The Payroll-AR Timing Mismatch Consulting and staffing firms operate two clocks that rarely run at the same speed. Payroll runs on a fixed biweekly or weekly schedule, and it does not wait for a client's accounts payable process to catch up. Client collections, by contrast, run on whatever cycle the client's terms and internal approval...
Why Retainer Billing Still Gets Missed Manually A recurring invoice that depends on a person generating it, even on a predictable schedule, is still exposed to the same risk as any other manually triggered process: it depends on that person's attention on that specific day. MSP billing research from Syncro notes that when a firm's...
Timesheet Cutoff Inconsistency A billing cycle is only as reliable as the cutoff behind it, and many staffing and IT consulting firms do not enforce that cutoff consistently across consultants or clients. Guidance on reducing late payments in staffing agencies makes the point directly: a large share of staffing payment delays trace back to a...
Why Three Billing Models in One Firm Creates Risk A project engagement bills against a milestone. A retainer bills on a fixed calendar date. Staff augmentation bills against an approved timesheet for hours actually worked. Each of these triggers behaves differently, is tracked in a different place, and depends on a different person noticing that...
Why Phased Billing Is Uniquely Easy to Miss Phased billing is structurally different from a recurring retainer. A retainer invoice goes out on a fixed calendar date whether or not anyone thinks about it. A phase completion trigger, schematic design wrapping up, design development being approved, construction documents going out for bid, is a judgment...
Why Project-Level Tracking Hides the Full Picture Architecture and engineering firms are organized around projects, and their financial tracking habits typically follow that same structure. Each project has its own budget, its own schedule, and often its own record of what has been billed and collected, sometimes in a project management tool, sometimes in a...
Standard Phase Structure AIA Document B101-2017, the standard form of agreement between owner and architect, divides an architect's basic services into five phases: schematic design, design development, construction documents, procurement, and construction, with construction administration covering the architect's role during the construction phase itself. This structure is the reference point most US architecture firms build...
Billed vs Incurred Cost, the Core Comparison This is the same underlying logic construction accounting uses to track overbilling and underbilling, adapted to a design or engineering engagement. Construction accounting guidance from Deltek lays out the standard method: calculate percentage of completion by dividing total costs incurred to date by the revised estimated total cost,...
How Unpaid AR Becomes a Hidden Loan to Clients Every unpaid invoice on an agency's books represents work that has already been completed, staff who have already been paid to do it, and media or vendor costs that have often already been covered, all funded out of the agency's own cash before the client has...
Why Upfront Payment Is the Fastest Way to Cut DSO Every dollar collected before work begins is a dollar that never shows up on an aging report. It is the only lever in accounts receivable that does not depend on faster follow-up, better invoicing, or a more disciplined reminder cadence, because the collection problem is...