Practice Management Software for an Architecture Firm: Fees, Stages and Timesheets in 2026

The verdict in three sentences

In a practice paid 8 to 12 % of construction cost, profit is won or lost stage by stage: a competition concept or a site supervision stage that overruns by 40 % wipes out the project margin. A practice management tool linking fees per stage, time spent and interim invoicing raises the alarm before the overrun. Off-the-shelf software costs EUR 40 to 80 per user per month; a Kolonell custom build sits between the simple application band, 2,500,000 to 4,000,000 FCFA (EUR 3,810 to 6,100), and the medium band, 4,000,000 to 7,000,000 FCFA (EUR 6,100 to 10,670), delivered in 3 to 4 months, with the rest set in the quote.

Where the practice loses money

The partner of a 16-person studio in Marseille runs public design competitions, multi-family housing for social landlords and developers, and a few civic buildings at the same time. Fees are set in the appointment and split across work stages, in France from sketch design (ESQ) through scheme design, detailed design, technical design, tender documents, tender analysis, shop drawing review, site supervision and handover. Timesheets go into a spreadsheet on Fridays, when they are filled at all, and interim invoices go out weeks late because nobody knows exactly how far each stage has progressed.

On a 40-unit scheme with EUR 6,000,000 of works and a 10 % fee, EUR 600,000 shared with consultants, the studio's share can reach EUR 380,000. A 25 % overrun on technical design and site supervision, the heaviest stages, easily means EUR 50,000 of unbillable time.

These splits are 2026 orders of magnitude for standard appointments in France; every contract has its own.

What the tool must do

The core is a project record (construction value, fee rate or lump sum, split between consultants), an hour budget per stage derived from the fee and an average hourly rate, and time entry in under two minutes a day on desktop or mobile. Progress per stage, declared by the project lead, triggers a proposed interim invoice. A dashboard compares hours used with progress and alerts at 80 % of budget.

Useful extras: competition tracking (time invested, honoraria, win rate), a 3-month resource plan to decide whether the studio can take another competition, and an accounting export.

Off-the-shelf or custom

Off-the-shelf software suits a studio whose appointments follow the standard stage split and who is happy with its screens. Custom makes sense when the studio works a lot in joint appointments (fee split per stage and per consortium member), wants to manage competitions as an investment, or wants a tool the team will actually fill in because it asks only for the essentials. Typical project: 3 weeks of scoping on 5 live projects, 6 to 8 weeks of build, then 4 weeks of loading current projects and tuning.

Mini case study

Claire, partner at a 16-person studio in Marseille, bills about EUR 1,600,000 of fees a year. She estimates that 6 % of hours, with no alert, are spent beyond stage budgets without a fee variation, or EUR 96,000 of unbilled time. Bringing that to 2 % recovers EUR 64,000 a year by negotiating variations earlier. Interim invoices sent 3 weeks sooner also improve cash by about EUR 90,000. Against off-the-shelf software at EUR 60 per user per month (EUR 11,520 a year), a medium-band custom tool with maintenance at EUR 114 a month pays back in under two years versus the licence, and in a few months versus the recovered hours.

FAQ

Does the tool follow standard work stages?

Yes, French stages from sketch design to handover are set by default, and extra services such as site coordination can be added. Each contract keeps its own percentage split.

How do you get regular timesheets?

Entry takes under 2 minutes a day, with resource-plan projects pre-filled and a Friday reminder. In equipped studios completion often exceeds 90 %.

Can we handle joint appointments with engineers?

Yes, in the medium version: the fee split per stage and per consultant is entered once, and the studio's interim invoice is calculated on its own share only.

Does data stay in Europe?

EU hosting is recommended for a practice under GDPR; its cost is set in the quote according to the number of users, 16 here.

How long until we can use it?

Allow 3 to 4 months in total, with a first version of timesheets and stages usable from week 8 on live projects.

Let's scope your project. Show us two appointment contracts and your current timesheet and we will scope stages, fees and invoicing, live in 3 to 4 months. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.