Sheet ReserveSpreadsheets worth keeping.

Template · Architecture

Architectural fee and phase planner with timeline

Basic fee, phase split, staffing against each phase fee, a 60-week timeline and 15-month billing for one building project.

Create an account

Downloads are included in the $19.85 yearly membership. Sign in

XLSXCSVODSXMLNumbers
Architectural fee and phase planner
Example data — replace the blue input cells with your own.
Project: Example community library
TOTAL FEE (BASIC SERVICES)FEE AS % OF CONSTRUCTION COSTPROJECTED PROFITBILLED TO DATE
$960,0008.0%23.9%$201,600
Phase split totals 100%All-in billings: 14% of construction costArchitect income less labor at costShare of basic fee billed: 21%
Fee by phase (bars share one scale: the largest phase fee)
PhasePhase fee (USD)Fee barShare of basic feeBilled to date (USD)
Schematic design$144,000████████15%$144,000
Design development$192,000██████████20%$57,600
Construction documents$384,000████████████████████40%$0
Bidding/negotiation$48,000███5%$0
Construction administration$192,000██████████20%$0
Total$960,000100%$201,600
Bar scale: largest phase fee$384,000

Showing the first 16 of 44 rows and 12 of 20 columns. Cells with formulas show the formula on hover.

What does this template do?

An architectural fee and phase planner for one building project. Principals and project managers use it to turn a fee basis into phase fees, staff each phase with hours, and see whether the planned labor fits the fee. It covers the five standard phases: schematic design, design development, construction documents, bidding or negotiation, and construction administration.

The basic services fee is construction cost multiplied by the fee basis, split across the phases by the percentages you enter. Planned labor is hours multiplied by billing rates. Labor at cost uses the cost rates, and the difference from the phase fee is the profit in that phase. Consultant fees are billed at cost plus a markup, and reimbursables are billed at cost. Earned fee is the phase fee multiplied by the cumulative percent complete, and the billing for a month is the change in earned fee.

The example is a fictional community library with a $12,000,000 construction cost and an 8 percent fee basis. Every figure is example data to replace with your own.

What’s inside

  • Phase fees from a fee basis and a percentage split that must total 100 percent
  • Planned labor at billing rates against each phase fee, with over and under flags
  • Profit per phase from labor at cost, and an effective billing-to-cost multiplier
  • A 60-week Gantt, a status-date marker and milestones driven by the start dates and durations
  • Monthly billing for 15 months from earned fee, with an unbilled-fee check

Which tabs does the workbook have?

TabWhat it holds
DashboardFee, profit and billing tiles, fee and labor bars by phase, and a monthly phase timeline.
FeeBasic services fee, phase split, consultant markups, reimbursables and the fee summary.
StaffingRoles and rates, hours by role and phase, labor at billing rates and at cost, and profit by phase.
TimelinePhase starts and durations, a 60-week Gantt, the status-date marker and milestones.
BillingCumulative percent complete, earned fee, monthly billing, cumulative billing and the unbilled check.
NotesWhat the workbook does, the formulas in words, assumptions and limits.

What formulas does this template use?

This template holds 1,342 formulas in 1,799 cells across 6 tabs, so 75% of its cells calculate. They use 24 distinct functions; the longest formula is 1,695 characters and 142 of them read from another tab.

FunctionUsesWhat it does
IF1,273one result when a test is true, another when false
AND616true when every test is true
OR420true when any test is true
CHOOSE150picks the nth value from a list
ROUND142rounds to a number of digits
MAX141largest value
EOMONTH90last day of a month, months later
ISNUMBER90true for a number
SUM79adds numbers
MONTH63month of a date
DAY60day of a date
MIN46smallest value

The 12 most used of 24 functions. Counted from the workbook itself. Only functions that Excel, LibreOffice Calc, Google Sheets and Apple Numbers evaluate the same way are used, so the formulas survive every download format.

How do you use it?

  1. On the Fee tab, enter the construction cost, fee basis and reimbursables, then check that the phase split totals 100 percent.
  2. On the Staffing tab, enter the billing and cost rates for each role, then the hours by role and phase.
  3. Read the over and under flags on the Staffing tab against each phase fee.
  4. On the Timeline tab, set the status date, the phase start dates, durations and milestone dates.
  5. On the Billing tab, enter the cumulative percent complete by month, then read billed to date and the unbilled balance on the Dashboard.

What is it good for?

  • Writing a fee proposal from a percentage of construction cost
  • Checking staffing hours against the fee for each phase
  • Tracking billing against a monthly invoice schedule
  • Showing the owner the phase schedule and milestones

Questions about this sheet

Does the basic services fee include consultants?

No. Consultant fees are entered on the Fee tab, billed to the owner with their markup, and shown as separate totals. The all-in billings figure adds them to the basic fee.

How is the profit calculated?

Profit in each phase is the phase fee less labor at the cost rates. Consultant markup income is added at project level. Reimbursables are billed at cost, so they do not change the profit.

Why must the phase split total 100 percent?

The phase fees are shares of one basic services fee, so the shares must add up to the whole fee. The Fee tab shows a check message when they do not.

Does the workbook set the fee for a project?

No. The fee basis, the split, the rates and the hours are inputs that come from your agreement and your records, and the workbook calculates from them.