How to choose the best XERO app with XERO for Architects

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Streamline Your Architectural Practice: Choosing the Right Tools for Project Management, Contracts & Invoicing

 

Running an architectural practice involves more than just delivering great designs. Managing projects, contracts, time tracking, and invoicing can often become a headache, especially when juggling multiple systems like Excel, Monday.com, and manual workflows. If you’re feeling the weight of disconnected processes, it might be time to explore solutions that integrate project management with Xero, your accounting software.

But where do you start? Here’s what to consider and two tailored options that could transform how you work—depending on how flexible you want to be with contracts, automation, and budget.

What Processes Should Your Practice Reassess?

  1. Contract Creation & Scope of Work
    Do you need fully customisable contracts with e-signatures? Or are standardised proposals with attached terms enough?

  2. Project Stages & RIBA Compliance
    Can your current system track RIBA stages and trigger actions (like invoicing) when a stage is complete?

  3. Time & Expense Tracking
    Are your team’s timesheets aligned with project stages and budgets? Is tracking disbursements (like planning fees or printing costs) seamless?

  4. Invoicing & Xero Integration
    Does your invoicing process automatically feed into Xero? Or are you manually creating invoices from data elsewhere?

  5. Easy Collection of Money
    Does your money collection is effortless, arrive to your bank fast with as lower fees as possible

  6. Automation & Workflow
    How much automation do you need? Would you like invoices to generate automatically when a project hits key milestones?

 

Initially we’ve been looking in architectural providers such as:

 

WorkflowMax  

Overview: WorkflowMax by BlueRock is a cloud-based job and project management software tailored for service-based businesses, including architects. It offers tools for managing leads, quotes, time tracking, job management, and invoicing.​

Key Features:

  • Lead Management: Track every step of your leads, proposals, and sales pipeline from one place.

  • Quoting & Estimating: Send professional, customizable quotes, estimates, and budgets in minutes.

  • Time Tracking: Capture every minute of every day and never miss a second of chargeable time.

  • Job Management: Manage all jobs, tasks, and people from one place, ensuring deadlines are met.

  • Invoicing: Create beautiful, customized invoices quickly and get paid faster.

  • Reporting: Access real-time data and reports to make better business decisions.​

Xero Integration:

  • Seamless Data Synchronization: Invoices, purchases, contacts, and more are automatically synced between WorkflowMax and Xero, eliminating double-handling.

  • Real-Time Reconciliation: Customer payments against sales invoices in Xero are automatically synced with the corresponding sales invoice in WorkflowMax, keeping both systems reconciled.

  • Tax Rate Syncing: All tax rates set up in Xero will automatically be synced to your WorkflowMax account.​

Best For: Small to medium-sized architectural firms seeking an affordable, customizable solution for job and project management with robust Xero integration.

Projectworks  

Overview: Projectworks is a professional services automation (PSA) platform designed for architecture, engineering, and consulting firms. It offers comprehensive tools for project management, resource planning, time tracking, and financial management.​

Key Features:

  • Project Management: Plan and manage projects with detailed budgeting, scheduling, and resource allocation.

  • Time & Expense Tracking: Log time and expenses directly to projects, facilitating accurate billing and reporting.

  • Financial Management: Handle invoicing, budgeting, and profitability tracking within the platform.

  • Resource Planning: Allocate resources effectively to ensure optimal utilization and project delivery.

  • Reporting: Generate real-time reports on project performance, financials, and resource utilization.​

Xero Integration:

  • Two-Way Sync: Invoices, payments, expenses, and purchase orders can be synced between Projectworks and Xero, reducing double data entry.

  • Payroll Integration: Time entries and approved leave requests in Projectworks can auto-sync with Xero Payroll, streamlining payroll processing.

  • Multi-Organization Support: Connect multiple Xero organizations to a single Projectworks subscription at no additional cost.​

Best For: Medium to large architectural firms seeking a comprehensive, all-in-one solution for project and financial management with deep integration into Xero.

​

Total Synergy

Overview: Total Synergy is a comprehensive business and project management platform tailored for architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industries. It offers tools to manage projects, resources, finances, and collaboration in one place.​SoftwareAdvice

Key Features:

  • Project Management: Plan and schedule projects with Gantt charts, set milestones, and allocate resources.

  • Time & Expense Tracking: Log time and expenses directly to projects, facilitating accurate billing and reporting.

  • Financial Management: Handle invoicing, budgeting, and profitability tracking within the platform.

  • Collaboration: Share documents, communicate with team members, and manage tasks collaboratively.​

Xero Integration:

  • Two-Way Sync: Invoices, payments, credit notes, bills, and staff expenses can be synced between Total Synergy and Xero, reducing double data entry.

  • Custom Mapping: Configure how financial data maps between Total Synergy and Xero, including account codes and tax settings.

  • Real-Time Updates: Changes in financial data are reflected across both platforms, ensuring consistency.​

Best For: Architectural practices requiring a robust, all-in-one solution for project and financial management with deep integration into Xero.

Harvest

Overview: Harvest is a user-friendly time tracking and invoicing tool designed for small to mid-sized teams. It emphasizes simplicity and efficiency in tracking time, managing projects, and billing clients.​Harvest+2leanrun.com+2Xero+2

Key Features:

  • Time Tracking: Easy-to-use timers and timesheets for logging hours across projects.

  • Invoicing: Generate invoices based on tracked time and expenses.

  • Reporting: Gain insights into project progress, team performance, and budget utilization.

  • Integrations: Connects with tools like Asana, Slack, and Trello for streamlined workflows.

Xero Integration:

  • Invoice Syncing: Automatically copies invoices from Harvest to Xero upon sending them to clients.

  • Payment Syncing: When a client pays a Harvest invoice, the payment can be copied over to Xero.

  • Tax Rates: Harvest pulls tax rates from Xero, ensuring consistency across platforms.

Best For: Small to medium-sized architectural firms seeking straightforward time tracking and invoicing solutions with basic integration to Xero.

and came up with assessment of these:

Feature WorkflowMax Projectworks Synergy Harvest
Project stages Yes Yes Yes Light
Time tracking Yes Yes Yes Yes
Disbursements Yes Yes Yes Via add-ons
Invoicing to Xero Yes Yes Yes Yes
Ideal for architects Yes Yes Yes OK
UI / Ease of use Medium High Medium High
Price (approx) ££ £££ £££ £

But for our purposes of also improve automation, for contracts and price we came up with the best two options below.

Two Options for Architectural Practices – AUTOMATION vs MONEY

1. The All-in-One Approach: Synergy + Xero

Ideal for practices looking for simplicity, RIBA stage tracking, and tight integration with Xero.

  • Proposal & Contract Creation: Built into Synergy, with standard templates and scope breakdowns.

  • RIBA Stage Management: Native support for RIBA stages—automatically tracking progress.

  • Time & Expense Tracking: Staff log time directly to project stages.

  • Invoicing Automation: When a stage completes, Synergy pushes draft invoices to Xero.

  • Pricing:

    • Synergy: £15–£25 per user/month (for 10 users: ~£150–£250).

    • Xero: From £33/month.

Best for: Practices who want a streamlined, integrated system for projects and finance without too many extra moving parts.

2. The Flexible Combo: Ignition (Zapier required) + Projectworks + Xero 

Perfect if you need advanced contract management, e-signatures, and custom workflows.

  • Proposal & Contract Creation: Ignition lets you build custom proposals, add e-signatures, and automate client onboarding.

  • Project Management: Projectworks handles project phases (RIBA can be customised), resource planning, time tracking, and disbursements.

  • Invoicing Automation: Invoices can be triggered from Ignition or Projectworks, automatically sent to Xero.

  • Pricing:

    • Ignition: From £31–£155/month (depends on clients/users)

    • Zapier:  Free with 100 tasks a month

    • Projectworks: From £270/month (for 1 or 10 users) .

    • Xero: From £33/month.

Best for: Practices needing high flexibility, bespoke client engagements, and more automation in onboarding and invoicing.

So, which path is right for you?

  • If simplicity, cost, and architectural project focus are key: Go with Synergy + Xero.

  • If flexibility, advanced contracts, and automation matter more: Opt for Ignition + Projectworks + Xero.

Both options integrate seamlessly with Xero, giving you visibility across projects, finances, and client engagements.

Need help choosing or setting up the right tools? Or want to see how this could work for your architectural practice?
Get in touch! I’m happy to guide you through the best-fit solution for your team and workflow.