Breadcrumb

How To Write an Architecture Invoice

Written by

The GoCardless content team comprises a group of subject-matter experts in multiple fields from across GoCardless. The authors and reviewers work in the sales, marketing, legal, and finance departments. All have in-depth knowledge and experience in various aspects of payment scheme technology and the operating rules applicable to each. The team holds expertise in the well-established payment schemes such as UK Direct Debit, the European SEPA scheme, and the US ACH scheme, as well as in schemes operating in Scandinavia, Australia, and New Zealand. See full bio

Last editedMay 20222 min read

Working as an architect, you already know how to blend a creative mindset with technical skill as you bring your designs to life. Implementing a streamlined invoicing system means that you can spend less time with administrative details, and more time working on your projects. Here’s what to consider when creating an architectural design invoice, including a sample to help you get started.

Benefits of using an invoice for architectural services

So, what type of architecture invoices are there? Invoices are used by residential, landscape, restoration, and commercial architects. They can also be used by interior designers and decorators.

Architectural services are typically provided over time, and invoicing allows you to create a clear, simple way to collect payment from customers. While construction projects can take months or even years, architects canimprove cash flow with a series of instalment payments or regular monthly fees. For smaller consulting projects, architects use one-time invoices listing their hourly services or flat rates.

It’s helpful to use a standard invoice template for architectural services as this will provide consistency and professionalism. Standardising your invoices also allows you to keep a clearer record of payments over time. You can itemise tasks, adding fixed fees, hourly rates, or other details to come up with a final amount due.

How to create an architectural design invoice

The easiest way to create your invoice is to use an invoice template for architecture services: justdownload here. This offers a basic idea of what the layout of a typical invoice looks like. You can then customise afree template with your own aesthetic, logo, colours, and other branding elements.

No matter the template you choose, you should include some basic details vital to any invoice:

Business name and contact details
Customer name and contact details
Breakdown of services or hours worked
Description of services
Rate of services (flat rate or per hour)
Unique invoice number
Invoice date and payment due date
VAT or other tax if applicable
Total amount due
Payment terms and conditions
Payment methods accepted and instructions

Input all these elements and then email the invoice to your customer, taking care to retain a copy for yourself.

Some architects will use a Pro Forma invoice, which is used to give a price quote when the job begins. This should also show any conditions that might impact the final cost, giving the client an idea of what to expect for budgeting purposes.

Architecture invoice example

Here’s an architecture invoice example based on a simple project of designing a customer’s summer house. Imagine that the architect is a freelance consultant charging £100 per hour for this type of work:

Architecture Business Name

Company mailing address

Email address and website

Phone number

BILLED TO

Customer name

Customer address

INVOICE NUMBER: 00001

DATE OF ISSUE: DD/MM/YYYY

*DESCRIPTION*	*COST PER HOUR*	*HOURS*	*AMOUNT*
Initial consultation	£100	3	£300
Blueprint design and presentation	£100	30	£3000
Additional consulting during construction	£100	40	£4000
		*SUBTOTAL*	£7300
		*DISCOUNT*	£0
		*(TAX RATE)*	0%
		*TAX*	£0
		*INVOICE TOTAL* £7300

E.g. Net 30 payment terms, follow link for payment

Tips for sending your architecture invoice

Now that you know the ins and outs of creating an architecture invoice, when should you send it to your customer? For one-time projects, these should be submitted as soon as you’ve finished work. For longer, ongoing projects requiring instalment payments, you should arrange to send these at regular intervals. Automated invoicing software takes a lot of the guesswork out of this equation, automatically raising and sending invoices to customers in your database.

Payment methods are also important as ideally you should make it as easy as possible for customers to pay you. GoCardless facilitates both one-off payments using Instant Bank Pay as well as recurring payments using direct debit. Both methods allow architects to pull invoice payments directly from customers’ bank accounts, with a quick and easy set-up and zero fees. This significantly cuts down on late payments – in fact, businesses can get paid up to twice as fast by using GoCardless according to an IDC study. That means you can spend less time on chasing payments, and more time on your architectural masterpiece.

We can help

GoCardless is a global payments solution that helps you automate payment collection, cutting down on the amount of financial admin your team needs to deal with. Find out how GoCardless can help you with one-off or recurring payments.