Time tracking for architecture and engineering firms: every work stage in view
Whether you bill by time spent or have agreed a flat fee or a fee under the German fee scale HOAI: with time cockpit you book hours per project and work stage (Leistungsphase), create invoices directly from the time entries and see at any time how much of each stage’s budget has been used.
This way you spot overruns while you can still react, back up additional services with real hours and calculate the next offer with experience rather than estimates.
For engineering, building services and planning firms that bill by time spent, and for architecture firms and Austrian chartered engineers (Ziviltechniker) who want to steer the effort per stage.
Time tracking for architecture and engineering firms assigns every working hour to a project and a work stage and compares it with the budget of that stage. time cockpit is such a time tracking solution from Austria: work stages are set up as tasks with their own budget in hours and euros, and the plan vs. actual comparison, the service report and the invoice are all created from the same time entries.
time cockpit at a glance
- Price
- €10.85 – per user per month
- Trial
- 30 days – free, no credit card, cancel any day afterwards
- Hosting
- EU hosting – Microsoft Azure in Amsterdam and Dublin, dedicated database per customer
- Vendor
- since 2010 – software architects gmbh, Leonding (Austria)
- Product
- time cockpit, project and employee time tracking as software-as-a-service
- Master data
- Unlimited clients, projects, tasks and invoices
- Platforms
- Browser on PC, Mac, Android and iOS; Activity Tracker for Windows
- Integrations
- Web API (REST, OData, TCQL) with personal access tokens, MCP server for AI assistants, Excel import and export, Office 365 appointments in the calendar
- Single sign-on
- Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD)
- Other plans
- Freelancer plan free in the first year; Starter €29.90 in the first year for up to 10 users
Time tracking in an architecture firm: why hours per stage matter
Whether the fee follows the HOAI, is a flat fee or is billed by time spent: a project only pays off if the effort per stage matches the agreed fee.
Many engineering firms bill by time spent, for example in plant design, for expert reports or in site supervision. There, every booked hour becomes an invoice item directly. In architecture and planning firms with a fee under the HOAI or a flat fee, the hours are spread over months or years across basic evaluation, design, planning permission, detailed design and site supervision.
If you book these hours only on the project as a whole, you see a total at the end, but not which stage used up the budget. time cockpit records the effort where it arises: per project and work stage, billable or not, with the right hourly rate.
Typical problems in architecture and engineering firms
The hours are usually recorded. The gap opens where nobody compares them with the fee in time.
The stage budget is used up before anyone notices
If time is booked only on the project, it only becomes apparent at the final invoice that detailed design took twice as many hours as calculated. By then it is too late to discuss the additional effort with the client.
Without post-calculation every offer remains an estimate
How many hours did the design really take on the last comparable project? Without an analysis per stage, you lack the experience values, and offers or fee negotiations rely on the project lead’s gut feeling.
Additional services are not documented
Plan changes, additional variants and special services get lost in the running project. Without separately recorded hours, there is no basis to prove them and bill them as a change order.
Calculate the fee or steer the effort?
The fee sets the budget, time tracking shows the actual effort.
| Fee calculation | Effort control with time cockpit | |
|---|---|---|
| Key question | What may the project cost? | What does the project actually cost? |
| HOAI work stages | Budget per work stage, under the HOAI or as a flat fee | Actual hours per project and work stage, continuously compared with the budget |
| Software | Fee or tendering and billing (AVA) software, calculation by management | Time tracking for architecture and engineering firms in the browser |
| Limit | Limitation: Says nothing about the actual hours spent | Limitation: Does not calculate HOAI fees, but provides the actual figures for them |
How an architecture or engineering firm works with time cockpit
Set up the project and its work stages
Each project gets its work stages as tasks, for example LPH 1 to LPH 9 (the nine work stages of the HOAI) or your own structure. For the project and for each stage you enter a budget in hours and in euros, plus a separate hourly rate if it differs from the client’s rate.
Stages or services that are not billed, such as acquisition or internal coordination, are marked as non-billable. For additional and special services you create separate tasks so that these hours remain visible separately.
Learn more: Project time tracking.
Book hours in the calendar, even after the site visit
Employees book their time in the weekly calendar on project and work stage. Appointments from Outlook appear directly in the calendar and become a time entry with a double click. Travel time to the construction site can be recorded as a separate task and analyzed separately.
time cockpit runs in the browser on PC, Mac, Android and iOS. After a site inspection you book on your smartphone without having to install an app.
Learn more: Time tracking calendar.
Plan vs. actual per project and work stage
Budget control shows for every project and every stage how many hours were planned, have been worked and are still open. Projects over budget are marked in red and stand out immediately, not only at the final invoice.
After the project ends, the same analysis becomes your post-calculation: you see which stage took how much effort and use these figures for the next offer.
Learn more: Project post-calculation.
Bill by time spent or post-calculate flat fees
If you bill by time spent, time cockpit creates the invoice directly from the time entries, with hourly rates per client, project or stage. Travel expenses, flat rates and items are added as separate lines. If you wish, the client receives a service report with all billed hours.
For flat fees or HOAI fees you enter the fee as a budget in euros. This shows you whether the stage is still profitable and from which point additional services justify a change order.
Learn more: Project invoicing and Fixed price or time & material.
Adapt it to the structure of your firm
Many firms need more than project and stage, for example the fee zone (Honorarzone), construction phase, trade or object number. Such fields, custom tables and reports can be added in time cockpit. This is configuration: you or we set them up for your firm, they are not included in the standard product.
With the Web API and the Excel export you transfer time and project data to accounting and other software.
Learn more: Customizable time tracking and Web API.
When time cockpit fits your firm and when it does not
time cockpit is a project and working time tracking solution. For some tasks in a planning firm you need other tools.
A good fit if you
- bill by time spent and want to create the invoice directly from the booked hours
- want to compare the effort per project and work stage with the budget on an ongoing basis
- want to post-calculate flat fees and HOAI fees
- want to back up additional and special services with hours
- want to manage working time, absences and project time in one solution
- need custom fields and reports for the structure of your firm
Not a good fit if you
- are looking for HOAI fee calculation or tendering and billing (AVA) software
- want to issue instalment invoices based on the percentage of completion per stage
- need a construction diary or defect management
- have to record time on the construction site with a terminal, chip or an offline app
- are looking for scheduling, resource or construction time planning with a Gantt chart
Know what each work stage really costs
With hours per stage you see early where the fee is running short, and you calculate the next project with real figures.
In a demo we show you what a project with work stages looks like in time cockpit. Or try it free for 30 days, no credit card required.
FAQ: time tracking for architects and engineers
Can I map the HOAI work stages in time cockpit?
Yes. You set up the work stages as tasks of a project, for example LPH 1 to LPH 9, and give each stage its own budget in hours and euros. Employees book their time on the respective stage, and budget control shows the consumption per stage.
Does time cockpit calculate fees under the HOAI?
No. time cockpit does not determine fees from eligible costs and fee zones, and instalment invoices based on the percentage of completion are not supported. You enter the agreed fee as a budget and see how much effort the stage actually causes. time cockpit creates invoices from booked hours, flat rates and items.
How do I record additional and special services?
Create separate tasks for them in the project, apart from the agreed work stages. This keeps these hours visible in reports and in the service report, and they form the basis for a change order.
Does time tracking also work on the construction site?
time cockpit runs in the browser, also on smartphones with Android and iOS. You need an internet connection for this. There is no app to install and no offline recording.
What does time cockpit cost for an architecture or engineering firm?
For teams of up to 10 users, the Starter package costs a one-off €29.90 in the first year, then €10.85 per user and month. You can try time cockpit free for 30 days, no credit card required.
Can time cockpit be connected to accounting and other software?
Yes. With the Web API (REST, OData) and the Excel export you transfer time, projects and invoice data to other systems. Appointments from Office 365 appear directly in the time tracking calendar.
Does time cockpit fit your process, from time tracking to invoicing?
In 30 minutes you will know whether time cockpit covers your project hours, project controlling and invoicing.
- What we cover
- You tell us how you track and bill time today. We show you live how that works in time cockpit and what switching involves.
- Who you talk to
- Someone from the team that builds time cockpit and rolls it out for customers, for example Alexander or Michael.
- How
- 30 minutes online via Microsoft Teams, free and without obligation.
You pick a free slot in Microsoft Bookings (opens in a new tab) and receive the confirmation with the Teams link by email. Prefer to write? support@timecockpit.com