Options and bookings: how a model booking works
Options, firm bookings, buyouts: booking has its own rules, and they usually live in the agency's terms. This guide walks through the usual process, using published terms from German agencies as examples.
An option holds a date
An option reserves a model for a date without booking them yet. Several clients can hold the same date, and rank decides who goes first. Book Now Models, for instance, tells clients the rank of their option if it isn't the first, and lower options move up when an earlier one lapses.
Deadlines matter, and they vary. At Book Now Models an option lapses unless it's firmly booked by 6 pm three working days before the job. At S Models it's seven working days. Both also allow the agency to ask for a decision, which then has to come within one working day.
A firm booking is binding
When the client commits, the agency sends a confirmation with location, dates and fee and briefs the model. I-Models describes a booking as generally binding on both sides, cancellable only against a cancellation fee. So get the location, dates, fee and usage in writing before the model says yes.
Who the contract is with
In the German terms we looked at, the agency acts as intermediary and the contract is between client and model. Book Now Models states that it doesn't become a contracting party for the model's services. Your own contracts decide what applies to you, and practice varies between countries.
Commission and billing
After the job, the model submits travel, hotel and overtime costs. The agency invoices these to the client along with the fee and, once paid, passes the money on to the model, less commission.
The rate is set in the terms. Book Now Models states 20 percent and S Models 25 percent of the fee, unless agreed otherwise, and the I-Models glossary gives 20 to 25 percent on fees and buyouts in Germany. Treat these as examples rather than a standard.
E-invoicing in Germany
German businesses have had to be able to receive e-invoices since 1 January 2025. Companies with more than EUR 800,000 in prior-year revenue must issue them from 2027, and others from 2028, with transition rules until then. The Federal Ministry of Finance lists XRechnung and ZUGFeRD from version 2.0.1 as suitable, excluding the MINIMUM and BASIC-WL profiles.
How this applies to your agency, for example when invoicing in a model's name, is a question for your tax adviser.
CastTool takes a request through availability and offer to a ZUGFeRD/Factur-X invoice. More on booking and invoicing