Automatically Create PDFs for Agreements and Invoicing Using Airtable and Documint

This week I want to illustrate how you can automatically create PDFs, like invoices or agreements, using your database in Airtable and Documint. With a little setup work on the front in, you can save yourself so much time whenever you need to pump out another PDF, by not starting from scratch.

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(00:00):
Every now, and then you need to create a PDF, like a Work For Hire Agreement, or have somebody sign something, maybe an invoice, things like that. And to do it all manually, you know, takes a little bit of time, especially if you're doing this often, I suggest learning how to use AirTable, which is my favorite, like home based tool to collect data, store your data in it. And then when you need to create a PDF or form, you can, you can do it quickly and automatically using an automation and a program called document. And I'm gonna show you what that looks like.

(00:32):
My name is Zion, and I'm the founder of the Get Known Strategy and Service. If you are a content creator, like a podcaster or YouTube video curator, or a blogger, and you are tired of doing all the nuts and bolts of getting your stuff out there and the social media and the emails and all the, all the work that goes into creating a podcast, all you wanna do is just create content, check us out because what we do is we service people just like you. So all you do is focus on your content and you stay in your zone of genius.

(01:03):
So to illustrate what this video is all about, I wanna show you what I do with AirTable. So I happen to be the music director for a YouTube channel called LoFi Panda Music. And we have producers and guys that work for us and contractors, cuz we outsource some of the work. Sometimes I make make the music for the channel. Sometimes I just mix it sometimes, outsource the whole thing. It depends on how much time I have.

(01:26):
So if I'm hiring a producer, let's say my buddy Geno here, I'm gonna hire him to produce a song. What I do is after he's put together five songs for me, I want to send him a Work For Hire Agreement because he's giving over the rights to who that music to me for payment.

(01:45):
So that's a Work For Hire. So I worked with a attorney to create a PDF form that has the right information in it. So I want to basically just populate that form and say, Hey, for these five songs, you're giving me the rights to that for money. So the cool thing is, is I can create that really quickly. I add in a new line item. It's kinda like a row. They call it a record in AirTable. I add my producer and then I go in and add the songs and I can clear that out and show you what that looks like. So what I do is I say, I wanna attach these songs here and this is gonna go onto the form.

(02:24):
And then when I'm ready and I've filled out everything, I've put the date I want in for the invoice or the work for hire in this case, I'm gonna hit the create agreement button. And in just a moment, it's gonna create a PDF file and put it right in here and watch I'll give it a second. There it goes. It's pretty fast.

(02:44):
So let's open it up and see what it looks like. So it's a Work For Hire Agreement. It's a PDF form. It's got the date, the producer, my company, it's got this production and it has the terms of this agreement. And at the very end it's got a signature. I've already filled out the signature. It's got the date in there. It's a place for him to fill out his signature and send back to me. And then the schedule A at the very end of it, it's got an area to actually list all the songs or the pieces of work that he did. So it's all listed there as well. And it's really slick.

(03:17):
Then he can send that back to me and I can put it in my database and send him. I can actually send an email from AirTable as well, that I've automated. And then when he signs it and sends it back, it'll go back in here and then I'll pay him. And this keeps everything very, very organized.

(03:34):
Now the scope of this video is not to show you exactly how to set all this up. That would be to complicated for this video, but I'm gonna link a video below if you're familiar with AirTable, exactly how to do this. My buddy Gareth has a video that he did this a couple weeks ago on exactly how to do this, or maybe it was this last week. And it uses this program called Documint. Documint with an I you basically create a template of the PDF you want.

(04:06):
And then it takes the variables from your AirTable and you plug it in where you want, and then it creates the document. And when you attach it to AirTable, you never have to ever leave AirTable. I never have to actually go into Documint at all.

(04:20):
It's really, really, really cool if you're brand new to AirTable and you've never used AirTable before, I have a minicourse, a 10 part minicourse, that's free. That'll help you get started with AirTable and how to use it. And if you click below, you can get access to that as well. Or through our website.

(04:39):
I strongly suggest learning AirTable. It'll solve a thousand issues you have and really keeps track of all kinds of data issues. I run my entire business businesses from AirTable.

(04:51):
Okay guys, that's it for this week. I hope that helped you. If it did, send me a note back or hit the like button subscribe to our YouTube channel, we need to build up our subscribers. And so I'm calling out to you guys. So if you find this useful, if you find this kind of video useful, please subscribe to our YouTube channel.

(05:06):
This is Zion and I will see you next week.

This episode was produced and marketed by the Get Known Service