Architecture firm project management: tracking staffing, fees and hours in Excel or software
Many architecture, engineering and construction firms track staffing, fees and hours in Excel or Google Sheets, with timesheets and invoicing in a separate system. That setup works when the spreadsheet has one row per person, one source for hours and a named owner. It breaks when each project has its own tab and only one person knows how the formulas work.
What should a staffing spreadsheet include?
Keep one master file with these columns. Give each person on each project their own row, and add one column per week.
- Project name and number
- Phase, such as SD, DD, CD, permit or construction
- Project manager and team member
- Next deadline
- Estimated hours and actual hours
- Fee, fee used and fee remaining
- Planned hours for each week
One row per person lets you filter the same data two ways. Filter by project to check the budget. Filter by person to check workload.
How do you turn a fixed fee into a budget of hours?
Start with the fee, take out consultants and profit, then divide by what an hour of staff time costs your firm. Here is an example with made-up numbers:
- Fixed fee: $80,000
- Subtract consultants of $20,000. That leaves $60,000.
- Subtract a 15% profit target of $9,000. That leaves $51,000.
- Divide by an average staff cost of $85 an hour. That gives 600 hours.
- Split the 600 hours across your phases and the people working on each one.
Use your own costs and phase splits. Compare actual hours against this budget every week, by phase, so you see an overrun while you can still talk to the client about it.
How do you see workload across projects?
Add up planned hours per person, per week, across every project. A project manager looking at one job sees a team that looks fine. The total shows who is committed to more hours than the week holds.
Start your weekly resourcing meeting on that view. Look three months ahead, and include likely work from open proposals so you can make hiring and scheduling calls before the work lands.
Where does an Excel staffing tracker break?
| Problem | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Fee numbers run behind | Timesheets arrive late, and the sheet gets updated later | Set a weekly time entry deadline and show a last-updated date |
| Nobody trusts the numbers | People edit copies, and files get emailed around | Keep one shared file in Excel online or Google Sheets |
| Overloaded staff go unnoticed | Each project has its own tab | Add a view with one row per person |
| Hours get entered twice | Timesheets, billing and the tracker each hold their own hours | Pick one system as the source for hours |
| People avoid the formulas | Macros and links built years ago have no notes | Write down what each tab and macro does |
What if only one person understands the spreadsheet?
Treat it as a staffing risk. If that person is out on Monday, your resourcing meeting has no numbers. If they leave, they may take the know-how and possibly a copy of the file. Set aside an hour this week:
- Name a backup, and have them run next week's update alone.
- Write one line for each tab: what it does, who fills it in and where its numbers come from.
- Ask the owner to explain each macro and complex formula, and record the answer beside it.
- Keep the master copy on a firm drive.
- Check who owns tools staff build at work. Read your employment agreements and ask your lawyer if they leave it open.
When should a firm move from Excel to project management software?
Consider a switch when several project managers need to edit at once, when you enter the same hours in several systems, or when reporting on project profitability takes a day of cleanup. Excel still suits a small firm with a short project list, because it is cheap, flexible and your whole team already knows it.
Software needs the same discipline as the spreadsheet. Your project managers still have to keep hours and plans current, so fix that habit first. Many firms also keep a spreadsheet after they buy software, because reviewing numbers, adding comments and explaining variances stays easier there. Before you sign, test any tool on one live project with your real phases and staff.
How Mebbian fits
Mebbian is AI that understands buildings. We make a firm's preconstruction AI native. We learn how your team takes a job from invite to bid, build your company brain from your past jobs, and put AI agents on the process bottlenecks your team is stuck on. Knowledge that sits with one person or one spreadsheet is one of those bottlenecks, and each firm's data trains only that firm's brain. We wrote this guide after reading how architects, engineers and contractors describe these problems in public discussions.
Common questions
Is Excel good enough for resource planning at an architecture firm?
Yes, for many small firms. It handles a project list, phases and staffing well. It gets harder when several people edit at once or when you need workload across many projects.
Should we use Excel or Google Sheets for project tracking?
Use the one your team already works in, and keep one shared file. Both let several people edit the same file. Excel suits heavy formulas and macros, and Google Sheets is simple to share.
How often should we update a staffing spreadsheet?
Update it weekly, after time entry closes and before your resourcing meeting.
Who should own the spreadsheet?
Name one owner and one backup. Have project managers enter their own planned hours, so the owner maintains the file and the people closest to the work supply the numbers.