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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