Time Tracking Software for Architecture Firms
Schematic design, design development, construction documents, and construction administration each consume a defined percentage of the architectural fee, and overspending hours in one phase directly steals from the next. AgencyPro tracks time per AIA phase against the fee allocation, alerting project managers when a phase is consuming more than its budgeted share so adjustments happen before the project reaches construction administration with no hours left.
Based on self-reported data from AgencyPro customers
Built for Architecture Firms
Architecture firms need to track time across project phases — schematic design, design development, construction documents — because each phase has a fixed fee, and overspending hours in one phase steals budget from the next. An architect who overspends 40 hours on schematic design has already consumed budget earmarked for construction documents, and without phase-level tracking that imbalance stays hidden until the project is over budget.
Time Tracking Built for Architecture Firms
Why Architecture Firms Need Better Time Tracking
Architectural practices managing design phases, client presentations, permit processes, and construction administration.
An architect overspent 40 hours on schematic design exploring additional concept directions the client requested — consuming budget earmarked for construction documents — but the phase-level overrun was invisible until the project was already over budget with CD production still ahead
Construction administration was estimated at 15% of the project fee, but RFI responses (averaging 30 minutes each x 85 RFIs), site visits (4 hours each x 12 visits), and change order reviews consumed twice that allocation — a pattern that repeats on every project because CA hours are never tracked granularly
Three architects and two drafters worked on the same project this month, each billing at different rates — but their combined hours landed in a single "design" bucket with no way to see how much of the $120K phase fee went to principal-level design review versus junior-level CAD production
Consultant coordination with structural engineers, MEP consultants, and landscape architects consumed 8 hours per week across two projects — project management overhead that wasn't scoped in the original fee because nobody tracks how much time inter-discipline coordination actually requires
How Architecture Firms Use AgencyPro Time Tracking
Smart time tracking with project-level timers, billable/non-billable categorization, and team timesheets.
AIA phase budgets — SD (20%), DD (25%), CD (35%), CA (20%) — track with real-time burn rates. When schematic design hits 100% of its budget with three concept directions still under review, the project lead sees the overrun before it steals hours from the CD phase that can't afford to be compressed
Construction administration logs granularly: RFI response (30 min x 85 = 42.5h), site visits (4h x 12 = 48h), submittal review (20 min x 60 = 20h), change order evaluation (45 min x 15 = 11.25h). Total CA: 121.75 hours. The next project's CA fee is based on this data, not an optimistic 15% allocation that will overrun again
Role-based cost tracking shows principal time (12h x $350 = $4,200) versus project architect time (40h x $175 = $7,000) versus drafter time (60h x $85 = $5,100) per phase. The firm can assess whether principal involvement is appropriately scaled or whether senior resources are performing tasks that juniors should handle
Consultant coordination hours track as project management overhead per project. When two projects each require 8 hours/week of coordination, that 64 hours/month of non-design time is visible and factored into future fee proposals rather than hidden inside design phase budgets
Key Benefits for Architecture Firms
Track Hours by AIA Project Phase
Monitor time across schematic design, design development, construction documents, and construction administration phases. Compare actual effort against AIA-standard phase budgets and improve future fee proposals with historical data.
Measure Design vs Documentation Time
Separate creative design exploration and client presentations from technical drawing production, specification writing, and building code compliance review. Understand your studio's design-to-documentation ratio per project type.
Monitor Consultant Coordination Hours
Track time spent coordinating with structural engineers, MEP consultants, landscape architects, and interior designers. Accurately account for project management overhead on complex multi-discipline architectural projects.
Quantify Construction Administration Effort
Record hours dedicated to site visits, RFI responses, submittal reviews, change order evaluation, and punch list walkthroughs. This phase often exceeds initial time estimates — track it precisely to price CA fees accurately.
How It Works
Budget hours by AIA phase at project kick-off
Divide the project fee into phase-level hour budgets based on AIA standard percentages or your firm's historical data: SD (200h), DD (250h), CD (350h), CA (200h). Each team member's time tracks against the active phase, and burn-rate dashboards update in real time.
Track CA activities at the task level
During construction administration, each activity gets its own time entry: RFI response (30 min), site visit (4h), submittal review (20 min), change order evaluation (45 min). Monthly CA reports show total hours by task type, giving principals the data to negotiate realistic CA fees on future contracts.
Compare actual phase cost against fee allocation
When a phase closes, the report shows actual hours and cost versus the fee allocation: "CD phase: 380 hours consumed (budget: 350h), blended cost $52,300 against $48,000 fee allocation — 9% over budget." This phase-level P&L powers more accurate fee proposals on the next project of similar scope.
Frequently Asked Questions
Our projects span 2-3 years. How do we keep time tracking consistent over that duration?
Phase transitions create natural checkpoints. When SD closes and DD begins, the budget allocation shifts and the team sees a fresh phase target. Principals review phase close-out reports comparing actual versus budgeted hours before the next phase begins. The 2-3 year project is really 4-5 sequential phases of 3-8 months each, and tracking discipline resets at every transition. Monthly burn-rate reports between transitions ensure no phase drifts silently over budget.
CA always runs over budget. Can we prove that to the owner during fee negotiation?
Pull CA task-level data from your last 5-10 projects of similar scope. The average shows: RFI responses (45h), site visits (52h), submittal review (22h), change order evaluation (14h), punchlist (18h) = 151 total CA hours. Present this to the owner alongside the current fee proposal: "Our historical data shows CA requires 150+ hours on projects of this size. The current CA allocation covers 100 hours. We recommend adjusting the CA fee to reflect documented effort." Data replaces negotiation posturing.
How do we handle time when an architect works on Revit while the timer runs?
The timer runs in the background while the architect works in Revit, AutoCAD, or any other application. There's no integration dependency on specific design software — the timer is a lightweight overlay that tracks elapsed time against the active project and phase. When the architect finishes a 3-hour CAD session, they stop the timer and confirm the phase tag (CD production, for example). The workflow is tool-agnostic.
Multiple architects review each other's work. How do we attribute review time?
Each architect logs their own time against the project phase. When a principal spends 2 hours reviewing a project architect's CD set, that entry tags as "CD quality review" at the principal's $350/hr rate. The phase report shows: "CD production: 250h at $85/hr avg (drafters) + 30h at $175/hr (project architect) + 12h at $350/hr (principal review) = $33,700 phase cost." Review time is visible, not hidden inside production hours.
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SD consumed 240 hours. The budget was 200. DD starts Monday.
Architecture firms using AgencyPro track AIA phase budgets in real time — catching the schematic design overrun before it devours the construction document budget, not after the project ships at a loss.