Free architect invoice generator
Bill design phases as a percentage of the agreed fee, add additional services hourly, and pass reimbursables through at cost — on one document a client’s finance team can approve.
Build your architectural invoice
Prefilled with a design development phase billing. Replace the project, phases and rates, then download.
| Description | Qty | Rate | Amount |
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What is an architect’s invoice?
An architect’s invoice bills professional design services against an agreement that almost always divides the work into phases: schematic design, design development, construction documents, bidding and construction administration. Each phase carries a percentage of the total fee, and the invoice bills the portion of that phase completed.
That structure is why architectural invoicing looks different from most professional services. The client is not paying for time; they are paying for progress through a defined sequence. So the invoice needs to state the phase, the fee allocated to it, the percentage complete, what has been billed previously, and what is due now.
Around the basic fee sit two other categories. Additional services — work outside the agreed scope, usually billed hourly against a written authorisation — and reimbursables: printing, plotting, permit fees, travel, consultant coordination, billed at cost or with a stated multiplier.
What to include
Everything below is already in the generator above — this is what each part is for.
Project name and number
The project as named in the agreement, with your internal project number for reference.
Agreement and total fee
The date of the agreement and the total basic services fee the phase percentages are drawn from.
Phase and percentage complete
Which phase this invoice covers, the fee allocated to it, and the percentage of it now complete.
Previously billed and due now
A running position so the client can reconcile this invoice against the whole fee.
Additional services
Out-of-scope work billed hourly by staff level, referenced to the written authorisation that approved it.
Reimbursable expenses
Printing, permits, travel and consultant costs at cost or with your stated multiplier, itemised.
Three steps to a finished PDF
Enter project and agreement
Your practice, the client, the project name and number, and the agreement date in the notes field.
Bill the phase
One line per phase billed, with the percentage complete in the description, then additional services and reimbursables.
Download and send
Download the PDF and send it monthly, with the phase position stated so nothing has to be reconstructed.
Fee structures and getting paid
Choose a fee basis and hold to it
Three bases dominate: a percentage of construction cost, a stipulated fixed sum, and hourly with a not-to-exceed cap. Percentage fees track scope growth automatically but move with a number the client controls; fixed sums are cleaner to administer but demand a genuinely defined scope. Whichever you use, the invoice should reference the agreement so the number is never a matter of memory.
Bill monthly on percentage complete
- Monthly invoicing keeps the fee proportional to the work and avoids a large uncomfortable settlement.
- State the phase percentage complete rather than hours — it is the measure the agreement uses.
- Include previously billed and total-to-date figures so any dispute is about one month, not the whole project.
Authorise additional services before performing them
Scope growth is the normal condition of architecture: a client changes the program, the site produces a surprise, the authority requires a revision. None of it is billable without a written authorisation obtained before the work. Get it in an email if nothing else, reference it on the invoice line, and additional services stop being an argument.
Pass reimbursables through visibly
Printing, plotting, filing and permit fees, models, travel and courier costs are real and belong on the invoice at cost or with the multiplier your agreement allows. Absorbing them looks generous for two months and then quietly consumes the margin on the whole commission.
Three mistakes that delay payment
No phase position
An invoice that does not say where the project stands in the fee cannot be checked or approved quickly.
Additional services unauthorised
Extra work billed without written approval is extra work you performed for free.
Construction admin underbilled
CA runs for months on a small percentage; bill it monthly or it disappears.