Time tracking for architects a grip on time, a grip on projects
For architects and other professionals in the construction sector, accurate time tracking is not an administrative afterthought but an essential part of professional project management. Architects deal with complex commissions in which design, consultation, site visits, drawing work and supervision of construction all come together. Every hour spent on a project represents value – both in time and in money. Without reliable tracking of these hours, you not only miss out on income, but also run the risk of projects becoming financially unbalanced. Time tracking shows how much time goes to which part of a project and helps to flag overruns at an early stage. For architects who work with fixed-price agreements, this is essential for monitoring profitability. For those who work on an hourly basis, it is even a legal requirement towards the client to substantiate the time spent transparently.
In addition, time tracking provides a foundation for accountability and adjustment. Large construction projects often involve several parties, each with their own responsibilities, contract terms and deadlines. In such a context, good time tracking helps to account for who did what and when, especially in the event of disagreements about progress, additional work or delays. Moreover, accurately kept time records make it possible to evaluate after projects are completed: where was too much time spent, and where were the efficiencies? These insights are worth their weight in gold for future commissions, when drawing up better estimates and schedules. For grant programmes or tenders too, where accountability for time spent is often required, good time tracking is an indispensable piece of evidence. In short: for today's architect, keeping track of hours is not only an obligation, but a strategic tool for keeping a grip on the work, the costs and the quality of the services provided.
TimeWriter for professionals in construction
Many professionals in construction use TimeWriter. The program supports the tracking of hours and reduces administrative work, such as collecting timesheets.
Many professionals in construction use TimeWriter. The program supports the tracking of hours and reduces administrative work, such as collecting timesheets and processing manual records. Employees can easily record their time per project, client or activity. This quickly gives a clear overview of the hours spent and the progress of projects.
With TimeWriter you gain insight not only into today's hours, but also into the performance of your projects over the longer term. Overviews and reports make visible where time is being spent and help you monitor budgets and schedules. That way, time tracking becomes more than just administration: it becomes a practical tool for better project control and healthy business operations.
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As an architect, you work on projects that bring together many different activities. From the first meeting with a client and the initial sketch to design, drawing work, site meetings and supervision during construction. Often, several employees work on the same project at different times. As a result, it is not always easy to determine afterwards how much time was actually spent on an assignment. With TimeWriter you easily track these hours per project and activity, so you always have insight into the time your projects actually cost.
That insight matters. On a project with a fixed fee, the revenue is largely fixed, while the amount of time you spend on the project can keep increasing. Even when you work on an hourly basis, you want to be able to demonstrate which work was carried out and how much time was spent on it. Good time tracking therefore not only helps you with your administration, but above all with monitoring the progress, costs and profitability of your projects.
Know where your practice's
time is going
An architectural practice essentially sells knowledge, experience and time. Yet it is often difficult to see exactly where that time ends up within a project. A meeting overruns, a design is revised several times or a site meeting requires more preparation than expected. Individually these seem like minor deviations, but over the course of a project they can have a considerable effect on the final return.
With TimeWriter, every employee logs their hours directly against the right project and the right activity. This produces a reliable overview of the actual time spent. You see which projects demand a lot of time, which activities consistently take more hours than expected and how much capacity your employees devote to a particular client. This turns time tracking from an administrative obligation into information you can actually use to steer your practice.
Keep control of your project budget
For an architectural practice, it is not enough to know afterwards how many hours a project took. If you only discover at the final invoice that a project required considerably more time than budgeted, it is usually too late to make adjustments. That is precisely why it is important to have insight during the project into the ratio between budgeted and actual hours spent.
TimeWriter helps you with this by making the tracked hours available for budget monitoring. This allows you to follow throughout the project how many hours have been spent and how this compares to the available budget. If a project threatens to overrun, you can investigate the cause in good time. Perhaps a particular design phase is taking more time than expected, the client has additional requirements or the project needs to be adjusted. The sooner you see this, the more options you have to intervene.
A project consists of more
than just design
An architectural project usually involves various phases and activities. Besides designing and drawing, there are, for example, discussions with clients, consultations with advisers, site visits, site meetings, correspondence and supervision during construction. By tracking these activities separately, you get a much better picture of how a project comes together.
You can set up TimeWriter to match the way your practice works. You decide which projects, tasks and activities you want to use. This lets you distinguish, for example, between design work, meetings, project supervision and other activities. Tracking remains simple for the employee, while you, as project manager or owner, have far more information at your disposal.
Prevent additional work
from going unpaid unnoticed
During an architectural project, work regularly arises that was not fully foreseen at the start of the project. A client asks for additional changes, a design has to be reworked or new questions arise during construction. If this work is not recognised and tracked separately, there is a risk that it will ultimately be at your practice's expense.
Good time tracking makes visible how much time is spent on such work. This gives you a factual basis when you discuss with a client that certain work falls outside the original assignment. You then do not have to argue on the basis of an estimate made afterwards, but can rely on an overview of the hours actually tracked.
Time tracking is often the start of an administrative chain. The hours have to be checked, processed and, where necessary, charged on to the client. The less often data has to be re-entered, the smaller the chance of errors and the less administrative work this generates.
That is why TimeWriter, in addition to time tracking, also offers features for invoicing and various invoicing scenarios. Tracked hours can be used as the basis for the financial settlement of projects. This means the information about time spent does not remain buried somewhere in a timesheet, but can actually be used within your administration.
Non-billable hours
matter too
Not every activity of an architectural practice can be charged directly to a client. Employees spend time, for example, on internal meetings, business development, training, administration or other work needed to keep the practice running. If only billable hours are tracked, this results in an incomplete picture of the available capacity.
By recording these hours as well, you get a more complete picture of how time is spent within your organisation. This allows you to better assess how much capacity is actually available for new projects and what share of working time is spent on projects, clients and internal work. That makes time tracking relevant not only for administration, but also for the management of your architectural practice.
Use your historical hours
for new projects
The value of good time tracking does not end when a project is completed. The tracked hours are also an important source of information for future assignments. When you can compare the budgeted hours of a project with the time actually spent, you gain insight into the quality of your estimates.
Over time, your practice builds up a valuable body of historical information. You can see which types of work consistently require more time and which projects or project phases are difficult to budget. You can then use that knowledge for new quotations, budgets and schedules. In this way, time tracking increasingly becomes a tool for making better decisions.
TimeWriter for architectural practices
TimeWriter was developed as a widely applicable system for time tracking and project administration. For architects, this means you can not only track hours, but also use that data for budget monitoring, reporting and invoicing. The various features therefore connect to one another and prevent the same information from having to be maintained in several places.
Whether you work as an independent architect, run a small practice or are responsible for a larger team: the principle remains the same. Your employees must be able to track their hours easily, and as an organisation you must have access to reliable information about projects, hours and costs. TimeWriter supports both sides of that process.
Time tracking that adds value
across your entire practice
A time tracking system should burden employees as little as possible. After all, when tracking hours becomes cumbersome, hours are more quickly forgotten or estimated afterwards. TimeWriter makes it possible to keep daily tracking simple, while the collected data can then be used in a variety of ways.
The employee logs the time worked. The project manager uses the data to monitor projects. The administration department uses it for financial processing. And management gains insight into the performance and profitability of projects and clients. A single entry thus provides information for different parts of your organisation.
More control over your architectural practice
Good architecture requires attention to design, quality and detail. Good business management additionally requires insight into time and costs. By tracking your hours systematically, you know not only how much work your practice has carried out, but also how much time it took and what that means for your projects.
With TimeWriter you gain control over the hours worked within your practice and the projects they are spent on. You can make adjustments sooner when a project threatens to overrun, have better substantiation for your invoicing and at the same time build up historical information that helps you budget future projects more accurately.
Turn time tracking into a tool for your project management.
Frequently asked questions about
time tracking for architects
Why is time tracking important for an architectural practice?
Architects often work on several projects at once and spend time on a wide range of activities within a project. By recording these hours, you gain insight into the actual time spent. This helps with monitoring project budgets, substantiating invoices and preparing better budgets for future projects.
Can I track hours per project and activity?
Yes. With TimeWriter you can link hours to projects, clients and activities. This lets you set up tracking so that it matches the way your architectural practice carries out and manages projects.
Can I also keep track of non-billable hours separately?
Yes. Hours that are not invoiced directly to a client can also be tracked. This gives you a complete picture of how time is spent within your practice and allows you to include internal work and other non-billable activities in your reports, for example.
Can I use the hours for budget monitoring?
Yes. TimeWriter offers budget monitoring that gives you insight into the ratio between available budgets and tracked hours. This allows you to spot during a project that the time spent deviates from the original expectation.
Can I use tracked hours for invoicing?
Yes. In addition to time tracking, TimeWriter also offers features for invoicing and various invoicing scenarios. This means tracked hours can become part of the further financial processing of your projects.
Is TimeWriter only suitable for architects?
No. TimeWriter is widely applicable in organisations that work with hours, projects and activities. The setup can be adapted to the way your organisation works. Architectural practices are one of the sectors in which time tracking and project monitoring play an important role.
