FAQ
Questions firms ask us.
The short answers to what firms and their accountants ask first. For prices and what counts as a seat, see pricing.
Getting started
- Who is AsDrawn for?
Small architecture firms that want more than a spreadsheet, without the weight of learning complex software. If you run your projects, fees and staffing from Excel today, it was built for you.
- How is AsDrawn different from other project management tools?
General tools like Asana or monday.com manage tasks, not fees. Larger platforms for architecture and engineering firms, such as Monograph, BQE CORE or Deltek, cover far more ground and are priced to match. AsDrawn is built for the small firm that runs on a spreadsheet: fees by phase, timesheets, staffing and invoicing in one simple app, built on the AIA handbook's definitions.
Compared with Monograph's published per-seat price, AsDrawn costs less than half as much. Admin and bookkeeper accounts are free, and the interface is kept simple, so there is less to learn.
- Will this replace our Excel workbook?
That is the idea. Projects, fees, timesheets, staffing and invoices live in one place, and the totals you used to update by hand before every meeting are already worked out.
- How do we get our current data in?
We do it for you, free. When you subscribe, we import your projects, people and fees from whatever you use now, spreadsheets included, and you sign off before you start.
- Is there anything to install?
No. AsDrawn is a web app hosted online, so there are no servers to run and nothing to install. You sign in from a browser.
- Can I use it on my phone?
Yes, most of it. Timesheets, staffing, the dashboard and project pages all work on a phone. A few setup tools are easier on a desktop.
Projects and fees
- How does it warn me a project is heading over budget?
Every project carries a health status, from on track to over budget, based on the fee used so far and its projected margin at the finish. Projects that are trending over show up on their own, so nobody has to go looking.
- Which fee types does it support?
The three most common: hourly, lump sum, and percent of construction. A project can mix them, for example a lump-sum design phase with hourly work alongside it.
With percent of construction, the fee follows the construction cost estimate, so when the estimate changes, the lump-sum phase fees update with it.
- How are change orders handled?
A change order sits under its phase with its own fee and its own logged hours, so you can see whether the extra work paid for itself. It is invoiced with the rest of the project.
- What about hours we don’t want to bill?
Every hour still counts toward the project’s cost, so you see what the work really took. When you invoice, you can bill fewer hours than were worked.
- Can it track consultant fees separately from ours?
Yes. Each consultant carries their own fee and your markup. Only the markup counts as your firm’s revenue, so consultant pass-through never inflates your numbers.
- Why isn’t percent complete calculated automatically?
Because hours spent aren't progress made. Following the AIA Architect's Handbook of Professional Practice, your project managers set each phase's percent complete, and AsDrawn compares it with the fee you've used.
Staff and the firm
- Can I see who is overloaded this week or next?
Yes. Staffing shows every person’s planned hours by project, months ahead, and flags the weeks where someone is booked past their capacity. It is built to run the weekly staff meeting from one screen.
- Can staff see salaries or billing rates?
Not unless you allow it. Each role sees only what you choose, so staff can log time and follow their projects while pay and rates stay private.
Meeting Mode hides the sensitive figures on your own screen, so you can share it in a staff meeting.
- How does it set billing rates and multipliers?
From your own numbers. Your salaries and overhead give a break-even rate, and your target profit turns that into a billing multiplier, using the AIA handbook’s definitions. Billable rates are set per person, per year.
- Does it show firm numbers like overhead rate and utilization?
Yes. Firm financials walk through the AIA handbook step by step: direct and indirect labor, overhead rate, break-even rate, net operating revenue, utilization and more, for the year to date or the last twelve months.
QuickBooks and your data
- Does it work with QuickBooks?
With QuickBooks Online, yes. Invoices you create in AsDrawn go straight to QuickBooks. Timesheet hours stay in AsDrawn.
With QuickBooks Desktop, you create invoices in AsDrawn and export them all at once to a CSV to bring into QuickBooks.
- Can we import our past timesheet hours?
Yes. We can import them for you as part of the free setup, or you can bring them in yourself with the CSV import, from QuickBooks, another timesheet tool or Excel.
- Does it replace QuickBooks?
No, it works alongside it. QuickBooks stays your books: payments, accounts receivable, bills and taxes. AsDrawn runs the project side, from fees and hours to what is ready to invoice.
- Can I export my data?
Yes. You can export your data to CSV, which opens in Excel, whenever you like.
Pricing and support
- How is AsDrawn priced?
Per person who bills time, on one plan with every feature. Admin and bookkeeper accounts are free.
- Can we try it before we subscribe?
There is no free trial. Get in touch and tell us about your firm, and we will answer your questions and share more so you can decide before you subscribe.
- Who do we contact for help?
Email info@asdrawn.net. We'll reply within a day or two.