Architecture has always attracted people driven by their love of design and creativity, not spreadsheets. That’s why business operations are so often overlooked: it’s not seen as exciting, and smaller firms often don’t have the overhead to dedicate someone to it. But running a creative practice without business clarity is like designing a bridge without checking its load capacity, and firms are feeling the pressure.
In 2025, projects are getting more complex, clients are demanding more, and teams are delivering with leaner resources and tighter deadlines which makes the need for well-managed business operations more important than ever.
The State of the Industry in 2025
According to the 2025 Architecture & Engineering Industry Benchmark Report from Total Synergy, more than half of firms say at least one in four projects goes over budget, over half already have one to three months of work booked ahead, and yet few have the systems or visibility to manage this appropriately.
The report highlights cracks in the basics of business health. Forty-one percent of firms don’t track realization (how much of their team’s time is billed and paid) leaving potential revenue untapped, and more than a third don’t know their overhead rate, with only 48 percent reporting profit margins above 15 percent. But managing business operations shouldn’t be seen as a necessary evil. When managed well, operations can boost efficiency and actually create more space for creativity.
Three Best Practices for Building Operational Resilience
The firms pulling ahead aren’t necessarily bigger or busier, they’re simply more connected. Building a resilient practice requires treating business operations not as a necessary evil, but as a strategic partner. Their success is defined by these three key practices:
1. Centralize Critical Data: Success begins by putting all critical information (budgets, timelines, and task lists) in a single, accessible system. That visibility lets firm leadership and project managers see, for example, the immediate forecasted budget impact of assigning hours to staff. When key data can be correlated, leaders can spot bottlenecks before they happen, anticipate conflicts, and make informed decisions about staffing and new work rather than reacting after it’s too late.
2. Build Consistency: The second thing successful firms get right is consistency. Everyone enters data the same way, tracks time on the same schedule, and plans from the same information. Standardized processes, like daily time tracking and project updates, turn the dreaded Monday morning meeting into something productive—a space to rebalance workloads and clear roadblocks before they stall projects. This consistency frees the design team from administrative friction, allowing them to redirect their energy back into client design work.
3. Treat the Business as One Team: Finally, successful firms don’t let departments or project managers operate in silos. Shared visibility and clear, consistent data foster fairness and build trust. When everyone keeps score the same way, it’s easier to surface problems early and fix them together. That transparency reduces stress and burnout, creates psychological safety for managers to raise issues, and ultimately leads to happier clients, healthier teams, and better work delivered consistently on time and on budget.
Building a Better Future
The future of architecture does not lie solely in beautiful buildings or award-winning designs. It lies in building resilient, well-run firms that give creativity room to thrive. By centralizing key data, standardizing processes and fostering a culture of transparency, firms can improve efficiency, reclaim design-time and deliver more consistently for clients.
At Factor AE we help firms do exactly that. Our software combines practice management, resource planning, time entry, invoicing, and financial tracking into one streamlined platform designed to help simplify daily operations and support impactful business decisions. By improving visibility and efficiency across teams, Factor helps A&E firms run more profitably and with greater clarity.
In a landscape of tighter budgets and growing client expectations, treating business operations as a strategic partner rather than a necessary burden is essential. The firms that succeed will not just survive the pressures of 2025, they will create the conditions for enduring business excellence.
To learn more about how a Factor AE’s firm management platform can help your business, speak to one of our experts or book your free demo today.
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C. Ray Harvey
C. Ray Harvey is the director of product and customer experience at Factor AE, where he bridges product development with customer success. Having been part of the team since its inception, C. Ray has played a central role in shaping the platform’s ongoing evolution while leading customer support and hosting educational webinars. Prior to joining Factor, he spent 12 years in professional services as a project manager and consultant on operational efficiency. C. Ray combines his deep software and client experience expertise to ensure Factor’s tools are intuitive, impactful, and aligned with the needs of A&E firms. You can connect with C. Ray on LinkedIn here.