In this guide 6 sections
Choose software that keeps one project file per job, holding the room-wise BOQ, vendor purchase orders, dated client approvals and the site snag list. Then score each vendor by loading one live project into a demo and checking that every change reaches all four places before you sign.
What a studio needs in a single project file
Most studios run each job across a drawing folder, a BOQ spreadsheet, a WhatsApp group, a vendor quotation folder and the site supervisor’s notebook of snags. None of these is wrong alone. Trouble starts when the master sheet says teak veneer and the vendor’s order still says laminate, and nobody notices before the carpenter starts cutting.
A good file ties four records together. Each room owns its BOQ lines, each line can become a vendor order, each approval sits against the line it covers, and every snag names its room. That chain is the product.
Make the seller show it. A glossy dashboard proves nothing.
- Room-wise BOQ with item, make, finish, size and quantity
- Vendor orders raised from BOQ lines, not retyped
- Client approvals with date, drawing number and signatory
- Site snags with photo, room, owner and closing date
Room-wise BOQ is the spine
Trial the master bedroom first. Enter the wardrobe, false ceiling, bed back panel, curtain track and electrical points, then see whether lines group by room, trade and vendor without three separate sheets.
Now test revisions. Say the client swaps laminate for veneer. The line should keep its history.
You want the old finish, the new finish, the price difference and the date of the change shown side by side on that single line. Loose furniture, soft furnishings and artwork deserve their own lines as well, because they arrive late and start arguments at handover, long after the civil work is forgotten.
Vendor orders and approvals must follow the BOQ
A purchase order for the carpenter, the stone supplier or the lighting dealer should be built directly from approved BOQ lines and carry the line number across. Typing it again by hand invites mistakes, and a wrong brass finish can reach the factory because someone misread a chat message.
Approvals need the same care. A thumbs-up emoji is not a record. The tool should store the approved drawing, the signatory, the date and the revision letter, then lock the line against quiet edits by juniors or vendors.
Try one awkward case. Change a finish after approval and after the order has gone out, then watch whether the system warns the buyer, flags the vendor or simply overwrites the line.
- Order status per line: placed, in production, dispatched, received
- Delivery date matched to the site schedule
- Approval stamp that blocks silent edits
- Vendor rate history for repeat items
Site snags and handover close the loop
Snags are where good projects lose face. A cracked vitrified tile, a misaligned shutter or a missing handle can sit on a list for weeks until the client loses patience and starts withholding the last instalment.
Your supervisor should log a snag from a phone in under a minute, attaching a photo, the room name and the vendor responsible before leaving the site. Each snag needs an owner. It also needs a closing date.
At handover, print open snags by room. Then test the app on the move, by asking the seller to log a snag with weak signal and checking that it syncs later without losing the photo.
How to score vendors against your own job
Build a scorecard before any demo. List ten tasks from your last real project, hand every vendor the same ten, and mark each one as done, done with a workaround, or not possible.
Add the dull items. Check user rights for juniors, export to Excel, a client view that hides your cost price, and what happens to your data if you leave. Ask for a sample export first.
Run the scorecard with two vendors on the same afternoon, then pick the one that handled your awkward case cleanly without a workaround.
- Same ten tasks for every vendor
- One live project loaded, not a sample
- Client view without cost price
- Data export in CSV or XLSX
Vendor scorecard worksheet
A printed worksheet holds ten task rows, each taken from the last real project, such as wardrobe revision, brass finish change and snag logged offline. Columns run across for task, vendor A result, vendor B result, workaround needed and notes, so two vendors compare on one page. A bottom block records user rights for juniors, export formats, mobile snag logging, the hidden cost price in client view and data exit terms.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
Do small studios need project management software?
Once you run three or four jobs at once, a spreadsheet and chat group stop being enough, and the first warning is a vendor order that contradicts the drawing. Look then, not later.
Should the client see the same file as the studio?
No, because clients should see approvals, drawings, progress photos and their own payment schedule, while cost prices, margins and vendor rates stay hidden in the studio view.
Can we move our old BOQ sheets into new software?
Usually yes, provided the sheets follow a steady column layout of item, make, size, quantity and unit rate, with no merged cells. Ask the vendor to import one real BOQ during the demo and show you exactly what lands in the wrong column, row or room.
How long does a trial project take?
Run one room for a week. That is enough time to enter the BOQ, raise two vendor orders, record one client approval, log a few snags and print the open list.