How To Accept Payments For An Interior Design

An interior design business bills fees on one basis and purchases furnishings on another, and the second one carries client money through the studio's account to suppliers. Blending those two is how designers end up unable to pay a workroom for a sofa a client already funded. Here is the setup that keeps them separate.

Figures current to July 28, 2026 and rechecked each quarter.

How interior design money actually arrives

Four flows. Design fees: flat, hourly, or percentage-based, which is the studio's actual revenue. Procurement: client money paying for furniture, fabric, lighting, and fittings, which passes through rather than being earned. Product markup or procurement fees where the studio buys at trade and resells, which is revenue and should be disclosed as the arrangement it is. And project management or site supervision fees on larger builds.

By the numbers (July 28, 2026)

The governing 2026 rate here is 3.3% + 30¢ online or on a card-paid invoice. A $14,000 furnishing procurement deposit costs $462 to process, against $10.00 on ACH, where the 1% rate caps at $10, saving $452. This is client money moving to a supplier, which is exactly why it belongs on bank transfer rather than carrying a card processing cost.

Procurement money is client money

Furnishings are ordered against client deposits, often months before delivery, and the amounts routinely exceed the design fee several times over. Keep it separate: a documented ledger of what was received and what was ordered, funds not spent on studio operations, and a written agreement covering how purchasing works. The alternative, treating a deposit as available cash because the sofa is not due until spring, is how a studio finds itself short when the workroom invoices, and clients discover that problem at the worst possible moment.

Fee structures and what each one hides

Flat fees suit defined scopes and reward efficiency, but they punish a designer whose client changes direction repeatedly. Hourly billing captures that but makes clients anxious about every call. Percentage-of-cost aligns the fee with project size and creates an obvious conflict that should be acknowledged rather than hidden. Whichever is used, define the scope precisely, state what triggers additional fees, and put revision limits on design concepts, because taste-driven revision is unlimited in a way structural revision is not.

Trade pricing, markup, and disclosure

Buying at trade and reselling at retail or a stated markup is a legitimate and common model, and it stops being legitimate when a client believes they are paying cost. Disclose the arrangement in the agreement: whether the studio takes a markup, a procurement fee, or passes trade pricing through, and what happens to trade discounts. Clients accept markup they were told about and lose trust entirely over markup they discover, and in a referral-driven business that discovery costs more than the margin ever earned.

Deposits, delivery, and the rails

Furnishing lead times are long and slipping, so state estimated timelines in writing, update clients proactively when they move, and take procurement deposits sized to supplier requirements rather than to a round number. Document delivery with photographs and a signed receipt on high-value pieces. On rails, card suits design fees and smaller deposits, while procurement amounts at four and five figures belong on bank transfer, since processing costs on money that is not yours are difficult to account for and expensive to absorb.

Sources

• Swipesum — Square Fees Explained 2026 (verified against Square's published pricing)
• NerdWallet — Square Fees: Calculator and Pricing for 2026

What people ask me

How should procurement money be handled?

Kept separate from studio operations with a documented ledger of what was received and ordered, since furnishing deposits routinely exceed the design fee several times over.

Which fee structure is best?

Each hides something: flat fees punish repeated direction changes, hourly makes clients anxious, and percentage-of-cost creates a conflict that should be acknowledged rather than hidden.

Should trade markup be disclosed?

Always, in the agreement. Clients accept markup they were told about and lose trust entirely over markup they discover, which costs more than the margin in a referral business.

How should lead times be managed?

Estimated timelines in writing, proactive updates when they slip, and procurement deposits sized to supplier requirements rather than a round number.

Which rail suits procurement?

Bank transfer at four and five figures, since processing costs on money that is not yours are difficult to account for and expensive to absorb.

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