The Key to Streamlining Project Management and Reporting

Any practicing architect will tell you that running a firm is a challenging task that often has little to do with designing and more with organizing. Creating invoices, contracts, and schedules as well as analyzing project performance and profitability, tracking billable hours, and other “left-brain” activities are a daily reality for most A/E/C professionals. And inefficient management systems can only drag out the already tedious and time-consuming set of chores.

Who better to design a project management tool for architects than former architecture professionals themselves? Looking to optimize his own practice, architect Steven Burns developed the early form of ArchiOffice, which later became a major part of the BQE Software product line. Burns worked on the software after hours while running his own practice, constantly perfecting and adding new features to the tool born out of necessity. The number of architecture firms eager to incorporate ArchiOffice into their workflows grew and eventually prompted Burns to join BQE Software as Chief Creative Officer. He continues to work there alongside the company’s CEO, a former structural engineer.

Image courtesy of Edmiston Jones Architects, Australia

Understanding the ins and outs of working in the A/E/C industry, the BQE Software team further developed ArchiOffice as a project management tool that simplifies the way firms handle information on tracking, billing, scheduling, and accounting. ArchiOffice has a streamlined, robust structure that appeals to architects’ needs and allows them to remain flexible and connected. Suited for both large and small architectural offices, the software integrates multiple platforms into one and makes it possible for any architect to handle accounting and office management responsibilities.

In the case of Edmiston Jones Architects, a design firm located in New South Wales, Australia, it was important to acquire a unifying project management tool compatible with the Mac OS. The firm, which focuses on delivering environmentally sensitive design solutions that respond to climate and context, required equally responsive and flexible software for managing the business and administrative side of its work.

Image courtesy of Edmiston Jones Architects, Australia

Prior to discovering ArchiOffice, the firm’s employees used to manually enter their time into Excel and, then, produce invoices on a separate system based on spreadsheet calculations. Using several different tools proved to be needlessly cumbersome. They were looking for a program that would streamline the entire process and automate time and expense tracking, among other things, so the architects could focus on design instead of management.

“Using one system to enter data and, then, transferring this data to different software to create invoices and reports was time-consuming and open to errors,” said Lesley Drysdale, accounting manager of EJ.

The executive assistant at EJ spent extensive time researching different solutions and eventually discovered ArchiOffice. She requested a live demo in order to try it out and was impressed by the intuitive and streamlined interface, its robust features, and reasonable price.

Image courtesy of Edmiston Jones Architects, Australia

Edmiston Jones continues to use the software to this day and is heavily reliant on its project management and reporting features. “Project leaders use the tasks and timesheet reports in ArchiOffice to manage their time and percentages on a weekly basis. Also, phases and job codes work well. We have a few projects that use consultants as part of our fee, so sub-phases are a great way to manage this as well as producing reports. The Budget versus Actual Report gives us the necessary information for our monthly billing cycle, and the best part is we can invoice from the same software that we use to track time.”

In addition to the standard version, BQE Software has developed ArchiOffice Online, which allows users to keep track of people and projects anytime and from anywhere. This cloud-based tool allows you to remotely manage different aspects of the same project, without the need to be in constant contact with individual employees. Furthermore, you can enter time and expenses from an iPhone or Android without a cell signal and delegate, analyze, and report whether you’re at the office, home, or on a plane.

Image courtesy of Edmiston Jones Architects, Australia

ArchiOffice Online caters to both Mac and PC users and eliminates the need for a server. This is a relatively new capability of the software: the platform hosts the data and takes care of the maintenance so that it doesn’t tax the infrastructure of your server. The interface is exactly the same as with the server version.

The time-entry process is simplified to allow project managers and principals to easily go in and track the time while empowering employees to track their own time, without reverting to spreadsheets and their multiple formulas. The result is efficiency and consistency as the projects are set up with the right phases and job codes that pertain to specific jobs. It also speeds up the billing process and can be easily reviewed. A similar principle is at work with expense tracking.

With over 325,000 users worldwide, BQE Software continues to evolve and prove that the best solutions come from those who have walked in your shoes. Check out the official website and give the demo version a try.