Guide · Fees
Stage-based billing for design practices
A fee schedule is a cash-flow plan in disguise. Here is how to write one that actually pays the studio on time.
7 min read · Updated 5 September 2026
Why stages, not months
Monthly retainers suit ongoing services. Design work is lumpy: concept takes weeks of intense effort, approvals can idle for months, and site work stretches long past the drawings. Billing by calendar month against lumpy effort guarantees that some months are unpaid work and others are paid idling.
Billing by stage ties money to something both sides can see: a deliverable was issued and signed off. It also gives you a natural place to stop when a client goes quiet.
A workable fee split
Percentages vary by practice, city and scope. What matters more than the exact numbers is the shape: front-load enough to cover the concept effort, and never leave so much at the tail that completion risk sits entirely with you.
| Stage | Trigger to invoice | Common pitfall |
|---|---|---|
| Mobilisation | Signing the agreement | Starting drawings before it clears |
| Concept design | Concept presentation accepted | Unlimited concept options |
| Design development | Developed drawings issued | Blurring into working drawings |
| Working drawings / tender | Drawing set issued | Issuing in fragments so nothing is ever 'complete' |
| Construction stage | Periodic, against site visits | Open-ended supervision with no end date |
| Completion | Handover | Retention never invoiced at all |
Make sign-off a document, not a conversation
The billing trigger has to be something you can point at months later. A dated drawing issue record and a written acceptance are enough. A WhatsApp 'looks good' is evidence, but only if someone saves it into the project record on the day.
- 01Issue the deliverable with a version and a date.
- 02Record who received it and when.
- 03Ask for written acceptance, or state a review period after which it is deemed accepted.
- 04Raise the stage invoice against that record, not against a reminder in someone's head.
Revisions and scope creep
Scope creep in design practices is rarely one big change. It is the fourth kitchen layout, the second structural coordination round, the site visit that was not in the fee. Each is individually too small to fight about, which is exactly why the total goes unbilled.
- Write the included number of revision rounds per stage into the agreement.
- Log every extra round against the project the day it happens.
- Bill additional rounds at a stated rate rather than absorbing them.
- Review logged extras at each stage invoice, not at project close.
The practices that recover this money are not tougher negotiators. They just have a record, at the moment of invoicing, of what was extra.
How UpLabs handles this
In UpLabs the fee schedule lives on the project as stages with values. Marking a stage complete surfaces the invoice that is now due, so billing follows the work rather than a monthly scramble, and unbilled stages stay visible instead of ageing quietly.
Common questions
- What if a client stalls between stages?
- Invoice the completed stage immediately and state in the agreement what happens to the fee if the project is dormant beyond a defined period. A stalled project that has been billed up to date costs you nothing; one that has not is an interest-free loan.
- Should site supervision be a percentage or a rate?
- Construction-stage duration is the least predictable part of the job. Many practices define a number of visits within the fee and a per-visit rate beyond it, which keeps the fee honest for both sides.