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To accurately calculate costs, you must define the team members who will be working on your projects along with their internal cost rates and external billing rates.

Adding Team Members Manually

1. Navigate to the Team Resources tab.
2. Click "Add Team Member".
3. Assign them a Role (e.g., Senior Architect, Draftsman) and set their internal and external hourly rates.

Bulk Uploading via CSV

For large teams, use the bulk CSV import feature to instantly load your entire roster.

1. In the top right of the Team Resources tab, click Upload CSV.
2. Click Download Template to get the required format.
3. Fill out your team members' details: Name, Role, Internal Rate, and External Rate.
4. Save the file as a CSV and upload it. The system will automatically parse and import your entire team in seconds.

Bulk Editing Rates

As salaries change, you need a way to quickly update your team's rates.

1. Click the Bulk Edit button near the top right.
2. The view transforms into an interactive spreadsheet. Tab through the input fields to update rates simultaneously.
3. Click the Save All button to commit the updates in one swift action.

Creating a project is the foundation for your fee proposal.

Creating a Project

1. Navigate to the Projects & Phases tab.
2. Click the blue "New Project" button.
3. Fill in the project metadata: Name, Client, Total Square Meters, and Status.

Editing a Project

To edit a project's details later, click the Settings (gear) icon next to the project name in the sidebar. You can update the client name, adjust the total square meters (which impacts sqm-based metrics), or archive the project entirely.

Project Templates

To standardize your workflow, you can save any project as a template or start new projects from existing templates.

• Using a Template: When creating a new project, select a starting template (e.g. "RIBA Stages") from the top dropdown to automatically prepopulate phases and standard costs.
• Saving as Template: In the Projects & Phases tab, click the Settings (gear) icon on a project and select "Save as Template". All its phases, allocations, and costs will be saved as a reusable template.
• Managing Templates: Navigate to the Templates tab in the sidebar to view, edit, or delete your custom project templates.

Projects are broken down into Phases (e.g., Concept Design, Schematic Design, RIBA Stages).

Managing Phases

• Creating: Inside a project, click "Add Phase" to create a new stage of work.
• Editing: You can edit the Phase Name, Description, and adjust its start/end dates using the calendar selectors.

Understanding Phase Elements

• Graphic Bars: Next to each phase, a colored graphic bar visually indicates the proportion of total project hours or budget consumed by this phase relative to others.
• Phase Summaries: At the bottom of each phase block, a summary shows the total hours allocated within that specific phase, the blended hourly rate, and the total cost/revenue generated just by that phase.

The core of the calculation happens by assigning your Team Resources to your Phases.

1. Open a Project to view your Phases.
2. On the right side of the screen, you will see your Team Pool.
3. Click the drag handle (six dots) next to a team member and drag them into the drop zone of a specific Phase.
4. Once dropped, an Allocation row appears. Enter the number of hours this person will work during this phase.

Duplicating Resources Across Phases

To speed up data entry for recurring costs or team members who work across multiple stages, use the quick-duplicate actions:

• Hover over any allocated team member or cost chip inside a phase lane to reveal the action menu grid on the right side.
• Duplicate to Next Phase (Right Arrow): Instantly copies the exact allocation (person and hours) or cost into the immediately following chronological phase.
• Duplicate to All Phases (Stack Icon): Copies the allocation or cost into every other phase in the project simultaneously.
• Edit (Pencil) / Delete (Trash): Modify the hours or remove the allocation entirely from that phase.

As you drag resources into phases and allocate hours, the system is performing a bottom-up calculation in real-time.

• Bottom-Up Method: Instead of guessing a flat fee and hoping it covers your costs, you calculate exactly how much time the project needs.
• Real-time Totals: The Fee Proposal tab aggregates every hour allocated across all phases, multiplies them by the external billing rates, and presents the final recommended fee to charge the client.

The Financial Summary panel is the most important dashboard for understanding project profitability.

Once your total Fee Proposal is calculated, you must structure how the client pays you.

Payment Creation & Editing

1. Inside your Project view, locate the Payment Schedule section.
2. You can add payments manually by specifying a name, a target date, and a percentage of the total fee.
3. The system will automatically convert that percentage into a monetary value based on the total project fee calculated in Step 5.

Payment Templates

If you use standard billing structures (e.g., 20% upfront, 50% at schematic design, 30% on delivery), use Templates to save time!

• Generate from Templates: Click "Apply Template" to instantly populate your schedule using standard industry templates.
• Save Custom Templates: Build your perfect schedule and click "Save as Template". It will be saved securely under your company profile for your whole team to use on future projects.

You can customize the platform to suit your company's region by setting global preferences. These settings propagate instantly across all of your projects, team members, and fee proposals.

Changing Currency & Units

1. Navigate to the Settings page from the main navigation sidebar.
2. Select the General Preferences tab.
3. Currency: Choose your preferred currency from a wide range of international options (e.g., USD, EUR, GBP, AUD, JPY, CNY). The platform will automatically format all costs using the correct symbols and regional separators.
4. Area Unit: Select whether your architectural projects are measured in Square Meters (sqm) or Square Feet (sqft).

To accurately set your team's Internal Rate, you must calculate your true cost of doing business. Your internal rate is not just a person's raw salary; it must include their share of the company's overhead expenses.

1. Expense Categories to Consider

When calculating total annual overhead, ensure you include these often-missed categories:

• Office & Facilities: Rent, utilities, cleaning services, maintenance, and physical security.
• Technology & IT: Software subscriptions (e.g., BIM, Adobe, Microsoft 365, Enzyme APD), cloud storage, hardware depreciation, and IT support services.
• Professional Expenses: Professional liability insurance, business insurance, industry memberships, certifications, and accounting/legal fees.
• Business Development: Marketing budgets, travel for BD trips, conference tickets, client entertainment, and website hosting.
• Employee Benefits: Health insurance, retirement contributions, training budgets, and team building events.

2. Factoring in Non-Billable Hours

Your team members are not 100% billable. They take time off and perform internal tasks that clients do not pay for. You must distribute the cost of these non-billable hours across the billable hours.

• Leave & Holidays: Paid time off, sick leave, and public holidays.
• Internal Admin: Timesheet entry, performance reviews, general staff meetings, and email management.
• Management Time: Directors and managers spend significant time mentoring, reviewing company strategy, or doing non-project-specific QA.
• Business Development: Time spent drafting proposals, pitching, and networking.