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Xero bookkeeping for architects

An architecture project bills its fee in stages, while structural engineers and surveyors bill you along the way and client costs wait to be recharged. We keep each project's fees, recharges and subconsultant bills together in Xero, so what is still to bill stays visible.

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  • By Book Keeping Pros
  • Sources checked 15 Oct 2026

Your projects, fees and consultants in Xero

We record every project in Xero Projects or under a tracking category, whichever the practice already uses.

  • Fee invoices raised as each stage of a project is reached, using the stage amounts in your client agreement, with the unbilled balance of the fee kept current.
  • Disbursements paid for a client, such as council fees, property searches or large-format printing, recorded against the project and added to that client's next invoice.
  • Subconsultant bills from structural engineers, land surveyors and other consultants matched to their project and compared with the fee agreed for their part.
  • Work in progress by project: the time and costs recorded against each project set against the fees invoiced to date, with any work in progress figure in the accounts following your accountant's treatment.
  • Retainers or upfront fees taken at engagement recorded against the project, in whichever way your accountant has chosen.
  • Additional services the client asks for, such as extra design options or added scope, invoiced apart from the stage fees, so the original fee and the extras show separately.
  • Card payments for printing, couriers and searches matched to receipts and coded to their project during the monthly bank reconciliation, with any difference from the statement explained.

Not included

Timesheets stay with your team, in Xero Projects or your practice software. We work from the time they record.

Businesses in Architectural Services (ANZSIC class 6921)

Actively trading businesses across Australia
13,345 businessesAustralian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, June 2025, checked 15 October 2026
Of those, classified as non-employing
6,995 businessesAustralian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, June 2025, checked 15 October 2026
Of those, with 1 to 4 employees
4,937 businessesAustralian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, June 2025, checked 15 October 2026

Businesses by main state or territory

These counts are for the ANZSIC class Architectural Services, which may also include related design and planning services, so they can describe a wider group than architects alone.

  1. New South Wales4,682 businesses
  2. Victoria4,083 businesses
  3. Queensland2,116 businesses
  4. Western Australia1,268 businesses
  5. South Australia645 businesses
  6. Tasmania263 businesses
  7. Australian Capital Territory224 businesses
  8. Northern Territory60 businesses
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, June 2025. Counts of Australian Businesses, data cube 2: Businesses by main state by industry class by employment size ranges (8165DC02.xlsx). Checked 15 Oct 2026.

Businesses by number of employees

  1. Non-employing6,995 businesses
  2. 1 to 4 employees4,937 businesses
  3. 5 to 19 employees1,141 businesses
  4. 20 to 199 employees265 businesses
  5. 200 or more employees7 businesses
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, June 2025. Counts of Australian Businesses, data cube 2: Businesses by main state by industry class by employment size ranges (8165DC02.xlsx). Checked 15 Oct 2026.

Related pages

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Questions architects ask about Xero

Can Xero show how much of each fee we have billed?
Yes. In Xero Projects, each project can carry its fee as the estimate, with invoiced amounts shown against it. With tracking categories, we keep the stage schedule alongside and report the unbilled balance each month.
How do you handle disbursements we pay for clients?
We code each one to its project when the bill or card payment comes through, keep the receipt attached and list what is ready to recharge before you invoice the client.
Our engineer bills us monthly, but we bill the client by stage. Is that a problem?
Not if both are tracked on the project. The engineer's bills build up against the project as they arrive and your stage invoices are set against them when a stage is complete, which shows whether the fee is covering the consultants.
Do you record work in progress?
We keep the time, costs and fees on each project current, which gives your accountant what they need to work out work in progress. Whether and how it goes into the accounts is their call.
Our team logs time in separate practice software. Do you need access to it?
Not usually. If your time sits outside Xero, we can work from a report you export from that software each month to compare hours with fees billed.

Sources

  1. Counts of Australian Businesses, data cube 2: Businesses by main state by industry class by employment size ranges (8165DC02.xlsx)

    Australian Bureau of Statistics. Actively trading businesses at 30 June 2025, released 16 December 2025. Checked 15 October 2026.

    Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits, June 2021 to June 2025, licensed under CC BY 4.0 Licence: CC BY 4.0.

  2. Correspondence, GCCSA 2021 to GCCSA 2026 (CG_GCCSA_2021_GCCSA_2026.csv)

    Australian Bureau of Statistics. ASGS Edition 4, July 2026 to June 2031, released 22 July 2026. Checked 15 October 2026.

    Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 4, licensed under CC BY 4.0 Licence: CC BY 4.0.