Small UK architecture practices
When client decisions drag on and “one small change” becomes another evening’s work, a fixed fee has to stretch further. I help you organise decisions, capture additional work and keep billing moving, so extras can be seen, agreed and billed.
Informed by a Business Process Review with a London residential practice.
At a glance
The pressure on your fee
Yes, by making the request, effort and approval clear before the work starts. You set the fee and agree the scope with your client. I help put the records and follow-through in place so approved extras can reach billing.
The bathroom choices arrive in three emails and a WhatsApp. An approved detail changes again. You squeeze in another call, then spend Friday evening rebuilding a schedule. Each request sounds small. Together, they can take the margin out of a residential project.
Look after the client without losing sight of the fee.
What could change
I start with how your practice works, the tools you use and what your clients need. These are four useful places to look together.
01 · Client decisions
Choices sit across messages, images and old attachments. Your team has to reconstruct what the client wants before moving the project forward.
A client space carrying your practice’s branding, with room-by-room choices, photos, comments and a clear record of approvals.
Clients can see their next decision. Your team can find the agreed answer.
02 · Changes and scope
The request arrives informally. The redraw happens. By the time you review the fee, the extra effort is difficult to reconstruct.
A change record that links the request, affected work and approval status, with possible extras flagged for you to check against the appointment and agree with the client.
A clearer conversation about scope before more work starts.
03 · Work to invoice
Chargeable extras live in calendar entries, notebooks and memory. Rebuilding the billing record takes time, and small items are easy to miss.
A simple way to capture completed work and prepare invoice drafts using the agreed scope and rates. You check the details and decide what is issued.
An easier route from work completed to billing ready for review.
04 · Payment follow-up
You are checking who owes what, finding the last conversation and working out whether a missing approval or invoice query is holding payment up.
A weekly view of amounts due, queries, agreed payment dates and next actions, with reminder drafts ready for your approval.
You can see what needs attention without rebuilding the picture every week.
There may be a more useful starting point for your practice. We can also look at:
What the work does to the fee
A London residential practice described spending 55 hours or more on a single Stage 4 schedule. On a £4,000 stage fee, those 55 hours alone work out at around £73 an hour before costs.
That is why clearer choices, approvals and change records matter: less time reconstructing decisions, and a clearer opportunity to discuss additional work before doing it.
Anonymised audit insight and fee calculation: £4,000 ÷ 55 ≈ £73 before costs. The 55 hours covers the schedule; other Stage 4 work would reduce the overall rate further.
A client-space example
Imagine a residential client choosing the fittings for a bathroom. A bespoke client space could keep the conversation and the next action together.
They add the item, a reference photo and comments in one place, with the decision deadline visible.
The practice checks suitability, records the decision and flags any change to an earlier approval or the agreed scope.
The agreed details can feed a draft schedule or task list for checking. Any additional fee is reviewed and agreed before billing.
Try the interactive demonstration: a fictional residential project with stages, documents and client decisions.
Start with one troublesome process
£350For example, we could examine how a client change moves from the first request to an agreed decision. We agree one process, its start and finish, and the people and tools involved before booking.
One agreed recurring process, typically across up to three existing tools. Findings within three working days of our conversation and receipt of agreed information. Technical design, software and implementation are quoted separately.
See the full Review scope. For several connected priorities, the broader Business Process Review starts at £650. We agree the appropriate starting point together.
Delivered work · Premium Paye
In a different service business, Premium Paye in France, invoice preparation, direct debits and online onboarding were connected. The founder reports around twelve hours of admin in a busy month with new clients before the change, and under one hour now across those processes.
Read the case studyHow it works
You work directly with me, Anne, from understanding the problem to handing over the solution.
You receiveA process map and written priorities based on your team’s needs.
You receiveA documented workflow and feasibility findings through separately scoped Process Design.
You receiveA written proposal with a fixed build price, timing, responsibilities and acceptance checks.
You receiveThe agreed working solution, demonstrated and tested with your team.
You receivePractical instructions, a team walkthrough and clear ownership and support terms.
Each paid phase has an agreed scope and fee. Testing, documentation and handover are included in the implementation scope.
Before we talk
A useful first step should leave you clearer about the problem and your options.
We start with the problem and how your team works. A clearer process or a feature in an existing tool may be enough. If an app or portal would help, we agree its users, features, data and maintenance. Explore what your own app could do.
Preparation, a 60-minute working conversation about one process, a simple map and written recommendations, then a 20-minute findings call. See the Review scope above.
No. You keep the findings and decide what happens next. The recommendation may be a simpler process, clearer responsibilities or better use of existing software.
Your practice retains design decisions, technical approval and professional responsibilities. The responsible person checks what is issued. During Process Design, we check software access, data handling, connections, costs and exceptions.
Ideas to explore
Explore a demonstration of a short voice note becoming an invoice draft, using agreed details and a human check before issue.
Explore the invoice example ↗Explore a fictional architecture portal showing the current stage, documents and next decision.
Try the portal example ↗Keep reading
Your business
Bring one example: a client decision that keeps reopening, extra work that is hard to bill, or an invoice you keep chasing. We will talk through what is happening and whether a focused review would help. You work directly with me, Anne.
15 minutes · No charge
Prefer to write? anne@10pm.works