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GullySystem
Custom software · Architects and interior designers

Build a practice system around your stages, your drawings and your BOQ.

A design practice works with two sets of records. Drawings live in CAD files and email threads. Money lives in a BOQ, a quotation, vendor orders and stage invoices.

The site sits between them. Carpenters need details, clients change finishes, and vendor deliveries slip. The supervisor’s record is often a WhatsApp group of photographs.

Software for a design practice holds both sides: stages, drawing revisions, BOQ, quotations, client approvals, vendor orders and site progress. A client portal shows what the client has approved. GullySystem designs this as one system.

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Who this is for

Design practices we can build for.

A large multi-site firm and a two-person studio keep very different project files, and the build follows the size of the firm. A practice that franchises its brand to partner studios needs the royalty and territory side described on the franchise businesses page.

  • Architecture practices
  • Interior design studios
  • Turnkey interior contractors
  • Residential interior firms
  • Commercial and office interior firms
  • Retail and showroom fit-out firms
  • Hospitality design firms
  • Modular kitchen and wardrobe businesses
  • Design and build firms
  • Landscape architects
  • Lighting designers
  • Acoustic and specialist consultants
  • Structural and MEP consultants
  • Project management consultants
  • Furniture and joinery manufacturers working with designers
  • Multi-city design firms
  • Practices with an in-house workshop
  • Practices running partner studios under one brand
What can be built

The modules, and what each one covers.

Nothing here is a fixed package. Each module is built, left out or changed to match how your organisation already works.

Enquiries and the first meeting

Enquiries arrive from the website, Instagram, builders, past clients and relatives. They sit in one register with a follow-up date against each.

  • Client and contact
  • Source of the enquiry
  • Property type and location
  • Carpet area
  • Scope asked for
  • Budget range indicated
  • Expected start
  • Designer assigned
  • Meeting and site visit dates
  • Status and next follow-up

Site survey and measurement

  • Site address and access
  • Measured drawing upload
  • Room-wise measurements
  • Existing services and shafts
  • Site photographs
  • Civil work required
  • Structural constraints noted
  • Client’s stated requirements room by room

Project stages

  1. Brief
  2. Concept
  3. Client approval
  4. Design development
  5. Working drawings
  6. BOQ and quotation
  7. Order
  8. Execution
  9. Snagging
  10. Handover

Your stage names go in as you use them. A practice that works in five stages should not be made to work in seven.

Drawing register

Each drawing carries its revision, so the site knows which revision is current.

  • Drawing number and title
  • Discipline
  • Revision letter and date
  • Status: for approval, for construction, superseded
  • Who issued it
  • Who received it and when
  • Reason for the revision
  • File attached
  • Current version marked
  • Superseded versions kept

The software does not draw. AutoCAD, SketchUp and Revit stay where they are, and the register tracks the files they produce.

Drawing issue and transmittal

  • Issue list per recipient
  • Client, contractor, consultant and vendor copies
  • Issue date
  • Acknowledgement
  • Hard copies issued
  • Drawings pending issue
  • Drawings awaiting client approval

Consultant coordination

Structural, plumbing and electrical drawings come from separate consultants, and the set waits for the slowest.

  • Consultant and discipline
  • Drawings expected from each
  • Due date
  • Received and pending
  • Comments issued back
  • Revisions awaited
  • Consultant fee and payment status
  • Coordination meeting notes

Statutory approvals

  • Authority and application type
  • Documents submitted
  • Application date
  • Queries raised
  • Responses filed
  • Fees paid
  • Sanction received
  • Conditions attached to the sanction
  • Renewal or revalidation date

Only the file is recorded here. It cannot move an application through an authority, and no schedule it shows is a commitment about when sanction will come.

BOQ

The BOQ is the base of an interior project. The quotation, vendor order, measurement and final bill are the same list seen from different sides.

  • Room-wise and area-wise items
  • Item description and specification
  • Unit: running foot, square foot, number, lump sum
  • Quantity
  • Material specification and make
  • Your cost rate
  • Client rate
  • Margin per line
  • Civil, carpentry, electrical, plumbing and finishing heads
  • Optional and excluded items
  • Revision history

Quotation

  1. BOQ
  2. Rates
  3. Quotation
  4. Client discussion
  5. Revision
  6. Approval
  7. Advance
  8. Work order
  • Quotation versions
  • Room-wise summary
  • Inclusions and exclusions
  • Payment schedule
  • Sales tax or VAT
  • Validity
  • What changed between versions

Client approvals

Approvals given only in messages are hard to prove when the bill is raised. Each approval is recorded against the item with the approver’s name and the date.

  • Design and layout approval
  • Material and finish approval
  • Quotation approval
  • Variation approval
  • Shade and sample approval
  • Date and person who approved
  • Approval against a specific drawing or line
  • Pending approvals holding up work

Materials and finishes

Shade codes chosen in the studio reach the carpenter at the sheet.

  • Material category
  • Make and product code
  • Laminate, veneer and paint shade codes
  • Plywood grade and thickness
  • Hardware make and model
  • Tile size and finish
  • Fabric and upholstery references
  • Sample photographs
  • Room and item it applies to
  • Client approval status
  • Supplier and rate

Vendors and purchase orders

  • Vendor register by trade
  • Rate cards
  • Purchase order against a BOQ line
  • Delivery date promised
  • Advance paid
  • Delivery to site or workshop
  • Short and damaged material
  • Vendor bill
  • Payment due and paid
  • Vendor performance history

Material at site

  • Material received against the order
  • Received by whom
  • Photograph at unloading
  • Stored at site or workshop
  • Issued to which room or item
  • Balance at site
  • Material moved to another site
  • Wastage and offcuts
  • Material returned to vendor

Sheet material moving between two sites is a common leak. Site staff record each transfer, so the stock at each site stays believable to the office.

Site execution

  • Work item and room
  • Planned start and finish
  • Actual progress
  • Contractor or team assigned
  • Work in progress photographs
  • Delays and reasons
  • Work held for approval
  • Work held for material
  • Completed and measured work

Site visit reports

Instructions given on site are recorded as a dated note with a photograph, so a later dispute about what was said has something to refer to.

  • Visit date and who visited
  • Observations
  • Instructions to the contractor
  • Photographs
  • Issues raised
  • Action owner
  • Next visit date
  • Report sent to client and contractor

Site teams and labour

  • Carpenter, painter and civil teams
  • Attendance by site
  • Daily or piece-rate work
  • Work completed per team
  • Advance paid
  • Weekly settlement
  • Labour cost against the BOQ line
  • Supervisor assigned

Budget against actual

The quotation states one figure, and the record shows each change and who approved it. Substitutions, site changes and extra hardware change it over the following weeks.

  • Budgeted cost per BOQ head
  • Committed cost through purchase orders
  • Actual spend
  • Labour cost
  • Variation value
  • Margin as it stands today
  • Cost overrun by head
  • Projected final cost

Variations and extras

  • Change requested by the client
  • Change caused by site conditions
  • Cost effect
  • Time effect
  • Client approval before the work starts
  • Added to the bill
  • Variations still unapproved

It can refuse to let a variation be marked approved without a record. It cannot make a client agree to pay for one.

Stage-wise fees and billing

For an architecture practice the fee is tied to stages, and drawings keep going out whether or not the last stage was settled.

  • Fee basis: lump sum, per square foot, or a share of project cost
  • Stage-wise split
  • Invoice prompt when a stage is marked issued
  • Invoice raised
  • Sales tax or VAT and withholding tax
  • Payment received
  • Outstanding by client and by stage
  • Reimbursable expenses
  • Retention held

Client payments

  • Payment schedule against milestones
  • Advance received
  • Stage payments due
  • Overdue payments
  • Payment against variations
  • Receipts
  • Work held for payment
  • Final settlement

Client portal

Most client calls are questions the client could answer from the project file.

  • Project status by stage
  • Approved drawings
  • Approved quotation and BOQ
  • Material selections
  • Approvals pending with the client
  • Site progress photographs
  • Payment schedule and receipts
  • Variations and their cost
  • Queries and responses
  • Handover documents

What a client sees is set by you. Most practices show progress and approvals, and keep vendor rates and margins out of it.

Snagging and handover

  1. Snag list
  2. Assignment
  3. Rectification
  4. Client check
  5. Closure
  6. Handover
  7. Defect liability
  • Snag by room and item
  • Photograph
  • Team responsible
  • Target date
  • Client sign-off
  • Handover checklist
  • Warranty documents and manuals
  • Defect liability period and visits

Studio workload

Which designer is on which project, and what happens when two sites reach working drawings in the same week.

  • Projects per designer
  • Stage each project is at
  • Tasks and due dates
  • Drawings pending
  • Site visits due
  • Approvals awaited
  • Overdue items
  • Leave and availability

Design library

  • Standard details
  • Specification templates
  • Standard BOQ items and rates
  • Vendor rate cards
  • Material references
  • Project photographs
  • Reusable room templates
  • Past quotations

Role-based access

  • Principal architect or owner
  • Project architect
  • Designer
  • Draughtsman
  • Site supervisor
  • Purchase
  • Accounts
  • Contractor
  • Consultant
  • Client

Practice dashboard

  • Live projects by stage
  • Enquiries and conversion
  • Value of work in hand
  • Project cost against budget
  • Margin by project
  • Fees billed and pending
  • Overdue client payments
  • Vendor payments due
  • Delayed sites
  • Approvals pending with clients
  • Designer workload

WhatsApp, email and reminders

  • Site visit report to the client
  • Approval request
  • Drawing issue notice
  • Material delivery confirmation
  • Payment reminder
  • Snag list to the contractor
  • Weekly progress summary

Drawings and site photographs are heavy files, so what goes out on WhatsApp is usually a link rather than the thing itself. A message is also no substitute for the client’s signature on a variation.

What connects to what else

  • Your accounting software, such as QuickBooks or Xero
  • Payment gateways
  • Cloud drives holding drawings
  • Email
  • Website enquiry forms
  • Existing project software

Drawing files stay on the drive you already use. Only the reference and the revision are held here, not a second copy nobody updates.

The journey

One connected workflow, end to end.

Every stage below can sit in one system, so nobody re-enters what the last stage already captured.

  1. Enquiry
  2. Site survey
  3. Brief
  4. Concept
  5. Approval
  6. Working drawings
  7. BOQ and quotation
  8. Work order
  9. Vendor orders
  10. Site execution
  11. Variations
  12. Snagging
  13. Handover and final bill
Built in phases

You do not have to replace everything at once.

Each phase is usable on its own, so the system earns its place before the next part is built.

  1. 1

    Projects and drawings

    The project file, stages, the drawing register with revisions, site visit reports and consultant coordination.

  2. 2

    BOQ and money

    BOQ, quotations, client approvals, variations, stage-wise fees and the payment schedule. These are the records where margin is most often lost.

  3. 3

    Site and vendors

    Vendor orders, material at site, execution tracking, labour cost and budget against actual.

  4. 4

    Portal and analytics

    The client portal, snagging and handover, workload planning, dashboards and the messages that replace routine status calls.

How we work

How a build actually runs.

  1. 01

    Understand

    We go through a finished project file with you, including the parts that only exist in a WhatsApp group.

  2. 02

    Map

    Stages, drawings, approvals, BOQ heads, vendors, site roles and the handover points between the studio and the site.

  3. 03

    Design

    Screens drawn for two very different people: a designer at a desk and a supervisor holding a phone in a half-built flat.

  4. 04

    Build

    Build order follows the live project first, which usually means BOQ and approvals before anything else.

  5. 05

    Test

    Your team runs a real project through it, from enquiry to a stage invoice.

  6. 06

    Deploy

    Go-live follows, with designers, supervisors and accounts trained on their own part of it.

  7. 07

    Improve

    The client portal, the library and the reporting, once the project file is being kept properly.

What you bring

What you bring, and when.

The build moves at the speed of the answers. These are the things we ask for, in the order we ask.

  1. 01

    A finished project’s paper trail

    Pick a recently closed project and send its drawing register, a transmittal, the BOQ and the client quotation. Add your stage-wise fee schedule. It shows how the studio really runs.

  2. 02

    A principal and a site architect

    A principal and someone who spends days on site should react to screens as they appear. Rules for drawing issue and client approval follow their word. Principals settle any difference.

  3. 03

    Fee stages, variation limits and the material library

    The studio decides how fees split across stages, who may approve a variation, and which materials and vendors sit in the library. Designers try each part on demonstration.

  4. 04

    Live projects and shared folders

    Running projects arrive with their drawing revisions, vendor lists and unpaid client stages. Access to the shared drive and mailbox is needed alongside. A partner approves the switch.

What we can build

Systems we can put together for you.

  • Architecture practice management software
  • Interior project management systems
  • Drawing and revision registers
  • BOQ and estimation software
  • Quotation systems
  • Vendor and procurement management
  • Site progress applications
  • Client portals
  • Variation and approval tracking
  • Stage-wise billing systems
  • Design and specification libraries
  • Practice dashboards
  • Multi-tenant platforms for design firms
Common questions

Questions owners ask before starting.

What does custom software for a design practice actually do?

It holds the project file: stages, drawings and their revisions, the BOQ, approvals, vendor orders, site progress and the money against each. The drawing work stays in your CAD software.

Can it manage drawing revisions?

Yes. Each drawing carries its revision, its status, the date it was issued and who received it, so the site can be told which version is current.

Will it replace AutoCAD or SketchUp?

No. It tracks the files those tools produce, who has which revision, and what was approved. The design work stays where your team already does it.

Can we build a BOQ and turn it into a quotation?

Yes. The BOQ carries your cost and the client rate on each line, and the quotation is built from it, so the margin is visible before the quotation goes out.

Can clients see progress without calling us?

Yes, through a portal showing stage status, approved drawings, site photographs, pending approvals and payments. You decide what appears on it.

Does it track vendor orders and site material?

Yes. Purchase orders sit against BOQ lines, with delivery to site, issue to a room and the balance lying at site. Site staff record each movement, which becomes routine after a few weeks.

How does it handle stage-wise fees for an architecture practice?

Fees are split by stage, and an invoice is prompted when a stage is marked issued. Fee basis can be lump sum, per square foot or a share of project cost.

Can it record variations the client asked for?

Yes, with the cost effect and the client’s approval against each one. The record helps in a dispute, but it does not change a client’s decision.

Do we need custom software, or will a product do?

If your work is mostly residential interiors, our interior design management system may already fit, and adapting it is the simpler route. Custom makes sense when your stages, fee structure or workshop make a product awkward.

Does it work across more than one office?

Yes. Projects, teams and vendors can be tracked per office, with a consolidated view for the partners.

Can site supervisors use it on a phone?

Yes. Progress, photographs, material receipts, attendance and snags are meant for a phone, because that is the only device on site.

Can we start with only the BOQ and costing part?

Yes. Start with the BOQ, quotation and vendor orders. The portal and dashboards follow once that data is in.

Your trade

How we work with this trade.

Ready products

Ready products for this work.

If one of these fits, it is cheaper and faster than building from scratch. We will say so.

Build the project file the practice needs.

Most design practices already have a system. It is spread across a shared drive, WhatsApp groups, an Excel quotation and the memory of whoever visited site last.

Walk through one finished project, from the first meeting to the final bill. The place where the file broke is usually where the build starts.

Tell us how you work

Tell us how your architects and interior designers runs today.

We will tell you what can be digitised, what can be connected, what is worth automating, and what you should leave alone.

What happens after you share your requirements

  1. A senior engineer reads your answers. Nobody phones first.
  2. Within one business day you get a written note: what we understood, what we would start with, and the questions we still have.
  3. If it fits, a proposal follows with the order of work, what we need from you and what you receive at each step.
  4. No call is booked and nothing is paid until you have read the note. Your details stay with us.

Start with your requirements

Seven short steps that tell us what you need. A senior engineer reads them before anyone gets in touch.

Share your requirements