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Why architects track time by phase
The AIA's March 2026 survey of firm leaders found that design hours by phase are among the most tracked project measures, reported by 66% of firms. Fees (79%) and budget versus actual (63%) were also among the top measures, and both depend on knowing where the hours went.
A single timesheet total per project cannot answer the useful questions: how much effort did schematic design take, was the construction documents phase under or over what its fee supported, and which hours are still waiting to be invoiced. Those need hours attached to phases.
Track fixed-fee hours too
On a fixed-fee phase the hours never appear on an invoice, which is why firms skip logging them. They are still the only record of what the phase cost in effort. Without them, the next proposal prices the same phase from memory. Fixed fee or hourly explains why that choice is made one phase at a time, and why project numbers drift covers what the logged hours can and cannot tell you.
How time tracking works in Rizqo
Time is logged against a project, and optionally against a specific phase or task. Each entry records a date, a duration and whether it is billable.
- A weekly timesheet. Staff open the This Week tab, add a row for the project or phase, and type hours into the day worked, either as a number such as 7.5 or as a duration such as 1:30.
- The rate is fixed at entry. The hourly rate is stored on the entry when it is logged, along with where it came from: the project's rate card, a custom rate, or none. Changing a rate card later does not rewrite historic time.
- Billability follows the phase. Time logged to a non-billable phase is non-billable, and reporting never recalculates it.
- Every entry knows its billing status. Once an entry is on an invoice it links to that invoice and the specific line. An entry is either on an invoice or it is not, which is what makes unbilled time reliable.
- Everything can be reviewed. The All Entries tab lists every entry, filterable by project, member, billable status and date range, with bulk actions to mark entries billable or non-billable. Owners and admins can also pull an entry off an invoice it was already billed on.
A desktop time tracker can file time against your projects through an integration key generated in settings. The key belongs to one person and can be revoked at any time. See time tracking in the documentation for the step-by-step.
From hours to invoice
When you create an invoice, Rizqo pulls in the unbilled time on hourly phases and the uninvoiced progress on fixed phases, and every line records where it came from. Architecture billing software describes how a phase-based invoice is built.
What it does not do
There is no running stopwatch in the application: hours are entered, not timed. Rizqo does not track expenses, and it does not offer resource planning, capacity forecasting or utilization dashboards. The revenue and effort report shows billable and non-billable hours, filterable by team member, which is the closest figure. See about Rizqo for the full list of limits.
Where this fits
Time is step six of the project lifecycle described in what architecture project management software is. It sits between phases and billing, because hours only matter once they are attached to a phase and can reach an invoice.
Questions
Can staff log time against a phase, not just a project?
Yes. A timesheet row can be a whole project or a specific phase or task within it.
Can I track hours on fixed-fee work?
Yes. Hours on a fixed phase are recorded like any other and never appear on an invoice, so they are available to price the next project.
Is there a timer?
No. Time is entered on the weekly timesheet. A desktop time tracker can connect through an integration key.
Does changing a rate change past entries?
No. The rate is stored on each entry when it is logged, so changing a rate card affects only time logged afterwards.