Free template
Architect fee payment schedule format
A stage-wise fee schedule for architects, each payment tied to a stage the client approves. Enter the fee; each stage's amount, GST and balance follow.
Free, no signup. Put your practice's name at the top. The shares are the usual full-service split; change them to match your agreement.
The schedule
| Milestone | Share | What the client approves |
|---|---|---|
| Concept design approved | 15% | The client's written approval of one design option. |
| Schematic design approved | 20% | Plans, elevations and sections signed off to scale. |
| Design development approved | 20% | Materials and details agreed; consultants' inputs coordinated. |
| Construction drawings (GFC) issued | 25% | The GFC set issued to site, with a transmittal listing every sheet. |
| Tender complete | 5% | Contractors' bids compared and a contractor appointed. |
| Construction stage | 15% | Site visits made as agreed, through to the completion visit. |
- Take a retainer on signing and adjust it against the concept invoice, so the first drawings are never made on credit.
- Bill the construction stage in equal monthly parts across the build rather than at completion. A building that runs six months late should not delay your fee by six months.
- When the estimate changes, recalculate the stages still to come. A percentage fee fixed against the first estimate shrinks as the building grows.
- GST is charged on each stage invoice. Where the client deducts TDS, the invoice is settled when the cash and the TDS together add up to it; ask for the certificate every quarter.
- Statutory fees, consultants, surveys and printing are billed separately at actuals, not out of this schedule.
Billing nothing until GFC
Waiting to invoice until the working drawings are issued means funding concept, schematic and design development yourself: more than half the fee, often for months. A client who has approved a design and paid nothing for it has every reason to ask for one more option. Invoice each stage on the day it is signed off.
Houscade keeps this schedule on the project as phases with their share of the fee, invoices each phase with GST, and shows how much of each phase's fee your team's hours have already used. Work out your stage fees.