Flux lets architecture firms take cards for convenience, ACH for larger invoices where the economics are friendlier, and pass the processing fee to the client at checkout where local rules allow.
Why architecture firms choose Flux
ACH for large invoices
Route retainers and big invoices over ACH where the per-transaction economics beat cards.
Pass the fee where allowed
On consumer pass-through, the processing fee is added to the client's total at checkout, where local surcharging rules allow.
Books that reconcile
A QuickBooks sync keeps architecture firms from retyping every payment into the accounting system at month end.
How architecture firms get paid
For architecture firms, ACH usually fits large invoices and retainers, cards suit smaller or on-the-spot payments, and Flux handles both through one integration with a clean record for your books.
A typical Flux setup for architecture firms
Architecture billing follows the project's phases: an initial payment at engagement, then invoices at schematic design, design development, construction documents, and through construction administration. These are substantial invoices on long timelines, so ACH is the primary rail, settling in 1-3 business days, with card payment available for residential clients who prefer it. Reimbursables such as printing, travel, and renderings are billed alongside each phase invoice as separate, documented line items.
Residential studios often take the initial retainer by card at the first meeting, since homeowners expect to pay the way they pay everything else. Firms working with developers and commercial owners lean almost entirely on ACH invoices tied to the fee schedule in the owner-architect agreement. QuickBooks sync keeps phase payments matched to projects, and the REST API can push invoices from your project accounting the day a phase is billed.
What architecture firms should watch
Projects stall, and fee exposure grows in the gaps. A phase invoice issued at completion of the phase, due before the next begins, limits how much unbilled work accumulates when a client pauses for financing or permits. Put the payment-before-next-phase gate in the agreement itself, not in your intentions. When a stalled project resumes a year later, the payment record tells both parties exactly where the fee stands without an argument.
Watch the construction administration tail: CA billing runs monthly for a long stretch, and it is the easiest revenue to lose to inattention. A recurring ACH debit for hourly CA billing, trued up monthly, keeps it collected. Invoice reimbursables promptly with receipts attached, because expense lines disputed a year later are nearly impossible to document from memory. Homeowners contesting a card retainer after a project sours will cite the contract, so make its terms explicit.
Simple, transparent pricing
Flux charges a flat 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction, with volume discounts for higher-volume architecture firms and the option to pass the fee to the customer at checkout where local surcharging rules allow. No setup fees and no contracts. Accounts processing under $100,000 a year in card volume may be subject to a $20 monthly account fee.
Frequently asked questions
How do architecture firms accept payments with Flux?
Architecture Firms accept credit and debit cards, ACH bank transfers, and stablecoins through one Flux integration, with drop-in hosted fields that keep card data off your own systems.
What does Flux charge architecture firms?
A flat 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction, with volume discounts for higher-volume merchants and no setup fees or contracts. Accounts processing under $100,000 a year in card volume may be subject to a $20 monthly account fee. You can also pass the processing fee to the customer at checkout where local surcharging rules allow.
How fast do architecture firms get their money?
Card payments settle in one to two business days and ACH in one to three business days. Stablecoin payments go to your wallet instantly.
Can our fee schedule of phase payments be set up in advance?
Yes. Create the invoices for each phase up front with payment links and release each one as the phase completes, or use the REST API to trigger them from your project accounting. Payments sync to QuickBooks against the project.
How should we bill reimbursable expenses?
As separate line items on the phase invoice, promptly and with documentation. Prompt, itemized expense billing collects at a far higher rate than a year-end reconciliation, and it gives you the paper trail if an owner questions a charge.
Do homeowners really pay architecture invoices by card?
For retainers and smaller residential invoices, frequently, since it is how they pay everything else in their lives. For larger phase invoices most clients choose ACH from the same payment link. Offering both rails on every invoice adds no setup cost.
Ready to get architecture firms paid with Flux?
Cards, ACH, and stablecoins in one platform. Apply in about two minutes.
Get Started