​By my count there are four basic types of architectural fees. Variations on two of these basic types adds another four fee types. 

A while back I posted an article about Additional Services. There are a lot of circumstances that arise where additional compensation for Additional Services is called for. In that first post I offered a simple way to get the issue on the table and approved. The second part of the issue is recognizing Additional Services. ​

Have you ever tried to incorporate trash collection into a project during Construction Documents?

It is a mess, and the results will be less than stellar unless you go way in the hole by reworking lots of earlier decisions.
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How to avoid the situation next time is the topic of this post.

I stumbled upon a comprehensive list of marketing tactics - 75 of them to be exact. About 20% of them don’t apply to architects at all. I am going to briefly comment on the other 80%. 

I found THE 75 MARKETING TACTICS on the Mindwhirl Marketing website. It wouldn’t hurt to read through their list for a rudimentary understanding of this marketing stuff. 

These 75 tactics are either intended to help you find ‘leads’ or to convert a lead into a customer.
 
Sounds simple.

I have studied time management a lot over my career. I needed to. I can slack off with best of them. I’m a natural.

So every idea that came along was put to the test. Most didn’t change my results, but these few are the ones I got some value from. I still rely on them when things seem to be ‘drifting’.
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One of the ways in which we attempted to distinguish ourselves from other firms was by taking care of our client’s money questions. In my opinion, and in my experience, too, money is usually the main thing that will undermine a project. 
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I don’t want to have the money conversations after it has become an explosive topic. So right from the beginning we attempted to help our clients set up a sound budget.
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​Over the years we have bid a lot of projects both privately and publicly. We have also documented our process to avoid 'reinventing the wheel'. The following describes the steps in our process. Several of the documents or forms that we use are downloadable by clicking their name. Perhaps this will be helpful to you. 

​This might be controversial.  

I think architects should round-up their time. 

I also think that you should complete and submit your timesheet daily.  If you aren’t completing your timesheet daily, then this idea won't interest you because you are already fudging your time entries. 
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This is why rounding-up isn’t fudging.

Flat roofs have a bad reputation for leaks, but I don’t think flat roofs leak. My experience is that any leaks aren’t due to poor roofing or poor roof materials. The leaks are due to the flatness of the roof, which encourages use of the roof for HVAC equipment. 

Here is why that is a leak-producing situation, and what you can do about it. 
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The ‘Standard Details’ concept is deceptively simple. “An easily accessed library of building details that describe how you like to do things.” Everybody gets that. 

Have you ever tried to do it?

Successfully?

I found success elusive. But it is worth a try. Here is why ...
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MyCorbu just got closer to the vision of offering a real solution to the small firm’s need for architectural bookkeeping. All that’s missing is an invoicing solution. (That’s next.)

Architectural Bookkeeping has come to MyCorbu BOOKS, the renamed, paid version of the MyCorbu timekeeping app. 

A year after I started my own firm, I was invited to design a hangar for my Dad's golfing buddy, who happened to have started an airline that was growing by leaps and bounds. We designed projects for his airline for about twenty years until they were bought out by one of the major airlines. One of the main skills that allowed us to keep up with their growth was my knowledge of project delivery methods - mostly book-learning, driven by interest.

​Small firms don’t need accounting.
Your accountant doesn’t agree with me.
He’s wrong unless your firm has over 20 members.

The problem with accounting is that it requires brain-surgery-precision for a task that doesn’t much matter. When you stop to think about the time, effort, and aggravation that accounting requires; and what benefit you receive in return; something is fundamentally wrong. Basically you can’t afford to do accounting until you are large enough and complex enough to afford a bookkeeping employee. 

I know this because my six-person firm used accounting for most of our existence and got almost no benefit from the tens of thousands of dollars per year that we spent on accounting. Why did we do it?
Ignorance.    I thought I had to.    I mistook AIA publications as applying to me. They don't. They apply to much larger firms than I ever had.

About 93% of architectural firms are smaller than 20 people. They can't afford accounting. They can only afford bookkeeping.

So what is the difference?

Architekwiki is five and a half years old. It's about time that I ask whether I am on the right track. This quick survey has just five questions and will take you less than one minute to complete. Your feedback will really help me.

When I started my firm, I didn't have much experience with business. In particular I felt unsure about money matters. Luckily I stumbled upon a business attitude that partly made up for my lack of experience.
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I discovered how to apply certitude (real or feigned) to replace uncertainty. 

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The Financial Model of an Architect’s Office is a well-kept secret. I have never seen it mentioned anywhere. But there are several things that need to be in balance to get positive financial results. The resources available from the AIA are only useful if you already have an MBA-like understanding of finances. 

A Financial Model entails more than “Income minus Expenses should be a positive number.” Negative numbers equal poison. You can’t survive much poison.

I have to mention Page Highfill here. He is the architect who told me about the
​financial model that architects need to know about. ​

What’s Vero

The short answer. A benign version of Facebook. 

Do you remember when Facebook first come out. You saw your friends posts and they saw yours. My account has evolved into something I am not interested in any longer. My News Feed seems to be 50% showing off what you just did, and 50% people’s opinions about politics and other stuff that I am supposed to do something about if I agree.

​Oh, and ads.
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​Developing and documenting your processes is the most important thing you can do whenever you ‘WORK ON’ your firm.

Why?

​Because this one tactic will make your firm better, more effective, and more efficient.

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