My first survey of architectural accounting methods collected 400 responses. These responses form the basis for this update. That first survey is effectively closed. I started to notice that I was asking different questions when I interviewed someone. So I cloned the first survey and deleted the questions that weren’t helping to understand the methods being used. Then I added a few new questions. Survey 2 is two questions shorter, but offers more opportunities to comment. I plan to publish the results of Survey 2 when the number of participants are similar to the first survey. But here’s what I have learned so far. I have been updating the Best Of Architekwiki page every three months or so for a while now. I look at 'popularity' informally much more often, but I am still surprised by the new rankings.
There are two posts that not only survived, but their ranking is UNCHANGED: Architectural Fee As A Percentage Of Construction Cost - Still #1 All-Time Reception Counter Casework - Still #6 All-Time There were also two posts that DROPPED OUT of the rankings: Category: B20 Ext Enclosure A site search for the DETAIL category - Exterior Enclosure. 10+ articles are loaded by this search. Basecamp / Nozbe Comparison A lot has changed for both Basecamp and Nozbe since this article was first published in 2012. Nevertheless the comparison is still useful... Two years ago on September 27, 2012 Architekwiki went live with almost no content and zero readers. Today we are doing a little better; and most importantly our stats are getting better all the time.
So I am going to celebrate with cake and ice cream!!! You have my permission to splurge, too (just this once)! AND - EVERYONE GETS A PRESENT! It is time to share where things stand with the Corbu project, and a lot has happened over the summer. As you may know, I am a retired architect who is trying to come up with a (much) better way for architects to take care of accounting chores - easier, quicker, and better. Corbu, the name we were considering and which we are going to run with, is now 4-1/2 months old. We have obtained a website domain name and have an almost-ready-for-prime-time website that I will be using to share Best Practices that I have picked up from all my research. This is an updated listing of the Apps that I use continually and that you might find useful. I have re-categorized the list and updated it. My favorites in each group are BLUE. New additions to the list are in BOLD. Less frequently used apps are in ITALICS. All of these are Apple Apps. (Sorry, I haven't checked to see if they are available for Android, but probably.) Most are free. Many of the paid apps are offered free periodically through an app called AppsGoneFree! Since they are easy to look up, I haven't linked the apps to iTunes. However, if I have written about them, I have included that link. If you have apps you love, mention them in the comments below so we can all check them out. I find that these apps make it easy to work wherever the mood strikes me. I just returned from a week in my happy place - Michigan's Upper Lower Peninsula, Burt Lake specifically. Cool weather, sandy beach, pontoon, north woods - the perfect place for staring, unfocused, into the distance. But back to reality ... Corbu is three months old, and it is time for an update.
Remember Corbu? The little project to make accounting for architectural firms quicker, better, cheaper. Three months ago that was the vision. Today, while the vision is still a bit fuzzy, the parts that have come into focus are telling me that there is a need. None of us went into architecture so that we could do accounting, accounting being just about as far from architecture as you can get. And yet 15,000 of us who have our own firm are pulled into the necessity of accounting for about two man-days a month. About 2.5% of us like, and even enjoy, the challenge of accounting. 97.5% of us - not so much. I think we will be able to help that 97.5%. The quarterly update of the most popular pages (according to Google) is now ready for you to check out. The first thing you will notice is that the two lists - ALL TIME and RECENTLY have been expanded to 10 articles each.
Enjoy exploring the most-viewed posts. About a month ago I embarked on a special project to make bookkeeping easier for architects. A lot has happened, and a lot, lot more needs to happen. This article explains how the project got started. And this one describes some of the early work. But here is where things stand today. First off, I made a list of firms in the Greater Cincinnati area with the help of a colleague who attended the University of Cincinnati. The list was pretty heavily weighted with Class of '86 grads, and I started to think I was going to be talking to everyone who graduated that year and had their own firm - until I learned that there were 80 in that graduating class. Nevertheless, I have had five face-to-face interviews and two by phone. Well, I am in the data collection mode still, and this is your "BIG CHANCE" to help out! How? Just answer 6 easy questions in less than 3 minutes. To access the simple survey, click the image above; or click this link if that works better. Or click the button below. There is even an embedded version below the button, but I am not sure everyone will be able to view it. Although I am focused on architectural firms, anyone who has a project-oriented business is part of the world I am interested in. I didn't know where this post was going when I started it. Actually I thought I would probably make the case against being on the wrong side of any boundary - and all the disadvantages that it entails. Some examples.
I have spent my entire life living in the ’Greater Cincinnati’ area...but just across the Ohio River in Kentucky. I actually live closer to Fountain Square, ground zero of downtown Cincinnati, than 90% of Cincinnati's residents. Not actually belonging to the major city always seemed like a ’disability’. “Where do you live?” “Northern Kentucky.” “Oh.” The message was, “Oh, how sad for you.” Getting serious about interviewing firms about how they go about their bookkeeping. Here are my notes from the second interview. As you can see, we are focusing on just three areas: Timekeeping, Invoicing, and Expense-tracking. Working on a project like developing a software product is surprisingly similar to designing an unfamiliar building type. There is lots of research followed by thinking through all the alternatives that come to mind. If you would like to download the questions and describe your methods, I would be grateful for the help. Here is the link. https://www.dropbox.com/s/k40st7wc43f719y/InterviewQs.docx I described the project a week or two ago here: Have you noticed that the US policy on green house gases is a bit muddled? The old man is good at pointing. We've been told what we are supposed to do, but what is the government's role? Cheerleading? Compare to Germany where solar is clearly the way the government wants to go as you can tell by the subsidies.
So I thought I would help out with a modest list of suggestions to get the ball rolling. Let's call this the Wolnitzek Consensus, since so far only I agree to the list. But in all seriousness, here it is:
You are dying for the details, aren't you? About the time I was getting out of college, John Portman, an Atlanta architect, was designing the first Hyatt Hotel with an atrium lobby, pictured above. Unlike most architects, Portman was deeply involved in the development of his projects, not just the design. I was fascinated. And when I came across an article describing all the costs that went into one of his projects, I typed it up. Yep, this was the pre-electronic (caveman) era and electric typewriters were all the rage. Photocopiers were the size of a VW bus and the entire country shared three of them, one per time zone.
The list was really an eye-opener. I had never imagined there were so many things outside of design and construction that went into a project. The construction cost was just one simple line item, and the article explained that construction cost rarely exceeded 2/3 of the total cost. Even though these projects were major commercial undertakings - hotels, merchandise mart, office high-rises - there were many similarities to the schools that I was working on. We didn't consider hardly any of the items in the list, but the Owner had to. Here is the list I typed up. I have a positive feeling about outsourcing and off-shoring because of our experiences. I know these feelings aren't universal. But I suspect you have some experience, too, although you don't think of it that way.
For instance, do you hire engineers for structural work? Or how about a 3D rendering outfit. Sub-contracting is just another word for outsourcing. Outsourcing has the connotation of being off-shore, but that may not be the case. Anyway, off-shoring is really hard to get negative about if you dig deep enough. The knee-jerk reaction is that we are sending jobs overseas. Even as big as the US is, if we didn't sell overseas, many businesses would be unnecessarily limited. And it works both ways. How much do you think a TV would cost if we excluded foreign companies? Automobiles? My first auto cost $3,500 in 1968. The same auto now would cost, according to the CPI, $23,000 - rusting body, crank windows, no A/C, crappy suspension, no power anything. We have Japanese automakers to thank for Detroit getting their act together (kinda). World trade and open markets are a good thing for the consumer. Businesses don't like the competition, but they do like to bully public opinion and elected officials. Corporate welfare? So my point is that outsourcing and off-shoring is how the world works nowadays. And contrary to all the whining and pandering to parochial instincts, we are better off because of it. Wow. That's not where I thought this was going. My real point was to say it can work for you and help you keep more of your fee. But it isn't without its downside. I can't recall who told me about HootSuite, but it was likely a post on TechCrunch. I used to be an avid reader of their posts. Anyway I tried it, then set it aside, and then picked it up again and, now, I use it constantly - the free account, that is. My blogging process uses HootSuite as an integral part. I work out a concept/outline in Inkflow. Then I use iA Writer to write it up. Cut and paste from Writer into Weebly where I add formatting. Publish the article. Grab the URL and post to Google+. IFTTT sees the RSS update and posts to LinkedIn and Facebook. I go back to Writer and turn out some tweets. Cut and paste the tweets, with URL added, into HootSuite to post them at the selected times. Rinse and repeat. So I use HootSuite almost every day.
Being able to schedule all the tweets about the new article at one time is a real time-saver and makes my process achievable in one to two work sessions a day. Somewhere along the way I heard about Buffer and ignored it because I had HootSuite. This past week I read a post about the best blogging tools, and Buffer was mentioned. So I checked it out again, thinking "what do they know that I don't". So I signed up for the free account and started kicking the tires. Since closing my firm I have been concentrating all my efforts on Architekwiki. So I wasn't expecting what happened recently. I was approached by the founder of the bookkeeping software that I now use, B2Bee. [affiliate link] He proposed the idea of cloning his software and customizing it for architectural firms.
I quickly discovered that there are 17,000 architectural firms in the US with less than 10 people. This is the target audience and also the vast majority of the 21,000 total firms. My firm would have been included in that group for its 32 years of existence. So lately I have been distracted by this idea of helping to develop this bookkeeping software and get it in front of as many firms as possible. I’ve been working on a post about record keeping and how we went about it. About ten years ago we made a concentrated effort to leave paper files behind. One of the things that helped was that we had a pretty good digital filing system in place. At that time it was on our server, and we had a way to log in remotely to access the files. Later we moved the whole contents of our server to Dropbox. That was cheaper and access was even better - any browser, smart phone or tablet could have access. Our server access by comparison was limited to certain computers, clunky to access, problem-prone and expensive to set up, change and maintain.
Back to my point, the key to depending on digital files is being able to find them. So we mimicked our project binder system so there would be instant familiarity. Then we added Admin, Finance, Business Development and Office Standards to round out everything we needed to file. So this is where the sharing comes in. I thought I would put the structure out there while I work on the rest of the article. Below is what it looks like. I have used several Project Management Tools similar in concept to PlanGrid - Buzzsaw, Project Central, AutoCAD 360, Basecamp... What works so much better with PlanGrid is the ability to easily annotate your drawings inside the app and publish the markups to the whole project team. The markups could be coordination comments to the design team (or client!) in the design phases or correction comments to the contractor during the construction phase. PlanGrid really excels at graphic communications. Site photos are easily integrated into the drawings to enhance the punch list process, too. Projects are set up on www.plangrid.com and shared to other team members by browser, tablet or phone (which works surprisingly well). Input by team members using a tablet is very easy, so annotations can be done anywhere. This post is a bit different than anything you have found here before. I’ve been on the road (and needed a quick post for today). Thanks to Vita Corimbi, a member of Killian’s Angels and Mullaney, I’ve learned the lyrics to a traveler’s song that helps you enjoy the thrill of flying.
Here's a link to the band's website. And a link to the video of the song being performed. Workin’ for the TSA Livin’ in a single wide in Georgia My part time job was checkin’ groceries for ya Just dealin’ with the crap that landed in my lap Depressed, frustrated and tired of gettin’ fat! I couldn’t seem to rise above my station I couldn’t much afford an education Then I watched those towers fall Answered my country’s call But the recruiter said, “Ma’am, you’re too old for combat!” Well I would not be deterred Those terrorists got me perturbed And I knew I had to give back to my flag I went down and I applied On the convictions part I “may have” lied And now I get to pilfer thru your bags Oh I got a job, workin’ for the TSA With a benefits package and a 401 K Got no teeth and no integrity Just blame Homeland Security Cuz I got a job workin’ for the TSA Put wallets, change and keys In the plastic bucket please Take off the belt around your waist I don’t care if your pants fall Believe me I’ve seen it all Make sure your Prince Albert’s not in my face Oh I got a job, workin’ for the TSA With a benefits package and a 401 K Quit my job at the Piggly Wiggly Now I get to grope your jiggly’s Cuz I got a job workin’ for the TSA Lose your shoes, your belt, your hat And don’t you be lookin’ at me like that You’ll miss your flight if I get attitude Step in here for your X-ray Feet on diagram, hands this way HA! Now I know just what you look like nude! Oh I got a job, workin’ for the TSA With a benefits package and a 401 K My future’s lookin brighter HEY- GIVE ME THAT LIGHTER! Cuz I got a job workin’ for the TSA Yes I AM airport security Everyone’s gotta listen to me I can give the enhanced pat down if I please I’ll put on some Marvin Gay And pour some chardonnay And give YOUR benefits package an extra squeeze! (ooh, what you got in there!) Oh I got a job, workin’ for the TSA With a benefits package and a 401 K Grandma’s can’t escape my charms Their fake hips set off alarms! Cuz I got a job workin’ for the TSA Now thanks to that shoe bomber and his shoe You can’t even take your water through So dump your cokes, your Mountain Dews Pay twice as much at Hudson News! But that’s just what you’re gonna have to do! Oh I got a job, workin’ for the TSA With a benefits package and a 401 K Well you’re a member of my church When you get a cavity search Cuz I got a job workin’ for the TSA You know how you keep hearing about change? And how everything is going to keep changing even faster?
Well, here is the first wave - the Structure Sensor. It is a device that captures the shape of the real world around you. Every architect, designer, sculptor, and contractor on the planet will “need” one of these. I know I do. And at under $400 for the device that mounts on your iPad, you will be seeing these devices everywhere. Maybe you already have. This Kickstarter Project reached its goal in November and should have shipped a lot of them by now. Here are three links to check it out. This is the home page for the device’s website. This link is to the Kickstarter page. This link is to a short review of the Structure Sensor. IFTTT stands for 'IF This Then That. It is an app that specializes exploiting the features of other apps to make routine tasks automatic. Sounds like a robot!
IFTTT works by taking any two apps that you use and connecting them to perform a task by use of a recipe that talks to your apps for you. I use Gmail and Evernote. So, for instance, I use a recipe that turns an email into a note in Evernote if I label it 'Evernote'. There must be tens of thousands of recipes. Most of them have been created by users and contributed for public use. You can create your own, too. I have created a few to send blog posts like this one to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Evernote. It is pretty easy because IFTTT understands what each app is capable of and offers those options. There's always more that you want to do, but let's think evolutionarily(?). Anyway I think the menu is set for now with the blog acting as the HOME page; and what was the home page has become a streamlined ABOUT page. The Prezi Intro had to go. It was a stop-gap that hung around for a year longer than expected. Prezi is a really slick tool, but I find that it takes a lot more planning than you would think to develop a worthwhile graphic. Also, it isn't very mobile-friendly. BTW this graphic is the replacement for the Prezi. PS. I will be on the road for the next week or so, and I will be attempting to blog entirely with my tablet. I apologize in advance for any deterioration in our usual high standards. Fetching Coffee For Architects VS Accounting For Architects I was part of a two-man firm early in my career. Our office was across the street from a convenience store, which was where we obtained our caffeine (long story). I hated going over there. My senior partner didn't mind. He started the firm, and when I came on board, bookkeeping got more complicated - his checkbook no longer sufficed. He hated the idea of the more complicated bookkeeping. We made a pact: he would get coffee and I would figure out the bookkeeping. I found a book published by the AIA, Standardized Accounting For Architects. My copy was still around up until recently. I couldn't find it when I was researching this article. I did find that you can get a used copy of it from Amazon for $240. I will have to look harder for my copy. Standardized Accounting For Architects was and is the bible. Every accounting software system I have ever seen works basically the same way as the paper journals worked back in the day. Except easier and faster. But you can see what I mean because the AIA has a PDF available of later version that covers all the same territory, plus a discussion of computerization. Follow this link to get your own copy of Standardized Accounting For Architects. Over the past 18 months I have published a number of articles on software tools that a designer might find useful. Most of the apps are tangential to actual design. Some articles are focused on the software, others on the procedures or the concepts. Collected below are links to six of those articles, which give a sampling of the past software-related articles. Handy Photo Apps These five apps make your phone into a graphics studio. Sticky Notes Are A Great Tool I'm a real fan of sticky notes - both physical and digital. These apps bring sticky notes to your mobile device. The only calculator you will ever need. We all need a calculator, but this one is special. The TRELLO App This is a must-have app. Very powerful. Vittle This app turns your iPad into a video recorder for presentations. Think YouTube. Inkflow vs Notability There is lots to like about these two sketching and hand-writing apps. If you are interested in more articles like these, this link will take you to many more. My first experience with NFPA was the Life Safety Code, NFPA 101. Back in the day, the National Building Code was the building code. The Life Safety Code was used as a supplement. I thought that was it. Then we were hired to design a hangar...
It turns out that hangars have the military’s fingerprints all over the governing code, NFPA 409. When we were designing that hangar, the plan examiner insisted on a deluge fire suppression system. The then current version of NFPA 409 said we were under the limits for that very expensive (and unnecessary?) requirement - $500,000 in 1983 dollars. Testing and accidental deluges cost $25,000 each for clean-up and re-charging the system. Ouch! So we appealed the ruling, and WON! Happy client. Angry code official... |
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