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Quick answer
The best project management software for a small architecture practice is one that tracks fixed fees by project stage, makes timesheets quick enough that people actually fill them in, shows who's free to take on work, and sends invoices straight to your accounting software. For practices of about 3 to 30 people, the realistic choice is between an architecture-specific platform (such as BQE CORE, Monograph or Total Synergy) and an all-in-one studio tool (such as Streamtime).
Which one suits you depends mostly on two things: the accounting software you already use, and how much admin your team will put up with. A US practice on QuickBooks Online has different options from an Australian practice on Xero or MYOB. And a 6-person studio with no office manager needs something far simpler than a 40-person firm with a finance team.
Whatever you choose, three things decide whether it works. Your fees need to be tracked by stage, not just by project. Timesheets have to take seconds, or they won't get done. And you should check exactly what syncs with your accounting software before you sign up, not after.
Disclosure: this guide is written by Streamtime, one of the tools compared. Tools are grouped by type, listed alphabetically within each group, and described from each vendor's own published information.
What a small architecture practice needs from project management software
When architecture practices talk to us about software, the same handful of questions comes up almost every time. They make a good checklist for any tool you're considering.
- Can it budget fixed fees by stage? Most small practices work on fixed fees split into stages, whether that's RIBA Plan of Work stages or your own list. You want to see hours and fees used against each stage while the project is running, not after it's finished.
- Can it handle hourly work alongside fixed fees? Plenty of projects start as a lump sum and pick up hourly variations or post-contract services later. Check how each kind of work is quoted and invoiced.
- Will your team actually fill in timesheets? A 50-person firm we spoke to this year was replacing its software mainly because entering time was so awkward that people stopped doing it. Without time data, nothing else works.
- Can you see who's working on what, and when? Capacity planning needs to account for leave and part-time days, so you know early when to bring in a contractor.
- What exactly syncs with your accounting software? Ask whether invoices, purchase orders, expenses and payments sync, and in which direction. One small practice told us double entry between their project tool and MYOB was costing 30 to 60 minutes per invoice.
- Can you hide costs from staff? Most practices want architects to log time and see their tasks without seeing salaries, cost rates or the company's profit.
- How are contractors and casual staff priced? If every person needs a paid seat, adding a contractor for a few weeks can cost more than it's worth.
- How hard is it to switch? Ask how live projects move across, whether you can enter time already spent, and how long setup usually takes.
Comparison: the main options for small architecture practices
Three tools are built specifically for architecture and engineering firms, one is built for creative studios and architects, and the rest are general tools practices often start with.
The options in detail
BQE CORE: best for practices that want accounting modules built in
BQE CORE is a suite for architecture, engineering and professional services firms. It covers time, expenses, billing and forecasting, and you can add optional accounting and CRM modules if you want everything in one system. BQE also owns ArchiOffice, an architecture-specific product it acquired in 2009.
It connects to QuickBooks Online and Desktop, Xero and MYOB AccountRight, and pricing is modular, so you pay for the features you use. The trade-off is depth: reviewers often say it does far more than they use, and that it takes a while to learn. A small Australian practice we spoke to was moving off it because invoicing still meant re-entering everything in MYOB.
Monograph: best for US practices on QuickBooks Online
Monograph is built only for architecture and engineering firms. Its strengths are phase-based budgets, resource forecasting and invoicing designed around how US firms bill.
It integrates with QuickBooks Online and nothing else. If you use Xero, you can export invoices as a CSV and upload them, but there's no live connection, and there's no MYOB support. That makes it a strong option in the US and a harder one in Australia, New Zealand or the UK. Pricing is on request.
Total Synergy: best for Australian and NZ practices that want deep practice accounting
Total Synergy is an Australian platform for architecture and engineering practices, founded in 1999. It's strong on stage- and discipline-based invoicing, work-in-progress tracking and practice dashboards.
Its Xero connection works both ways for invoices, payments, credit notes and bills, and approved timesheets and leave can flow into Xero Payroll, which few tools offer. It also supports MYOB. Pricing is per user. Some reviewers find the interface complex and the initial data import slow, so allow time for setup.
Streamtime: best for small practices that want one tool the whole team will use
Streamtime wasn't built only for architects. It's project management software for creative businesses, which is why its focus is on being simple enough that designers and architects use it every day. It covers job planning, time tracking, scheduling, quoting, invoicing and reporting.
You set up stages, price them by team rates or fixed fees, and the quote comes straight from that plan. Invoices can go out by stage, milestone or month, and sync natively with Xero, QuickBooks and MYOB AccountRight. Instead of weekly timesheets, people drag scheduled tasks to done or run a timer. Plans are a custom fixed price rather than per user, with unlimited freelancers included.
There are limits worth knowing. Estimates are in hours, not days. Fixed-fee and hourly work go on separate invoices. Timesheets don't push to payroll, and the mobile app is iOS only. If any of those is a deal-breaker, one of the tools above may suit you better.
Time trackers and spreadsheets: fine to start, hard to grow with
Plenty of practices start with a time tracker such as Harvest, Clockify or Toggl, and keep fees and invoices in spreadsheets. It's cheap and it works while you're small. The problem shows up later: a Sydney practice we spoke to had every hour logged in Clockify, but reviewing it took so long that nobody could say which stages were losing money.
General project tools: good for tasks, not for fees
Monday.com and Asana are great at organising tasks. They don't track fees against stages, schedule people by available hours or create invoices, so practices that use them usually end up running a second system for the money.
Example: spotting a stage overrun early
Here's why tracking fees by stage matters. Say a house extension has a fixed fee of $60,000, and you plan it at an average rate of $150 an hour. That gives you 400 hours to spend, split across stages like this.
Halfway through technical design, the team has logged 110 hours. If the rest of the stage goes at the same pace, it will take about 220 hours, 80 more than planned. That's $12,000 of fee gone, or a fifth of the whole project.
If you only look at the project total, you won't see it yet, because you're still within 400 hours overall. Tracked by stage, the warning shows up while there's still time to talk to the client, push back on extra requests or move people around.
How to choose for your practice
In practice, your accounting software and the size of your team will narrow the list faster than comparing features.
Once you have a shortlist, the best test is to rebuild one real, live project in a trial. Set up its stages and fee, have a few people log a week of their actual time, then raise one invoice into your accounting software. You'll learn more from that than from any sales demo, including ours.
How to switch without losing live projects
The biggest worry we hear is "what happens to the projects we're halfway through?" The answer is that you don't need to move everything. Most small practices are running in the new system within a few weeks by following roughly these steps.
- Pick a cut-off date, ideally the start of a month when a few projects are wrapping up.
- Let projects that are nearly finished run out in your old system. Moving a job with two weeks left isn't worth the effort.
- Set up new and early-stage projects first, with their stages, fees and team.
- For projects already under way, add one entry per stage for the hours used so far. That way the budget shows what's actually left.
- Import clients and suppliers from a CSV exported from Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks.
- Keep old timesheets and invoices as an export rather than migrating years of history.
- Get the team logging time from the first week. Once that's working, fee tracking and invoicing fall into place.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best project management software for a small architecture firm?
There's no single winner. Practices on Xero or MYOB should compare BQE CORE, Streamtime and Total Synergy. US practices on QuickBooks Online should add Monograph. For teams under 15 people, ease of use and simple timesheets usually matter more than feature count.
Do fixed-fee architecture projects still need timesheets?
Yes. Without time data you can't tell whether a fixed fee covered the work, which stages overran, or how to price the next project. The goal is timesheets that take seconds, not detailed hour-by-hour logs.
Can I track project budgets by RIBA stage?
Yes. Most architecture-ready tools let you set each RIBA Plan of Work stage, or any stage list you use, as a phase with its own fee and planned hours. Time logged to that stage then draws down its budget.
Which architecture project management tools work with Xero?
BQE CORE, Streamtime and Total Synergy all integrate natively with Xero. Monograph doesn't have a live Xero connection; it exports invoices as a CSV you can upload to Xero.
Which tools integrate with MYOB AccountRight?
BQE CORE and Streamtime both list native MYOB AccountRight integrations, and Total Synergy also supports MYOB. Check which MYOB edition you use, as online and desktop versions can differ.
Do contractors and casual staff need a paid licence?
It depends on the pricing model. Per-user tools usually charge for anyone who logs time. Streamtime's plans include unlimited freelancers, so occasional contractors don't add cost. You can also record a contractor as an expense on the job instead of a user.
Can architects log time without seeing fees or salaries?
Yes, in most dedicated tools. Permissions let staff see their tasks, schedule and timesheets while hiding cost rates, invoices and company profitability reports.
How long does it take to switch project management software?
Most small practices are up and running within a few weeks if they move live projects only. Setting a cut-off date and bulk-entering time already spent avoids running two systems for long.
Is a general tool like Monday.com or Asana enough for an architecture practice?
Only for task tracking. General tools don't track fees against stages, plan around available hours or create invoices, so most practices still need spreadsheets for the money side.
