How to Bill Clients as an Interior Designer

Interior design has a billing rhythm all its own: you charge for your eye and for the sofa it landed on. Fee-Lion lets you put the design fee, the procured product, and the install day into a single estimate your client can approve with one tap — then turn the whole thing into an invoice and a project without re-typing a line.

Build the estimate the way a project actually unfolds

An interior design estimate usually has three layers: your time, the goods you source, and the day you bring it all to life. Fee-Lion’s line-item types map onto those exactly.

1. From the left sidebar, open Estimates and start a new one for your client. Pick a template under Estimates → New if you’ve saved a reusable layout.
2. Add your design fee as a task line — hours × rate. This covers concept, sourcing, and project management. If you bill design as a flat package, enter it as a fee instead.
3. Add procured product as unit lines — qty × rate. One line per item (or per room), so the dining table, the rug, and the lighting each show up clearly.
4. Apply your procurement markup as a surcharge on the estimate. Clients see an honest product subtotal, then your sourcing margin on top — no hidden math.
5. Add install day as a fee line item: white-glove delivery, styling, and the final reveal.
6. Set tax and your deposit %, then review the total.

Tip: Set your usual markup and deposit once at Settings → Preferences (Estimates, tax, deposit defaults) so every new design estimate starts pre-filled. You’ll only tweak the numbers that actually change per project.

Collect a deposit before you order a single thing

Procurement means you’re fronting money to vendors, so the deposit isn’t a nicety — it’s your float. Use the deposit percentage on the estimate to ask for design fee plus a chunk of product up front.

• Send the estimate from Estimates; your client opens a magic-link portal — no login, no friction.
• They approve with one click and the deposit is due immediately.
• The deposit lands by card straight into your own Stripe, so you can place vendor orders the same week.

Convert to an invoice (and a project) when they say yes

Approval is where the work starts, and Fee-Lion keeps the paperwork from slowing you down.

1. From the approved estimate, click Convert and choose to create an invoice, a project, or both.
2. The invoice carries every line over — design fee, product units, markup surcharge, install — and gets a Pay button so the balance can be paid by card.
3. The project gives you a home for the build: custom sub-statuses (Sourcing, Ordered, In Transit, Install), checklists for punch-list items, and discussions so fabric approvals don’t get lost in email.

As the job runs, attribute vendor and freight costs to the project as expenses so you can see true margin — not just revenue. And if you bill ongoing styling or seasonal refreshes, set up a recurring invoice with auto-pay and stop chasing those.

Tip: Hit ⌘K and type “create invoice for [client]” or “pay INV-204” to skip the clicks entirely on install week.

What’s next

• Price an estimate with tasks, fees, and units
• Add discounts and surcharges to an estimate
• Collect a deposit on an estimate
• Estimate to deposit to project to final invoice