Can we bill for this?
Norma evaluates contract language, scope history, and client requests. You get a defensible read on whether additional services are billable.
Decision intelligence · Architecture & design firms
Architecture firms don't need another dashboard.
They need better decisions.
Where firm data becomes judgment.
Norma reads the firm data you already produce — timesheets, pipeline, AR, contracts, financials — and returns prioritized recommendations a principal can act on.
Scroll for the workspace story
Ask Norma the questions principals actually ask.
Can we afford to hire?
Norma connects revenue forecast, backlog, payroll exposure, and utilization. You see whether headcount is safe before you commit.
Are we underpricing this work?
Norma weighs fee pressure, scope complexity, realization, and revenue per employee. You get a clear underpricing signal or not.
What's our biggest risk this quarter?
Norma surfaces financial, operational, and concentration risks in one view. You address what could hurt the firm next, not what feels loudest.
What is the firm worth?
Norma builds a valuation memo from revenue quality, concentration, margins, backlog, and owner dependency. You walk into negotiations with a number you can explain.
Where are we leaking margin?
Norma separates pricing drag from staffing, scope creep, collections, and utilization. You fix the actual leak instead of the loudest symptom.
Product proof
See Norma in action.
Real workspace tone: overhead, realization, and the next move, with reasoning you can trace.
Inside the workspace
Ready
Good evening.
Is our overhead too high?
Your overhead multiplier is 1.97× against an industry target of 1.60×. The largest controllable categories are business development at $142K (28% over budget), indirect labor at $118K, and software at $67K. Cutting BD spend to budget recovers $31K annually.
But the faster fix is pricing. Lifting realization from 87% to 92% recovers $195K, without cutting anything.
Riverdale Commons client wants a lobby redesign after DD sign-off. Can we bill for that?
Yes. Your contract supports billing this as an additional service. Layout revisions after Design Development sign-off match a pre-identified scope scenario classified as likely additional, high confidence. Section §2.8.2.1 of your agreement requires written authorization before proceeding.
Estimated value at current rates: ~$28K. I can draft the change-order language.
What's our biggest risk this quarter?
Client concentration. Northwood Health represents 38% of forecasted Q3 revenue. If that engagement contracts or pauses, you have 5.2 months of payroll exposure against 2.8 months of cash reserves.
Two recommended actions: shift incremental Northwood staffing to contractors (you're currently FTE-loaded) and accelerate BD into your top three diversification targets. I've flagged the candidates.
A real conversation in the workspace: where the data becomes the conversation.
Sample outputs
What a decision layer looks like on paper.
Representative panels. Styling matches how Norma structures recommendations in the workspace.
Decision output
Decision
Can we hire another designer?
- Recommendation
- Wait 45–60 days
- Confidence
- Medium-high
- Reasoning
-
- Forecasted revenue dips in August
- Backlog supports current staff but not a permanent addition
- Utilization is high because of timing compression, not sustained demand
- Suggested next step
- Use freelance support before committing to payroll.
Contract output
Contract
Additional Services Assessment
- Classification
- Likely Additional Service
- Confidence
- Medium
- Reasoning
-
- Original agreement includes schematic design revisions
- Request appears to add a new rendering package
- No rendering count is defined, creating ambiguity
- Suggested next step
- Frame as a clarification and issue a modest additional services proposal.
Valuation output
Valuation
Firm Valuation Memo
- Indicative range
- $4.2M–$5.1M
- Primary drivers
-
- Recurring client relationships
- Revenue concentration
- Principal dependency
- Adjusted EBITDA margin
- Risk adjustment
- Moderate
- Suggested next step
- Share the PDF in partner discussion; stress-test concentration before signing.
Revenue output
Revenue
Forward 12-Month Revenue Gap
Committed
$8.1M
Target
$9.4M
- Recommendation
- Close the gap with near-term pursuits, not long-cycle BD.
- Confidence
- Medium
- Reasoning
-
- Pipeline conversion supports $8.1M on current timing
- Target assumes two pursuits signed in Q3
- Gap is timing, not fee erosion
- Suggested next step
- Reprioritize pursuits likely to start within 60–90 days; review monthly in workspace.
Data in, decisions out
What Norma reads · What Norma produces
Same workspace. Firm-generated inputs on the left; structured outputs on the right.
What Norma reads
- Timesheets
- AR aging
- Pipeline
- Project budgets
- Contracts
- Firm financials
What Norma produces
- Decision recommendations
- Contract scope classifications
- Revenue gap models
- Collections priorities
- Firm risk analysis
- Valuation memos
- Exportable outputs
Workflow
From answer to action.
Norma does not stop at the recommendation. It gives principals the reasoning, language, priorities, and outputs needed to act.
Explain the reasoning
See the assumptions, data points, thresholds, and logic behind each recommendation.
Draft the response
Turn contract findings, scope issues, or client requests into clear, defensible language.
Prioritize the next move
Rank receivables, pursuits, staffing decisions, and firm risks by urgency and impact.
Export the memo
Save decision summaries, valuation memos, contract analyses, or partner-ready recommendations.
Why Norma is different
You've always had data.
Now you can talk to it.
Bookkeepers and accountants close the month. Norma sits between firm data and principal-level judgment on the decisions that move margin.
What you have today
- Utilization is 58%. Okay, so what?
- DSO is 72 days. Is that bad? Compared to what?
- Overhead is trending up. Cut what, exactly?
What Norma tells you
- Utilization at 58% is a pricing problem, not a staffing problem. Your realization rate confirms it.
- DSO at 72 days is locking $180K in receivables. Fix billing lag first. That's 14 days you control.
- Overhead isn't the constraint at your current revenue level. Cut BD spend last, not first. It's funding your pipeline.
Built for architecture firms
Built on the economics of your profession.
Not adapted from generic financial software.
Fee, scope, pipeline, capacity, cash, overhead, and concentration, all interpreted through how studios actually run, not generic SaaS finance.
What the workspace covers
Fee setting & pricing floors Scope change detection Pipeline sufficiency Revenue gap forecasting Overhead analysis Collections & cash flow Contract risk assessment Additional services evaluation Utilization & realization Client concentration Rate calibration Firm valuation
Credibility
Built from inside the architecture business.
Norma was built by a finance leader with 12+ years inside architecture and design firms, including project controlling, forecasting, firm financial reporting, contract analysis, and partner-level advisory work.
- Designed around real architecture-firm operating patterns
- Built for project-based revenue, scope creep, utilization pressure, and fee discipline
- Calibrated for the decisions principals actually face
- Not a generic dashboard repackaged for architects
Norma is built for firms where the hardest questions are not "what happened?" but "what should we do next?"
Fit
Built for firms that have outgrown instinct.
Built for
- Architecture and design firms with roughly 10–100 employees
- Studios with project-based revenue and complex staffing decisions
- Firms dealing with scope creep, weak forecasting visibility, or inconsistent fee discipline
- Principals who want better operating judgment without hiring a full-time CFO
- Finance leaders who need a decision layer above spreadsheets
Not built for
- Solo freelancers who only need invoicing
- Firms only looking for bookkeeping
- Enterprises looking for generic BI dashboards
- Teams unwilling to upload basic financial, project, or contract data
Security and trust
Firm workspaces, scoped context, no training on your files.
- Each customer workspace is isolated from others.
- Standard API terms with our AI providers: data you send is not used to train public models.
- Uploads stay tied to your workspace; export and deletion requests are handled in product.
Pricing
Simple pricing. Full workspace.
From $295/month for three users. Per-seat scales as you grow. No feature gates.
Ready to run a real decision?
Start in the workspace with your firm's data, or leave your email and we'll keep you posted.
Not ready yet? Leave your email; we will keep you posted.