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Design Services

The Design Services contract is specifically for design-build projects where you need to sign the customer for design work before committing to the full production contract.

When to Use​

Use Design Services when you want to:

  • Secure payment for design work separately from construction
  • Formalize the design phase before pricing the production phase
  • Get customer commitment while design details are still being finalized

Example: A kitchen remodel where the customer is ready to pay for design but hasn't seen final production pricing yet.

What Happens When Signed​

When a customer signs a Design Services contract:

  1. Design estimate locks - Only the design phase estimate becomes read-only
  2. Invoices created from the payment schedule - If the contract has a payment schedule, invoices are created from it for the amounts shown to the customer. Without a payment schedule, no invoices are created. Most payment lines produce one invoice each; a Progress Payment line produces one invoice per progress payment configured on the template. Invoice titles follow the standard naming (Deposit, Commencement of Work, Progress Billing #1, Final) rather than the payment line names — see Payment Schedules for the full mapping.
  3. Project NOT marked sold - The project remains in sales until the production contract is signed
  4. Production estimate remains editable - You can continue refining production costs
  5. Sent to QuickBooks - If you use the QuickBooks Desktop integration, the customer and job are created in QuickBooks, along with the design estimate when one is linked to the contract

To have design agreements invoice automatically, add a payment schedule to your Design Services contract template. See Payment Schedules for how to set the amounts.

Invoices are billed against the estimate the contract is linked to — the design estimate — so a design agreement invoices its design fee, not the production job, and it invoices correctly on a project that has no production estimate yet. The final payment line is billed as the linked estimate total minus the other lines, which is the same figure the customer saw on the signed contract. The contract must be linked to an estimate for its payment schedule to invoice; if it isn't, no invoices are created and the failure is recorded in the contract's history.

This contract type allows you to formalize the design engagement while keeping flexibility on the production side.

System Fields​

Design Services contracts include these system fields in the contract sidebar:

FieldDescriptionHow It's Used
Budget Range LowEstimated minimum budget for productionDisplayed on contract; communicates expected production cost range to customer
Budget Range HighEstimated maximum budget for productionDisplayed on contract; sets upper bound of expectations before production proposal
Design Services FeeThe fee for design workDisplayed on contract; establishes the design phase fee

How These Fields Are Used​

These fields are informational and displayed on the contract to set customer expectations about the upcoming production phase. They do not trigger automatic system actions when the contract is signed.

The budget range helps customers understand the anticipated investment for the production phase while design work is being completed. This transparency helps manage expectations and reduces surprises when the production proposal is presented.

Workflow: Design to Production​

A typical design-build workflow:

  1. Sign Design Services - Customer commits to design phase with budget range expectations
  2. Complete design work - Finalize plans, specifications, and selections
  3. Create production estimate - Build detailed pricing based on completed design
  4. Sign Project Proposal - Customer commits to production phase with final pricing