The Kineo blog
Practical writing for engineering and architecture firms on running projects, billing by phase, reviewing drawings, and handing routine work to an assistant.
- 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
- Assistant
Routine work an assistant can take off a project manager
A practical look at the project admin an assistant can draft or set up today, and the decisions that should stay with your team.
· 2 min read
- Bill
Month-end invoicing without rebuilding it in a spreadsheet
Why invoices take days at the end of each month, and how to set up contracts, time approval, and budgets so most of the invoice is ready before month end.
· 2 min read
- Assistant
Keeping client email with the project it's about
Project decisions often live in someone's inbox. How a project email address keeps correspondence, attachments, and follow-up tasks together.
· 2 min read
- Review
How to structure your firm's QA review checklists
Practical ways to organize review checklists so every reviewer applies the same standard on every sheet, without turning the checklist into busywork.
· 2 min read
- Bill
Getting weekly timesheets in on time
Late timesheets hold up every invoice after them. A few habits that make weekly time entry routine for everyone at the firm.
· 2 min read
- Manage
How to track submittal status without a spreadsheet
A status spreadsheet is only as current as the last person who updated it. Where submittal and document status should come from instead.
· 2 min read
- Review
Getting clients and agencies to review drawings faster
Outside reviews stall for predictable reasons. How to make the request easy to act on, and keep it moving once it's out the door.
· 2 min read
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.