A Better Timekeeping App
Most architects’ timekeeping systems do not tell them how their projects are doing or whether the firm is working efficiently. Until now.
Timekeeping Is The Main Source Of Information For Small-Firm Architects
Are you caught in the same trap that I was? My financial systems were a mess for the first few years I was in business. Then I joined the big boys with a real accounting system even though I was a small-firm architect. What I didn’t know is that all I needed was a decent timekeeping system. I didn’t find this out until years latter.
Sure, that accounting system did payroll, invoicing, and tracked how our time was spent. But because it was accounting, I couldn’t get updates on design budgets until the end of a pay period. I also couldn’t easily tell how efficiently we were working.
If you are a small-firm architect, you can’t afford accounting. [See downsize-your-accounting.html] A simple timekeeping system is actually a better fit in four ways:
Provides better data and provides it instantly
Simple to implement
Almost no maintenance
Cheaper to buy
I have built the timekeeping system you need. You can get it free*. And you can implement it over a weekend to start learning how you are really doing.
Before I show you how to get the Timekeeping App, let me explain why timekeeping is so important and the important information it can tell you. Then I will walk you through my CODA Timekeeping App.
*You will need a CODA account, also free; but you may want a paid account if you want to expand the system. Paid accounts are $10 per month for each person who will create new stuff.
Managing Your Firm With Just Timekeeping
Each of these questions can be answered by your timekeeping system on a daily basis:
How are we doing on each project?
How efficient is the firm? Each member?
What kind of work is profitable?
Why Time Is The Most Critical Measurement For Architects
The reason that timekeeping is so critical is that 80% of your costs are tied to the time you ‘spend’. Billable and non-billable time. Payroll taxes. Paid Time Off and other benefits.
Profitability for the small-firm architect comes down to three issues. Two of them are managed with timekeeping.
Spending less time completing the work than the fee pays for
Keeping non-billable time to a minimum
Having enough work to keep busy (timekeeping is no help here)
Managing design budgets
Each project can only afford to pay for so much time. Do you measure this? I surveyed 1,400 architectural firms, over half of them did not.
There is a management saying, “you can’t improve what you don’t measure”.
Even if you measure how you are doing once or twice a month, the small-firm architect doesn’t have projects that are large enough for this to be timely. A small project eats through its design budget at the rate of 2%-10% a week, depending on the phase of the work. You need the ability to track design budgets daily. (Yes, if you are serious about being profitable, daily timekeepingis a must.)
And tracking design budget needs to be easy to do.
Managing non-billable time
Non-billable time is often a difficult resource to recognize and manage. Most small-firm architects have trouble being profitable if the cost of non-billable time is more than 33% of the cost of all time.
The math to track this billable to non-billable ratio is really simple. Unfortunately the data is buried in your timesheets, unless your timekeeping system calculates it for you.
It is a challenge for the small-firm architect to keep non-billable time to less than 33% of all time. It is approaching impossible if you don’t know your numbers.
If You Don’t Have A System, Here Is A Free One That Does What You Need
I developed a system using CODA that is simply called Timekeeping. A working copy of it is embedded on my website. [link to Timekeeping]
Take it for a test drive. Read through the Instructions to see how it works. If you want a copy, just follow these Next Steps.
Next Steps
Test the embedded copy of Timekeeping.
The embedded copy of Timekeeping is in ‘Play’ mode so any changes you make are not saved.
Get your own copy of CODA.
Sign up for a CODA account. You can do that by clicking "Open In CODA" in the upper right corner of the embedded doc (app).
Coda is a free app to use. If you want to add pages or develop your own apps with it (called Docs) you will need to pay for at least one ‘Maker’. Each Maker is $10/month (as of January 2024). There are some amazing features in CODA, but that is another article.
Copy the Timekeeping Doc.
Copy the Timekeeping Doc into your CODA account. Have your CODA account open in one tab or window. Then, open the Timekeeping app in another tab or window from my website or from this direct link.
coda.io/@architekwiki/timekeeping
Simply click on the ‘Copy Doc’ blue button in the upper right corner of the Timekeeping Doc. Rename it in the pop-up window, and also pick where you want to store it in your CODA account. This would be ‘My Docs’ or another folder that you have created.
Follow the Instructions.
Part of the Timekeeping App is a page named ‘Instructions’. You will find a step by step guide for setting up your own copy of Timekeeping.
Roll Out Timekeeping.
Give some thought to how you will introduce the Timekeeping App to the others in your firm. Perhaps it would be similar to another piece of software that you have implemented.
One unique issue with a new timekeeping system is historical data. You will want all the past data for your current projects at the minimum. After that I recommend doing the minimum unless you have real reasons because all that data will become useless to you before you know it.
Managing Your Firm With Just Timekeeping
Doing a good job of managing your design budgets and your billable to non-billable ratio is the key to profitability for small-firm architects.
Seriously consider implementing daily timekeeping. You will never regret this change. Good management depends on it.
Find a way to make your system work for you or get a new timekeeping system.
What you do is too important to not be sustainable. Sustainable equals Profitable.