Bookkeeping for Architects

Ochre is an architectural bookkeeping system that helps you manage your business for profitability.
Ochre is for small-firm architects (1-16 people) and replaces your accounting system.
​The cost is $39/month and there are no limits on users or projects.
Features and Benefits link.

Do you need Bookkeeping or Accounting?

What do you actually need? 
  1. You need to know the status of your project design budgets - daily. 
  2. You need data for your payroll service.
  3. You need to maintain adequate records for your tax preparer. 

Income statements, balance sheets, depreciation schedules, “closing out the month” are useless activities required by accounting systems. Accounting takes too much time and delivers the feedback too late. 

You need bookkeeping designed for architects. Ochre is what you need.

Ochre gives you what you actually need, and uses the same data to get a few nice-to-haves: 
  • Measure of productivity
  • A rough P/(L) estimate
  • Current estimated billable work
  • Tracking PTO use
  • Managing reimbursements (Mileage and other Reimbursable Expenses) 
  • Time detail for hourly invoicing 

Leave the accounting to the accountants. Get the information you need to build a strong business.

Take Ochre for a test drive
Explore this embedded copy of Ochre below to see if it works for you.
  1. Log in with this email address:  Corbu@testdrive.com 
  2. The password is: Ochre-Guest
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VIDEO PREVIEWS
A selection of videos to experience Ochre.
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Overview

Making A Time Entry

Logging Mileage

COST - HELP - SUPPORT
FAQS
  • Features and Benefits: See this link.
  • Cancelling your account: Simply go to your Knack Builder page, click on Account, edit the Cancel Account option. 
  • Who is Ochre for? Firms from 1 to 16(+/-) people, who want a better financial management tool without having to devote lots of time to learning and maintaining software.
  • What Knack plan do I need? Ochre works with the Knack Starter Plan, which costs $39/month after a free, 14 day trial period. 
  • Will I ever need to upgrade my Knack account? You might. The Starter Plan limit is 20,000 records. From experience records are created at the rate of about 100 per person per month. See Knack Pricing for more details.
  • How much time per month does Ochre require? Besides time entries by each individual staff member, you will only need one to two hours per week. 
  • Does Ochre prepare invoices? You can find all the information needed for invoicing in Ochre, but the complications of preparing architect’s invoices is beyond a simple bookkeeping system.
  • Does Ochre prepare payroll? Ochre provides a report to use for payroll preparation. Consider a payroll service like Gusto, ADP, or Paychex. Doing your own payroll is a serious distraction, and it costs more than a service.
  • Will Ochre be updated? Ochre has all the fundamentals covered, however, you can request additional features. See Help And Support tab.
  • Why doesn’t my record display? Generally this is an internet-connection-latency problem. The solution is to refresh your browser by clicking the “circular arrow” found in the menu bar of the browser.​
  • Can I import my data? Yes and No. Data can only be imported into the Knack app builder, which you have access to through your Knack account. It is easy to do, however preparing your data is usually time-consuming. See the COSTS AND HOW TO GET OCHRE tab to see my rates for doing it for you. First read about Historical Data here.
  • Can I export my data? Yes. Every table of data is exportable as a CSV, TXT, or JSON file.
  • Are projects and users limited? No. The only limits are the 20,000 records and 2 GB of file storage in the Knack Starter Plan. These can be increased for an additional cost if needed.
  • What are the hidden costs? None, all costs are spelled out in the COST - HELP - SUPPORT tab above.
  • What guarantee do I have that it will work for me? None. See the TRANSPARENCY STATEMENT tab below. Simply cancel your Knack account.
TRANSPARENCY STATEMENT
Ochre is a bookkeeping system developed by Rick Wolnitzek, who was principal of Wolnitzek Architects, PSC for 32 years. Ochre contains all the key financial management tools that small-firm architects need to easily manage their firms for profitability.
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Ochre is a Knack template app that you may customize in any way you choose. Ochre is provided without cost. However, you need a Knack account that must be obtained using a referral link. A Knack account has a monthly subscription fee payable to Knack.
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Ochre is provided as-is. Ochre does not have a warranty or guarantee.