Timekeeping for Architects

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Cheaper. Faster. Better. TIMEKEEPING for Architects

10/7/2017

Timekeeping for Architects

Due to nearly a year of research, I know a lot about the problems that most firms face with their accounting systems. Those problems fall into all three major bookkeeping tasks that architect’s have - Timekeeping, Invoicing, and Expense Tracking. Those three problems often lead to difficulty with Project Accounting, too. That is another problem shared by many firms - not knowing if a project is profitable or how profitable/unprofitable.

MyCorbu is a project-oriented, cloud-based timekeeping system designed by a retired architect for other architects and creative people. I am going to show you how you can solve your Timekeeping issues. Cheaper. Faster. Better.

Of the three major bookkeeping tasks, Timekeeping is the most fundamental for architects. Even if you don’t bill by the hour, you need to know your costs for providing services. And Time is the major cost. MyCorbu is built to do project Timekeeping very easily and simply.

The problem with Timekeeping isn’t making time entries. Virtually any system that you use, from home made paper forms to high-end accounting works just fine. They all take the same amount of effort to get your time documented.

The problem with Timekeeping is the next step, COMPILING the time entries - by client, by project, by phase, by task. You want that to be automatic because if it isn't, then you have roughly an hour of work per staff member per month:

to get it all added up per project,
per phase,
and per task,
and to get it logged into your invoicing system,
and logged into your project accounting system.

Then you get to prepare the master time sheet for the next pay period.

Example of the MyCorbu daily timesheet. Your selected line items are inserted automatically over night.

Easily check the billable hours per project during the month.

Easily check the status of hours vs budget per project anytime.

Get MYCORBU - Timekeeping For Architects

Whether you compile the time yourself or pay someone else to do it, you are wasting time and/or money. In fact this one feature of MyCorbu makes it a no-brainer, *since MyCorbu is free*.

The Economics
MyCorbu will cost you about $5 per month per person if you get the paid version. Of course, free is even better, and all the tools you need are included in the free version, MyCorbu BASIC. Let's see how the economics work out for different scenarios using the paid version, called MyCorbu TIME.

The Principal Does The Bookkeeping
Sometimes there is no one else to do bookkeeping except a technical staff member or the principal of the firm. Being conservative, let's say this person earns $40,000 per year and has a billable rate of $60 per hour. Now let's cut my earlier estimate in half, and say this person spends 1/2 hour per month per employee getting the time entries ready for invoicing and preparing new timesheets. So this person is being paid about $13.50 (including benefits) per person to perform this task each month. MyCorbu TIME costs $5 per person per month. MyCorbu is less than half the cost. But if you look at the lost opportunity of billing for that half hour per person, the lost revenue is $30 per person per month versus $5 spent for MyCorbu TIME.
Of course it is often the principal who does this chore after hours "so there really isn't any cost". Well, you could get your life back for $5 or, barring that, do some marketing instead. However you look at it you are better off with MyCorbu.

A Nontechnical Staff Member Does The Bookkeeping
If you are fortunate enough to have a support person on staff, MyCorbu still makes sense. Let's say this person earns $20,000 per year. Using my estimate of 1/2 hour per month per employee, you are paying them about $7.50 (including benefits) per person per month to perform this task. MyCorbu costs $5 per person per month. You are saving $2.5/person each month and your support person can spend more time on marketing, which you know you need.

A Part-Time Bookkeeper Does The Bookkeeping
This scenario is the same as the previous scenario except that you will save even more money unless your freelance bookkeeper is working for minimum wage.

Remember I am being conservative on time and money. It is hard to imagine who would not get an even better payback - and other benefits as well. With MyCorbu you can:
See how much billable time has accrued - anytime
See who has been working on what
See which projects need attention
See historical project records with a couple of clicks

I think you will be impressed with MyCorbu. The BASIC version is free and includes all the benefits mentioned here. Try it out for yourself and experience all the ways MyCorbu is Cheaper Faster Better