By applying a little creativity and a lot of sound advice, you can turn your billing headaches into solutions that are in sync with your firm’s greater purpose

In theory, billing should be simple: You send your client an invoice for a predetermined rate, and they pay it. In reality, the logistical and emotional mechanics of the process are far more complex. As design firms develop their own billing frameworks, they often adopt an approach that’s more reactive than proactive—combine that with money being a subject fraught with personal triggers, anxieties and biases, and billing can quickly get complicated. The good news is that most designers already have the raw skills to master the nuances of billing—their systems may just need a little refining.

“Designers have been taught to see money in a very linear way,” says Sean Low, founder of coaching consultancy The Business of Being Creative. “If designers allowed themselves to see money the same way they see art or design or space, they’d actually be better at managing money than almost any financial professional.”