I am in discussions with a model who gets paid for her time.  This will be the first time I work with a model that gets paid; rather than TFP.  She tells me that 99.99% of her clients pay in cash.  My question is what is the most common way to pay a model in the industry?  I suspect that most would rather receive payment in cash, but I need to run a photography business and therefore need a paper trail for my expenses.  In doing so, I have to connect the payment to the model.  So, checks and credit card payments would be my preferred method; even Paypal allows for some paper trail.

Other than cash, what form of payment do most models accept?  Paypal, checks, credit cards, something else?

What forms of payment are deal breakers for models?

Thank you.

Cash.  You can create a paper trail and still pay cash.  Some model releases indicate the amount paid.  You can add a receipt to the paperwork besides the model release and 2257 form, if you use one.  You can cash a check for the amount paid to the model, with a notation of the model's name, even though the check is made out to you.  If you get all the information from a model that is required on a 1099, you can still file the required paper work, if you exceed the threshold amount.   There is no law that says you have to pay with a check to create a paper trail.  From the model's perspective, cash doesn't bounce.  Some will accept PayPal.

You can write her a check, then have her endorse it to you in exchange for handing her the cash.
She has her cash, & you have your endorsed check as your paper trail of payment made.

Receipts & invoices are your papertrail when using cash.

Business checks are great, when they don't bounce, many models/small businesses won't take checks because of said bouncing.

I have my own invoicing system & accept credit cards, however many models don't have a CC merchant set up.

Paypal is NOT a bank and should not be used for buisness transactions.
(They have a nasty habit of shutting down accounts at random)

"Models" are just like "Photographers" Each person runs their buisness slightly different & it is up to YOU to decide how you choose to run YOUR buisness.
If you ask a model how they prefer to be paid, & they say cash, then you pay them in cash.

If YOU want to pay via company check, then TELL the team (models, mua, assistant) that you WILL be paying with company check end of day.

one. You could pay cash aand get a receipt, or indicate the amount paid on your model release.
Two. You could write the model to check, then have her endorrse the check to you, and give her cash.

I like the idea of writing a check then having the model endorse it back to me.  Thank you.

When modelling for art classes at a college, I'm often paid by a check sent in the mail at the end of the month when they pay their bills. Under those circumstances, it's fine and their only method of delivering payment.  For everyone else, cash is the method of payment. When modelling in an art gallery for a life drawing group, the director typically hands me an envelope with cash in it at the end of the session, although a few pay the model at the start or during the break.

I'd be very suspicious of a photographer that I was working with the first time (and I didn't know) who wanted to pay by check but if I signed it back to them and they handed me the cash, it would be OK. Some models are now using Paypal and a few even have those little credit card readers.

Cash with receipt and invoice backup works for me.
JDF

Cash and PayPal are most common I think but I discount 10% for Bitcoin.