I've used Arch Administrator since 2000, and have found it to cover all the bases ( it's been around for 20-30 years). It is similar to Archi-Office in functionality, but less expensive and easier to use. You can jump in without having to set up everything in the world, then modify your standards and templates as you go. You can use as much or as little of it as you want.
Arch Administrator has integrated Time Sheet tracking, Contact and Conversation Management, Project Management and Reporting, AND Staff Resource Scheduler, Document Management including Portfolio Management, a Proposal & Contracts Module, Submittal / Transmittal / Field Report / Meeting Minute Logs/tracking AND Invoices and a pretty robust Accounting Module that closely parallels the functionality of Quickbooks - along with the ability to export/import Quickbooks transactions and import/export Outlook Contacts.
When I was an 8-person firm all this was invaluable for being able to see all staff correspondence and conversations related to a project, ( including the sub-set of those that required follow up !) to know if a project was on budget/on track or not (with or without DPE or OH+P markups/factors), to track our reimbursable engineering consultant expenses, find all contacts related to a project, etc etc etc - all from shared up-to-the minute data regardless of which staff member input the info. In the beginning.
We did not use the accounting functions other than invoicing (based on the timesheets) which we would then duplicate in Quickbooks, but since 2000 the accounting functionality of Arch Administrator has grown considerably to include pretty much everything QuickBooks does.
The developer / owner of the software, Paul Smialowitz (sp?) is an architect who, way back when, needed these tools for himself, but now he has become a full-time software provider. What's great about Paul is that he is very personable, he provides tech support AND you can get ahold of him on the phone ! He takes suggestions for future releases and he cares. The software is an application based on the Lotus Approach Database so it's very portable and easy to install etc
I still use it as a two-person firm. I believe Arch Administrator is in use by architects in +/- 40 states including larger firms with multiple offices Definitely worth checking out.
www.psss.com 888-748-7166 P.S. I don't work for them, I just love the product and the guy behind it.
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Mark Connors AIA
Architectural InSite, Inc
Stroudsburg PA
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Original Message:
Sent: 08-21-2014 17:36
From: Michael Strogoff
Subject: Time tracking and reporting
I have three clients (all architecture firms between 8 - 25 people) that just completed independent analyses of software solutions for timecard tracking and invoicing. They all decided on BillQuick and to continue doing their full accounting on QuickBooks, although the 25-person firm sees this as in interim solution to a fully-integrated package. At this point, Ajera seemed expensive for this firm (plus, Axium, who makes Ajera, was recently acquired by Deltek so there's some uncertainty about the future of Ajera). BillQuick does some nice reports but lacks other features. And each of these firms either has someone on board and/or hired BillQuick to do the initial mapping of fields with QuickBooks, which is key.
ArchiOffice might have some other benefits but it is not a full accounting package and some of their assumptions pertaining to project profitability reports is, for lack of a publishable word, questionable.
Unfortunately, the market size for smaller architecture and engineering firms (less than 20 people) seems like it is too small for a company to develop a fully integrated solution that does time tracking, invoicing, accounting, cash flow projections, staff resourcing, etc.
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Michael Strogoff, FAIA
President
Strogoff Consulting
Mill Valley CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 08-20-2014 17:54
From: Betsy Nickless
Subject: Time tracking and reporting
There is another product, Billquick, that interfaces with QB - Billquick does time tracking, project management, and billing; you still do your accounting in QB. I compared it with Ajera when I was researching a few years ago and the pricing of the two was comparable. Perhaps Billquick has become more affordable of late.
http://www.bqe.com/
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Betsy Nickless, CDFA
Mark Scheurer Architect, Inc.
SDA - Orange County Chapter
Newport Beach CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 08-19-2014 10:10
From: Gordon Rogers
Subject: Time tracking and reporting
Items 2 & 3 are accounting functions. I don't know if you will find a time and billing software package with those functions that is not an accounting software. My firm was the same size and I struggled with exactly the same problem. I tried Ajera, but the conversion from QB was very costly, training expensive, and we ended up converting back to QB.
There are some very cool examples of snapshot reports in the AIA Handbook. They came from an accounting software package that is ridiculously expensive. I ended up having someone write a custom report application that would grab information out of QB and combine it with info in a spreadsheet to create a snapshot like the example in the AIA Handbook. The part that is challenging was that in order to get some of the information you need in the snapshot, it requires data entry from your project managers (e.g. percent of phase/task completion, pending change orders, etc.).
Best of luck to you. When you find a solution that works, please re-post the info!
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Gordon Rogers AIA
EAS Department Executive
Kitchell CEM, Inc.
Sacramento CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 08-15-2014 09:58
From: Justin Zahner
Subject: Time tracking and reporting
My company uses our accounting software Ajera to do all time tracking and reporting, but there are other ones out there. I believe the best I have seen and tried is a software called Archioffice by BQE Software.
Their system was designed by an A&E user and it is centered on our project types. It also works well with accounting software. Watch their demos and tell me what you think.
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Justin P. Zahner, AIA LEED® AP BD+C
Eley Guild Hardy Architects PA
1091 Tommy Munro Dr
Biloxi, MS 39532
T 228.594.2323
F 228.594.2223
www.eleyguildhardy.com
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Original Message:
Sent: 08-13-2014 15:30
From: Mark Shannon
Subject: Time tracking and reporting
This message has been cross posted to the following Discussion Forums: Practice Management Member Conversations and Technology in Architectural Practice .
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Hello All,
We are a firm of approximately fifteen people. Currently we track our time and report on projects through various excel spreadsheets. As we have grown this has become more and more cumbersome. We are currently looking for a software package that we can use for:
1. Employee timesheet entry for projects.
2. Expense tracking.
3. Project reporting including profit/loss by phase, or even to the task level.
4. Forecasting of effort to help understand our staffing needs.
5. Consultant tracking.
We do not need an accounting program, and will still generate custom invoices. We have seen demos for a few programs, and like a package called Mavenlink. Does anyone have experience with this software, or suggestions of another. Any help is appreciated.
Mark
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Mark Shannon AIA
The Hayes Design Group - Architects
Pittsburgh PA
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