Design firms lose margin in two places: revisions nobody billed for, and phase invoices that go out weeks after the phase finished. Both are visible in the project record and invisible in the accounting, which is the whole problem.
Document-driven professional services. Documents, deadlines and approvals connect clients to the next responsible person. Each specialty has its own access rules, review requirements and delivery process.
Sub-niches covered: Structural and civil engineering, Architecture and interior design, Land surveying, Environmental and geotechnical, Mechanical and electrical engineering, Project management and owner's representation.
You likely have this problem if:
RFIs and submittals are tracked in email.
Revisions accumulate without anyone assessing scope.
Phase invoices go out weeks after the phase completed.
Project profitability is known at year end.
You could not evidence RFI response times in a schedule dispute.
What breaks operationally:
RFIs and submittals are tracked in email, so response times cannot be evidenced when a schedule dispute starts.
Drawing revisions accumulate without anybody assessing whether they are in scope.
Phase completion and invoicing are disconnected, so billing lags the work by weeks.
Utilisation and project profitability are known at year end rather than during the project.
What we build:
RFI and submittal log. Every request and response recorded with dates and revision history, which is your position in any schedule dispute.
Scope change capture. Revisions assessed against scope at the moment they arrive, so out-of-scope work is billed rather than absorbed.
Phase completion billing. Invoices triggered by the phase actually completing, rather than by somebody remembering at month end.
Live project profitability. Hours against fee per project, visible during the project rather than after it.
Why does an RFI log matter beyond organisation?
Because on a disputed schedule it is evidence. A firm that can show the date each RFI was received and answered is in a completely different position from one reconstructing it from email six months later.
How do you catch out-of-scope revisions?
By making scope assessment part of accepting the revision rather than a separate review. Firms that assess at the point of request bill materially more than firms that assess at the end, and the work involved is the same.
Should this integrate with our CAD or BIM tools?
For revision references, lightly. Trying to manage drawings themselves in a business system duplicates what your design tools already do properly. Link to the revision rather than owning it.
Is live project profitability realistic in a design firm?
It is, as long as time entry is genuinely current. The system cannot fix a firm where timesheets are filled in on Friday for the whole week, and that discipline problem has to be solved alongside the software rather than by it.
Last reviewed 22 August 2026
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