?
- Can old bookings and the client list be moved across, and who owns them?
- What does it cost?
- How soon can the booking desk start using it?
- What should the studio collect before set-up?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Two crews are booked for one Sunday
- Albums are stuck on selections
- Revisions never end
- Freelancer dues are guesswork
- Nobody knows which drive holds a wedding
Prefer to talk it through? See the photographers and videographers page.