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How architects bill
The AIA's guidance on charging for services names several methods: retainers, percentage of completion, hourly billing, a monthly fee schedule, project milestones and work when paid. It describes percentage of completion as invoicing based on how far each active phase has progressed, and hourly billing as invoicing the hours worked in a period.
Most commissions use more than one. The AIA's March 2026 survey found 97% of responding firm leaders still work within traditional design phases, and that fees (79%) and design hours by phase (66%) are among the most tracked measures. A firm's billing software has to follow the same structure: phases, each with its own fee and its own method. The fixed fee or hourly article explains why that choice is better made for each phase than for the whole project.
How Rizqo bills a phase
Every phase has a billing type:
- Fixed. A set amount for the stage. Each invoice bills a percentage of it as the phase progresses.
- Hourly. Billed from the time logged against the phase, at the project's rate card.
- Non-billable. Tracked but never invoiced. Time logged here is always non-billable.
Each phase carries its own progress percentage and its own amount to bill, so a project can have some phases complete and invoiced while others are still open. A project can mix fixed and hourly phases freely. The RIBA Plan of Work stages can be added in one step, or you can define your own phases.
How an invoice is built
When you create an invoice, you choose the project and the billing period. Rizqo pulls in the uninvoiced progress on fixed phases and the unbilled time on hourly phases as lines, and you can add manual lines. Each line records where it came from, so an invoice can be traced back to the phase or the hours behind it.
Because time is priced when it is logged, with the rate stored on the entry, changing a rate card later does not rewrite history. Every entry is either on an invoice or it is not, which is what makes unbilled time reliable.
An invoice moves through draft, created, sent, partially paid, paid, overdue and cancelled. Payments are recorded against the invoice, and the paid states follow them. Invoices are emailed to the client as a PDF, and invoice templates control layout and branding.
What it does not do
Rizqo does not produce AIA G702 or G703 forms. Those are contractor payment-application forms, not architect service invoices, and a firm that needs one should check that exact output in any product it considers.
It is also not accounting software. It records invoices and payments, but it is not a general ledger, and it has no QuickBooks or Xero integration. The about page lists everything Rizqo does not do. For the financial questions a billing record cannot answer, read why project numbers drift.
Where this fits
Billing is one step in the project lifecycle. The architecture project management software guide places it between time and reporting, and plans and pricing shows what each plan includes.
Questions
Can I bill fixed fee and hourly work on the same invoice?
Yes. Fixed phases bill a percentage complete and hourly phases bill unbilled time, and both can appear as lines on one invoice.
Can I bill by percentage complete?
Yes, for fixed phases. Each phase has an amount and a progress percentage, and each invoice bills the progress made since the last one.
Can I see which hours have not been billed?
Yes. Time entries show whether they are on an invoice, and the All Entries list can be filtered by billable status, so unbilled time can be found and invoiced.
Does Rizqo handle retainers or milestone billing?
Retainers and milestone billing are not documented as separate features. A fixed phase billed at a chosen percentage can model a milestone, but check your own agreement against a trial workspace before relying on it.