Zweig Group's 2026 Fee + Billing Report puts the gap between target and actual staff chargeability at 4.0%, up from 2.9%. For AEC firms, that makes it worth checking both how time is spent and how billable work reaches the invoice.
Project management software with billing connects project records to invoice preparation, helping finance review charges against agreed fees. Here are five platforms for managing that process.
5 Best Project Management Software With Billing: A Quick Overview
1. Milient Project Flow: Best for AEC Firms Connecting Phase Fees to Invoices
Milient Project Flow is project management software built for architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) firms. It fits growing practices that have outgrown spreadsheets and generic trackers and now need financial control alongside delivery.
Project Flow Key Features
These features cover when to bill, how to prepare the invoice, and what remains outstanding.
Billing Schedules That Follow Each Project Phase
Project Flow sets each project's billing schedule against its phases or milestones. You pick the rule, such as staged payments or a percentage of the fee per phase.
For practices on the RIBA Plan of Work, the billing schedule follows the client's agreed stages and payment terms. Completing a stage or logging more hours does not, by itself, determine the amount due.
A fees solver calculates base fees, discounts, and production totals before anything reaches the client. Finance then raises the invoice in Project Flow and tracks billing progress by phase.
That gives finance a project-based billing schedule to refer to instead of reconstructing the fee split for each invoice.
Project Data Available When Preparing Invoices
The project progress dashboard lists every live project with its fees, budget consumed, and invoiced percentage side by side. Filter by status, and a practice director spots the jobs where spend is outrunning billing.
Each project also tracks current, expected, and budgeted hours together. Project Flow flags an overrun in real time, so an inevitable planning problem surfaces while the team can still re-plan.
Reports and analytics cover budget versus actual on every plan, and an analytics dashboard add-on compares actual with potential revenue.
Invoice Status and Outstanding Balances
Project Flow Pricing
Where Project Flow Shines
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- From offer to live project: The Offer Builder prices each phase from estimated hours and role rates. Once your client approves, the offer becomes an active project with phases and team assignments already set.
- Phase planning shaped around AEC delivery: The built-in Gantt planner schedules phases across several projects on one timeline.
- Resource planning by role and capacity: Resource management assigns work by role, availability, and project need, with a capacity overview across projects and a live workload view.
- Timekeeping beyond the timesheet: Staff log hours by day or week, and every plan also records attendance plus vacation and leave.
- Links to the project tools AEC firms already run: Milient lists integrations with Newforma, OpenAsset, Deltek PIM and CMap, alongside SharePoint, OneDrive and Microsoft Teams. Practices keep their document and project-information tools when billing moves into Project Flow.
Where Project Flow Falls Short
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- No built-in general ledger: Project Flow pushes approved data into Sage, Xero, QuickBooks, or Access, and the integration costs extra.
- Automatic payment chasing costs extra below Enterprise: Every plan sends invoices and reminders, but automatic payment-status tracking and reminders are an add-on on Grow and Professional. Firms chasing many small invoices feel this first.
Project Flow Customer Reviews
A verified user on Capterra:
“Project Flow allowed me to stop relying on endless Excel spreadsheets. Updating the billable forecast is the feature that has saved me a huge amount of time. The support team is very responsive."
Another verified user, Capterra:
"Very user-friendly. The display is easy to understand, and I can change my operating language. I like the visualisation and the blog, which helps me and my colleagues communicate on our project progress."
Who Project Flow Is Best For
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- Practice directors billing fixed fees by stage: You want each stage's fee, spend, and invoiced amount in view without waiting for a month-end report.
- Growing AEC firms moving off Excel and a separate time tracker: Your hours, rates, and invoices live in three places, and someone re-keys them before every billing run.
- Finance leads reconciling accounts with project spreadsheets: Your accounting package shows the firm's numbers, but not which phase made or lost money.
2. BQE CORE: Best for US Architecture and Engineering Firms Billing Complex Contract Types
BQE CORE combines time tracking, project management, billing, and accounting for architecture and engineering firms. Its invoicing is built around the contract types US firms sign with their clients.
BQE CORE Key Features
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- Invoice formats for each contract type: CORE produces phased, percent-complete, cost-plus, and joint invoices, and records billed amounts at phase level.
- Retainers and retainage applied automatically: Retainers can apply automatically at global, project, or invoice level, and CORE tracks retainage held back on progress bills.
- Schedules of values and change orders on progress bills: CORE's invoice formats support schedules of values and approved change orders alongside percent-complete billing.
BQE CORE Pricing
Where BQE CORE Shines
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- Online payments and pay-when-paid bills: Foundations includes online payment processing for client invoices and pay-when-paid vendor bill management.
- Federal contract support: Foundations includes Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) compliance features. US firms on federal work keep audit-ready timekeeping in the same platform that raises their invoices.
- Accounting kept in CORE or connected: Firms can add CORE's Accounting module or connect QuickBooks Online, Xero, or MYOB. Invoices reach the ledger either way, without exporting spreadsheets between systems.
Where BQE CORE Falls Short
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- AIA pay applications sit outside CORE: CORE handles the percent-complete and retainage calculations, while licensed AIA G702 and G703 forms are issued outside the platform. Firms submitting AIA pay applications every month add a step to each billing run.
- Accounting is a separate module: Foundations covers billing, time and project management, while the general ledger comes with the Accounting add-on. All-in-one billing and accounting from BQE means scoping two modules.
BQE CORE Customer Reviews
On Capterra:
"I liked BQE CORE Suite’s ability to bring time tracking, project management, billing, and accounting functions together in one platform. It helps keep project and financial information organized and accessible." Gagandeep S.
On G2:
“On the Project Overview screen, when selecting Create Invoice, it would be helpful if the system automatically opened the invoice creation process for that specific project rather than directing the user to the generic invoice screen and requiring the project to be searched again.” Randal D.
Who BQE CORE Is Best For
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- US firms juggling several contract types: Architecture and engineering practices that need phased invoices, progress billing and retainage tracking, with accounting available from the same vendor.
3. Deltek Vantagepoint: Best for Large Multi-Office Firms That Need ERP-Level Project Accounting
Deltek Vantagepoint is an AI-powered ERP for AEC firms that offers project billing on the same platform as the general ledger.
Deltek Vantagepoint Key Features
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- Fee billing by phase: Fee billing phases let finance set a fee per phase and post billed amounts against each one. Long, multi-phase commissions keep a clear record of what each phase has invoiced.
- Automated approval and invoicing workflows: Draft invoices move through automated approval workflows before release.
- Dela flags billing gaps: Deltek's AI assistant, Dela, flags billing gaps and general ledger trends for finance to review.
Deltek Vantagepoint Pricing
Where Deltek Vantagepoint Shines
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- Project accounting tied to the general ledger: Billing, approvals, and accounting sit in one enterprise platform. Finance reports revenue and receivables from the same project numbers that drive each invoice.
- Hosted on the Deltek Cloud: Vantagepoint runs on the Deltek Cloud, which handles deployment, scaling, and integrations. Firms avoid hosting and patching an ERP on their own servers.
Where Deltek Vantagepoint Falls Short
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- Billing needs the full platform: The Front Office-only option connects pipeline, people, and projects to your existing financial system. Firms that want phase billing and approval workflows inside Vantagepoint need the full platform.
- Billing phases set apart from the plan: Vantagepoint defines billing phases on its Billing Terms form, apart from the work breakdown structure (WBS) phases used for planning. Fee schedules and planning phases can drift unless finance keeps both aligned.
Deltek Vantagepoint Customer Reviews
On Capterra:
“Deltek Vision is an excellent accounting software program for the project management and collaboration. The ERP Program is capable of handling hundreds of the project accounting with ease.” Amir N.
On G2:
“There are some areas that can't be customized as much as clients would like - individual billing overrides, only tables; some areas such as project creation screens can't be customized, bank codes can't be inactivated, some workflows are tricky to navigate without Stored Procedures.” A verified reviewer.
Who Deltek Vantagepoint Is Best For
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- Large firms with a finance systems team: Multi-office architecture and engineering firms that want ERP-level project accounting and can staff a months-long rollout.
4. Total Synergy: Best for Australian, New Zealand and UK Practices Running Xero or MYOB
Total Synergy builds project management for architecture and engineering practices. Its billing runs from stage budgets through WIP to invoices, payments, and credit notes.
Total Synergy Key Features
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- Stage budgets with their own rates: From the Business plan up, projects break into stages, tasks, and phases, each carrying a budget. Stage-specific and project-specific rates price the work at the level the fee was agreed.
- WIP tracking and prebilled invoicing: Every plan tracks WIP, invoices, payments, and credit notes. Business adds prebilled invoicing, so a practice can bill a stage in advance and reconcile it against logged time.
- Purchase orders against the project: Business also adds purchase orders, so subconsultant and expense commitments sit on the project before the supplier invoice arrives. Project managers see committed cost alongside fee burn.
Total Synergy Pricing
Where Total Synergy Shines
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- Links to the accounting packages regional firms use: Total Synergy connects to Xero, MYOB AccountRight Live, and QuickBooks Online. Invoices and payments reach the books without a second round of data entry.
- 24/7 support with guided onboarding: Support runs around the clock, and onboarding runs over several weeks with a dedicated consultant assigned to the practice.
Where Total Synergy Falls Short
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- Manual Accounting Sync: Financial data does not sync automatically in real time. Staff must manually trigger a "Connect sync" to push data to Xero, MYOB, or QuickBooks Online.
- Clunky Invoice Customization: Layout changes require an outdated offline workflow. Staff must download a DOCX file, edit it locally in Microsoft Word, and re-upload it, rather than using a modern, cloud-based template builder.
Total Synergy Customer Reviews
On G2:
“I like having my projects, timesheets, and invoicing in one convenient place. It makes it easier to forecast and manage workloads. Generating fee proposals and invoices saves a lot of admin work and helps keep jobs organised. I also found the initial setup very straightforward.” Samuel C.
On G2:
“Revenue forecasting is a helpful, but a bit difficult to use at times.” Jarrod L.
Who Total Synergy Is Best For
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- Australian, New Zealand and UK practices on Xero or MYOB: Firms of 10 to 100-plus staff that want stage budgets, WIP and invoicing linked to their existing books.
5. Scoro: Best for Firms That Want to Build Quote-to-Cash App by App
Scoro connects project management with invoicing, so firms can plan delivery, track billable time, and prepare client invoices in one platform. Its modular setup lets you combine project phases and milestones with deposit, partial, or recurring invoices, depending on how you bill.
Scoro Key Features
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- Flexible invoice types: The Invoice app covers prepayment, partial and scheduled invoices, plus credit notes, recurring billing and payment reminders. A practice can invoice a deposit at appointment, then bill the balance in agreed stages.
- Phases, milestones and retainers in delivery: Scoro's Deliver app structures projects into phases and milestones and includes retainer management. Ongoing retainer work stays tied to the project it funds, so billing follows delivery.
Scoro Pricing
Where Scoro Shines
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- Quotes that carry through to invoices: Quote to Cash combines Estimate, Deliver, Track and Invoice, covering the workflow from the agreed quote through project delivery and billing.
- Accounting and payment connections: Scoro connects to Xero, QuickBooks, Sage Intacct, Exact Online and Stripe. Integration coverage and charges vary, so include your required connections in the quote.
Where Scoro Falls Short
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- Advanced billing controls cost extra: WIP reporting and financial-document approvals require additional capabilities beyond the basic apps. Ask for those add-ons to be included in your quote.
- Not every combination includes invoicing: Projects & Resources omits Invoice, while Time-billing omits Deliver. Compare the full app combination your workflow needs, rather than the lowest starting price.
Scoro Customer Reviews
On G2:
“As a small and medium business owner, I use Scoro mainly for its integrations with Xero and Expensify. With Xero, Scoro makes it easy to sync invoices, bills, and payments between my projects and accounting. I just create invoices for my clients in Scoro, and everything is automatically updated in Xero, saving me and my team lots of time and manual work.” A verified reviewer.
On Capterra:
“It's a little expensive, but as it often said 'you get what you pay for' and with Scoro, you get a lot of functionality and performance!” Tony W.
Who Scoro Is Best For
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- Firms that want to add capabilities over time: Design and engineering firms that start with time and billing, then add quoting, resourcing, or advanced financials as they grow.
How to Choose the Best Project Management Software With Billing
Start with your fee agreements, invoice review process, and accounting setup. The platform should handle a complete billing cycle, including corrections and payments, rather than just produce an invoice template.
Decide Whether to Keep Your Accounting Package
Your accounting package decides how much of the finance stack changes. BQE CORE and Deltek Vantagepoint can replace the ledger, while Total Synergy and Scoro sync invoices to an existing one.
Replacing accounting adds opening balances and financial records to the migration. Keeping your ledger makes invoice and payment synchronization a key part of the evaluation.
So, ask the vendor to raise an invoice on a fixed-fee phase. Then watch it arrive in your ledger with the right project, tax code, and general ledger account.
Project Flow sits beside your existing books, with accounting integrations for Sage, Xero, QuickBooks, and Access.
Test Timesheet Capture Before Invoice Templates
Every hourly invoice and every fee-burn figure starts as a timesheet. Practices that collect hours in Excel at month-end bill late, and the overrun report arrives after the phase has closed.
Ask a project architect to log a day against two phases on a phone. Then watch those hours appear on a draft invoice once a manager approves them.
Project Flow's time tracking logs hours against projects, phases, and budgets, with the mobile app on every plan. Our guide on getting teams to fill out timesheets covers the habit side.
Price the Full Rollout Before Comparing Seat Costs
The seat price is the smallest number in most quotes. Onboarding, data migration, seat minimums, and the plan tier that includes WIP or resource planning decide the real cost.
Ask for a written quote covering onboarding, live-project migration, and the plan tier behind each feature you saw. You can ask for a committed go-live date as well.
Project Flow onboarding comes with a dedicated consultant who works through setup with your team.
Connect Project Delivery to Billing With Milient Project Flow
If your accounting software works but project invoices still start in separate spreadsheets, the gap sits between project managers and finance. Phase-based billing schedules and invoice tracking close it.
And if fee burn only shows after the invoice goes out, you need a platform built for growing AEC firms. That's Milient Project Flow.
Project Flow also exports timeline and deliverable reports as PDFs for clients. Book a meeting with us.
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