Architects: billing fees by mission phase (2026)

Quick answer. Bill your architect fees phase by phase: a deposit on order, then a dated fee call when each stage is completed (sketch, preliminary and final design, project studies, contract assistance, site supervision, acceptance), with 20% VAT each time. Revenue is recognised as work progresses, adjusted at year-end through accounts 487 and 418.

A full architecture commission can run for eighteen to thirty-six months. If you wait until the site is finished to bill, you finance the design work already delivered out of your own cash, and you blur the reading of your result. The real problem is not "how to set a price", but how to split, call and attach fees that span several financial years, with no mismatch between what you collect, what you declare and what you actually earn.

This article focuses on sequencing fees by phase and on revenue recognition. For the wider picture of architect fees, VAT and accounting, see our dedicated page.

The phase framework comes from public-sector design supervision (Decree no. 93-1268 of 29 November 1993, the "MOP law", now folded into the Public Procurement Code). It breaks the mission into standardised stages, from sketch to acceptance.

Key point: this per-phase scale is mandatory for public contracts, not for private commissions. For an individual or a company entrusting you with a house, a renovation or premises, the MOP law is only a template. The split of phases and their remuneration are freely negotiated, within the standard contract of the architects' professional body. There is no regulated fee scale in the private sector.

A reminder of who must use an architect (Law no. 77-2 of 3 January 1977, art. 4): an individual building for their own use must do so above 150 sq m of floor area or footprint (threshold set by Decree no. 2016-1738, in force since 1 March 2017); a company (real-estate or trading) must do so regardless of surface area.

In architecture files, the difficulty is almost never the overall amount: it is the rhythm. A full mission billed in one go, or in two large calls, creates three weaknesses. First, cash pressure, because the project-studies phase consumes a great deal of time well ahead of any payment. Then a dispute risk: if the client suspends the project after final design, you must be able to establish precisely what is owed for the work already done. Finally, an accounting distortion: your result shows a jagged turnover that does not reflect your actual activity.

Our recommendation is one sentence: align your fee calls with the completion of phases, not with arbitrary dates. A delivered phase deserves a fee note. It is clear for the client, defensible in case of disagreement, and consistent with the progress logic your accounts must convey.

The procedure we apply in architects' files comes down to a few steps.

1. Deposit on order. As soon as the contract is signed, issue a deposit fee note. It launches the relationship and secures the start of studies.
2. One call per completed phase. At each delivered stage (sketch, then preliminary and final design, project studies, contract assistance, site supervision, acceptance), issue a dated fee call naming the phase.
3. 20% VAT on each note. The standard rate applies to design supervision. State it explicitly.
4. Balance and clearing of reservations. The final call comes at acceptance, once reservations are cleared.

Each fee note must be dated and named by phase: this is the document that justifies the accounting attachment and triggers the VAT. Keep the signed architect contract alongside.

Fixed fee, percentage of works cost, or time spent?#

Phase sequencing is compatible with all three main remuneration models. The choice depends on the nature of the mission.

Whatever model is chosen, billing remains sequenced by phase. The fixed fee is split into shares per phase; the percentage is released as work progresses; time spent is logged and billed at each milestone.

This is the most common error we correct. VAT and the result do not follow the same clock.

For VAT, a service becomes chargeable on collection: the tax is due as soon as a deposit is received (an option for accrual, making VAT chargeable on invoicing, is available). For the accounting result, revenue is recognised as the phases progress, regardless of payment dates.

Hence two essential year-end entries:

• Deferred income (account 487): you have collected a deposit for a phase not yet carried out. The unearned portion is not revenue for the period.
• Accrued income to be billed (account 418): a phase has been carried out but not yet invoiced. The corresponding revenue must nonetheless be attached to the period.

Without these adjustments, a file starting late in the year with a large deposit artificially inflates the result, while a file that delivers a phase without billing it understates it. Putting each fee back into the right period is exactly the work of bookkeeping and accounts review in Paris.

A frequent confusion arises among architects working as design subcontractors: believing the construction-sector VAT reverse charge applies to them. It does not.

The reverse charge under the French Tax Code (art. 283, 2 nonies) targets only subcontracted construction works, that is, the act of building. Design supervision is an intellectual service: you charge your VAT at 20% in the usual way, including when you design as a subcontractor for a peer or a builder. For the general logic of VAT rates and returns for service providers, our VAT guide details the applicable regimes.

An architecture practice consulted us recently after billing a detached house in just two instalments: a deposit on signature, then the balance "at the end". The client halted the project just after the building permit was filed (final design phase). The practice had delivered sketch, preliminary and final design, that is, most of the design work, but held no interim fee note to support what was owed. The exit negotiation took place from a weak position. With a fee call per phase, the receivable would have been clear, dated and hard to contest. That is the operational value of sequencing: it protects your remuneration as much as it smooths your cash.

• Signed architect contract, with the fee split by phase
• Deposit fee note issued on order, 20% VAT
• A dated, named fee call for each completed phase
• 20% VAT stated on each note (no construction reverse charge)
• Time log kept where the mission is billed on time spent
• Ten-year liability insurance certificate issued before the site opens
• Deferred income (487) and accrued income to be billed (418) reviewed at year-end
• Signed amendment where the programme changes

Beyond sequencing, three subjects deserve your attention this year.

Ten-year liability insurance remains a prerequisite: the architect is bound by the ten-year guarantee (Civil Code, art. 1792 onwards) and must take out the mandatory ten-year liability insurance (Insurance Code, art. L. 241-1). The certificate is produced before the site opens, never after.

The choice of legal status affects your billing. Registered with the architects' body, you can practise as a self-employed professional, through an architecture company (the various French limited and simplified forms) or as a micro-entrepreneur. Unlike doctors or vets, architects, who fall under the Cipav pension scheme, may opt for the micro regime. The micro non-commercial regime caps at EUR 83,600 in 2026, with a flat 34% allowance (minimum EUR 305) and a dedicated personal-income declaration. Above that, you move to the actual-profit regime: see our pointers on the special non-commercial regime and actual-profit declaration. A full mission billed by phases soon reaches this cap.

Electronic invoicing in 2026 will shape your fee calls. Anticipating the format of your notes, their numbering and their transmission through a platform avoids having to rework your processes in a hurry: we support this transition to prepare for 2026 electronic invoicing.

Finally, if you design for a client established outside France, the VAT rules and mandatory mentions differ: our pointers for billing a foreign client set out the evidence to keep.