Architectural phases exist because the work changes. Concept design is not construction documentation. Consultant coordination is not a site visit. Construction administration is not a free tail attached to the drawing set.
Yet a fixed fee can turn all of it into one number. If the project runs long, you know you are busy. You may not know which phase broke the estimate.
Consider an illustrative $12,000 fee for a small independent project. You estimate 100 hours and expect an effective rate of $120 an hour. The recorded work tells a different story:
That is 148 hours. The illustrative effective rate is about $81 an hour.
The problem is not the fee by itself. The problem is reaching the end without knowing that coordination and revisions consumed 30 more hours than expected.
Architecture also has a scope-creep phrase that sounds too small to challenge: “Can we see one more option?” One option can mean another plan study, a revised model, updated views, a client meeting, and downstream drawing changes. The design change may be worthwhile. The practice still needs to see its cost.
When time stays tied to the phase and task, you can discuss the change while choices remain open. Absorb it intentionally, remove another deliverable, or add services. Finding it six weeks later does not help.
Keep concept design, schematic design, design development, construction documents, and construction administration under the correct engagement. Add the meetings, coordination, travel, and revisions that usually disappear between milestones.
Run the timer for drawing work, modeling, code research, consultant calls, site visits, and client meetings. Auto-stop protects against a timer left running after a change of context. Separate billable from non-billable work without losing either from your internal picture.
Review the project’s running time when the client requests a new option, adds a stakeholder, or reopens an approved decision. The record does not make the decision for you. It makes the tradeoff visible.
Compare estimated and actual time at closeout. If your small residential projects routinely need 35 hours of consultant coordination rather than the 18 you budgeted, the next proposal should reflect it. If you expect 140 hours and need $110 an hour, the illustrative fee target is $15,400. That is practice math, not an industry benchmark.
Use approved time for invoice lines that reflect the work performed. Apply client rates, create a branded PDF, and keep paid, unpaid, and overdue status visible. “Architectural services” invites questions. Phase and task context answers them.
Tympi helps you answer:
You do not need another complicated practice-management rollout to learn those things. You need the client, project, tasks, time, and invoice to remain connected from kickoff through closeout.
Track one active project by phase. Include the drawing work, meetings, code review, consultant coordination, travel, site questions, and revisions. At the next milestone, compare the fee you have used with the work that remains. Then bill from a record that makes the process visible.
Free plan - 5 clients, 5 projects, 50 time logs, and 3 invoices per month. No card.
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