Architecture and the 3 Steps Needed To Manage Progress Invoicing For Your Firm

Architecture is an already complex industry, designing buildings and playing a crucial role in infrastructure across the globe, your firm already has enough on its plate to worry about. The absolute last thing you and your team should concern yourselves with is invoicing.

One of the most important types of invoicing is progress invoicing. Just to have a quick recap of it, progress billing is when payments are done periodically based on an agreed upon schedule in which a certain amount of work is supposed to be completed. If your architecture firm completes 25% of a house you are building for your clients, then they will pay you 25% of the money owed to you. 

While numerous architecture firms implement progressive billing as their method of choice, however, while that is an exceptional decision to make, managing progress billing is just as important as deciding to use it in the first place. I am going to highlight the three ways in which your architecture firm can better manage progress billing so operations run as smoothly and efficiently as possible.  

 

Focus On Your Business, Come To The Experts

Handling finances can be tricky, especially in a field such as architecture in which there is such a vast amount of ambiguity and uncertainty about when revenues will be coming in. Progress billing will aid in easing those concerns but proper preparation and plan designing is essential to ensure its success. 

You should be focusing on what you need to handle, architects are too busy designing the next great skylines to be engrossed in the complex realm of money management. Reaching out to an accounting firm such as MBSATA can take all the pressure off of you. We will work directly with you in creating the perfect template for your firm’s needs for each and every possible scenario. 

We can help construct exemplary AIA contracts that are needed to keep your firm’s best interests in mind. To keep things simple we will work with you using QuickBooks and assign a team to you from our accounting stack to manage your progressive billing and all the little intricacies that you should not have to focus on.   

 

Keep It Simple

All clients are not built the same. Some have very specific needs in regards to payment milestones and the timeframe in which they want a project to be completed. It is imperative that before working on an assignment that you already have templates in place that can be catered to your consumer. Having an established strategy in place is key to moving quickly on any projects you are tasked with, as well as working on them more efficiently and with greater quality.   

 In the section above I mentioned how vital it is to come to the experts about this, so all you have to worry about is your craft. However, when you do decide to come to an accounting and advisory firm such as ourselves, it is important that we make the templates and contract designs as simple as possible. 

Communication and understanding is crucial in business and by making designs that both vendor and consumer can easily grasp is very beneficial for your firm. By giving your customers more complex designs, that perhaps your firm understands but they do not, it may intimidate them and create a less satisfying experience for them. By making your templates and contracts simple, it not only is quite advantageous for your firm, but it will also be more favorable for your customers in providing the best possible experience.  AIA guidelines must be followed.

It is most likely that if you are in Architecture, you probably have little to no background in the world of accounting. We will ensure that everything we design with you is easy to understand for someone without experience or training. By making templates of contracts that are too complex it leaves a lot of room for ambiguity and confusion to infiltrate your business and slow down operations. By keeping your templates and contracts simple, you will be sure that your firm will run at the highest level of efficiency it can.    

Be Consistent 

As an architecture firm you have little to no room to afford your time being spent on making individual contracts for each and every client that walks through your doors. By remaining consistent with your templates and contracts, in which you can be helped in doing so by an accounting firm, you will have more time to be spent on completing your projects. 

How any business operates is important, but in the world of architecture it is make or miss. You do not have to be told twice just how vital it is to make sure project management and operations are running smoothly. There are always moving parts and logistics that need to be sorted out, it is a vacuum of uncertainty. Add some clarity to your firm and remain steady in your usage of progressive billing and the ways in which you implement it. If you have templates designed for particular projects, keep them. Make sure that you have one less moving piece to concern yourself with. 

Having an accounting firm in your corner to ensure that your progressive billing is kept consistent can make all the difference for your firm. 

Architects have far too important tasks on their hands, building and maintaining all the amazing structures around us. The industry’s importance to society can not be understated and those creating the world around us should be focused on that and that alone. Each and every second is precious and none should be wasted on managing money when it could be spent making it. Focus on making money, not handling it.   

Come to the experts at an accounting firm to help design simple templates and contracts, and then to aid in making sure you are staying consistent in the implementation of them. For more information on how we at MBSATA can help you manage progressive billing, and thus putting you on the path to success, reach out to us at info@mbsata.com.  

Image by  Daniel McCullough

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where you are

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Call us 1 (212) 243-5757
or email us at info@mbsata.com
Office Hours
Monday through Friday
NY HQ 09:00 AM to 5:30 PM (EST)
Additional Hours By Appointment
Send Us a Message
Our client success team will reach out shortly.
Thank you!
Our client success team will reach out shortly.
*By submitting this form, you are confirming you have read and agree to our Terms and Privacy statement
Let's Start
the Conversation
Let's Start
the Conversation
Call us 1 (212) 243-5757
or email us at info@mbsata.com
Office Hours
Monday through Friday
NY HQ 09:00 AM to 5:30 PM (EST)
Additional Hours By Appointment
Send Us a Message
Our client success team will reach out shortly.
Thank you!
Our client success team will reach out shortly.
*By submitting this form, you are confirming you have read and agree to our Terms and Privacy statement