Playbook / Interior Design

How to automate FF&E procurement billing for interior design studios

A single project can run through dozens of vendors, each with its own invoice, deposit schedule, and lead time. Every item has to match a proposal, carry the right markup, and get billed to the client before you pay the vendor. Miss one and the margin walks out the door. This playbook shows how Rigby matches vendor invoices to proposals, applies your markup, and keeps client billing ahead of vendor payments.

20 to 40 min
Time spent building one invoice by hand, multiplied across every vendor and project (InvoiceOwl)
20%
standard procurement markup that must be applied and documented per item
Dozens
of vendors per project, each with its own invoice and deposit
1 to 5%
manual invoice error rate that shows up as wrong charges (AP research)
#1
source of budget overruns on commercial interior projects (DIG, 2026)
The definition

What does it mean to automate FF&E billing?

An AI agent reads every vendor invoice, proposal, and deposit receipt. It matches each line to the right project and proposal item, applies your contracted markup, and queues the client invoice before the vendor payment goes out. You keep the design decisions. The agent keeps the money and the markup straight.
The cost of doing it by hand

Why FF&E billing leaks margin.

20 to 40 min
spent building each invoice by hand from a blank document
InvoiceOwl
20%
markup lost on any item billed at net by mistake
illustrative, confirm with your data
1 to 5%
manual invoice error rate driving wrong charges and disputes
AP research
Days
of cash exposure every time a vendor is paid before the client reimburses
Vergo, 2026
How it works

How Rigby runs FF&E billing.

Five steps, on the tools you already use.

01

Audit

An ops specialist learns your procurement flow. Your proposal format, your markup rules by category, your deposit and backorder handling.

02

Schema

Rigby encodes your markup tiers, vendor list, proposal structure, and the rule that client billing leads vendor payment.

03

Match

The agent reads each vendor invoice, receipt, and acknowledgment in any format and matches it to the right project and proposal line.

04

Flag

Substitutions, price changes, missing deposits, or items billed at net route to you with the reason attached.

05

Run

The client invoice is assembled with markup applied and queued for approval. Every action is logged and reversible.

Scope

What it handles, and what it leaves alone.

We build this

  • Matching vendor invoices to proposals and projects
  • Applying markup by category, automatically
  • Keeping client billing ahead of vendor payment
  • Tracking deposits, backorders, and substitutions

Scoped carefully

  • Design and selection stay with you
  • Substitutions are flagged for your call, not auto-approved
  • Markup rules come from your contracts, not assumptions

We do not do

  • We do not pay vendors or move client funds
  • We do not negotiate with vendors
  • We do not change your pricing
Proof point

Every reimbursable billed. Every markup applied.

[TESTED-BY QUOTE GOES HERE ONCE A PILOT EXISTS]

FF&E is where commercial interior projects go over budget, driven by vendor sprawl, substitutions, and markups that slip through manual billing. Rigby matches every invoice to a proposal line and applies the right markup before anything reaches the client.

Talk to our team
FAQ

Frequently asked questions.

Yes. Markup tiers are encoded up front, so a fabric vendor and a lighting vendor each bill at the right rate.

Every item matched. Every markup billed.

Live in days. Rigby matches and bills. You keep the design and the margin.

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