Project management, billing, and intelligent assistants for firms who need to do more with less
Engineering and architecture firms get their projects, drawings, and invoices in one place, with assistants that draft the paperwork and suggest tasks from client email.
Free for 14 days, with every feature included.
- 1Each project shows what's ready to bill, what's outstanding, and the retainage held.
- 2Billing progress for each contract and phase, kept current from your invoices.
- 3Ask the assistant to draft a change order, invoice, or proposal. It works from the project's own contracts and records.
- Civil
- Structural
- Geotechnical
- Environmental
- MEP
- Transportation
- Water and wastewater
- Architecture
- Design-build
- Construction management
- Government and municipal
Stop chasing status across spreadsheets, inboxes, and PDFs
If your firm tracks work in a spreadsheet, retypes client email into to-do lists, and rebuilds invoices from timesheets each month, this is what changes.
| Today | With Kineo |
|---|---|
| Someone updates the tracking spreadsheet before the Monday meeting. | Dashboards pull status from the documents, tasks, and reviews, so they're current whenever you look. |
| Client requests arrive by email, and someone retypes them as to-do items. | The assistant reads email sent to the project's address and suggests the tasks to create. |
| Extra work starts before anyone writes the change order. | An automation can prepare a draft change order when a client email asks for work outside the scope. |
| Invoices get rebuilt from timesheets at the end of every month. | Kineo drafts each invoice from the contract and the hours and expenses you've approved. |
| Redlines sit in PDFs on someone's drive, and reviews move along when someone forwards an email. | Markups stay on the drawing under the checklist item they relate to, and each review follows a route you set once. |
See which documents are waiting, and who has them
The company dashboard counts the documents at each stage, from development to accepted. It shows each person's open reviews, tasks, and overdue work, and lists the reviews that have waited longest.
- 1Documents at each stage, from development to accepted.
- 2Open reviews, tasks, and overdue work for each person.
- 3The reviews that have waited longest.
Invoice by phase and sync it to QuickBooks Online
Each contract holds its phases, fee lines, rates, and retainage percentage. At billing time, Kineo drafts the invoice from percent complete plus approved hours and expenses, and holds back anything that would push a phase over its budget. Invoices and payments then sync to QuickBooks Online.
- 1Invoices move from draft to approved, issued, sent, and paid.
- 2Progress draws are listed by billing line.
- 3Retainage is withheld at the contract's rate.
An assistant that takes routine work off your team
It works inside your projects, billing, and email, with the same permissions as the person using it. The proposals, change orders, and invoices it prepares stay drafts until someone on your team sends them.
Ask about any job
Ask which phases are close to their budget, what a client's last email asked for, or who has the most open work. It answers from the same records you can see.
Draft and set up
Have it draft a proposal, change order, invoice, or checklist template, set up phases and tasks, or enter a week of time from your notes.
Prepare work on its own
Automations watch for client email, project events, and conditions you describe in your own words, then prepare drafts and email your team a summary.
A client asks for new details by email. The assistant suggests a task with a title, priority, and due date, and nothing changes until someone applies it.
An automation written in plain language. When a client email asks for work outside the agreed scope, it prepares a draft change order and summarizes the request for the project manager.
Review drawings against your own checklists
Reviewers work through your checklist in the browser and mark up the sheet as they go. Each markup is filed under a checklist item, and each item gets a decision. Clients and agencies review through an emailed link without an account, and Kineo reminds whoever is holding the review.
- 1Markups go on the drawing, and each one is filed under a checklist item.
- 2The reviewer marks each item verified, not applicable, or needs revision.
- 3The review sits inside its project, with the phases, tasks, budget, and invoices.
How a project moves through Kineo
- 1
Proposal accepted
The client accepts by typing their name, and Kineo sets up the client, project, contract, kickoff tasks, and a first draft invoice if you want one.
Accepted - 2
Client email imported
The assistant reads the message and its attachments and suggests tasks for the project. Someone on your team applies them.
Suggested - 3
Drawings reviewed
Sets go through checklist reviews with your team and any outside reviewers.
In review - 4
Time approved
Your team submits weekly timesheets and expenses, and project managers approve them.
Approved - 5
Invoice drafted and synced
Kineo drafts the invoice from the contract and approved time. Once it's issued, it syncs to QuickBooks Online.
Synced
$29 per seat per month, with every feature included
There are no feature tiers. Team Plus costs $39 per seat and includes five times the assistant usage. Outside reviewers and client portal contacts are free on both plans.
Built by Josh Hurt in Nashville
When you email, Josh is the one who replies. Questions, feedback, and feature requests go straight to the person who builds Kineo.
From the blog
Practical notes on running projects, billing, and reviews at engineering and architecture firms.
- Bill
Progress billing and retainage, explained for design firms
How percent-complete billing works on a phased contract, how retainage is withheld and released, and where the numbers usually go wrong.
· 2 min read
- Bill
How to get a change order approved before the extra work starts
Scope changes are easiest to bill when the change order exists before the work does. A simple routine for catching requests, pricing them, and getting them approved.
· 2 min read
- Manage
From signed proposal to running project without retyping it
The proposal already has the client, the scope, and the fees. How to structure it so it can become the project, the contract, and the first invoice.
· 2 min read
Common questions
Try Kineo on a project you're working on now
Set up a project with its contract and phases, invite your team, and give the assistant some of the routine work. Your first 14 days are free, with every feature included.