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By Mark Zweig | Cash flow breaks down in AEC firms when billing is delayed, collections are weak, and discipline slips across the business.

By Matt Cooper | Most AEC firms stall at key growth stages where outdated people, processes, and technology can no longer support scale.

By Matt Cooper | Software should reduce friction, surface better information sooner, and free people up to do higher-value work.

By Lucas Gray | Tech becomes a strategic advantage when firms measure real ROI and budget for tools that drive profit, productivity, and long-term capability.

By Greg Sepeda | To drive real accountability, leaders must pair logic with storytelling that engages emotions, creates ownership, and motivates lasting process adoption.

By Robert Jones | Understanding the difference between FAR overhead audits and compilations helps AEC firms secure DOT contracts and avoid costly setbacks.

By Matt Cooper | These firms often rely on few clients, multitasking staff, and undocumented processes, creating volatility, inefficiency, and growth challenges.

Benchmarking the Future: AE Firm Performance Insights with Monograph and Zweig Group   “Whatever is the hardest path is probably the path we should be on. The hardest path is also the least traveled.” Robert...

By Robert Jones | Government contractors in AEC must understand and follow GAAP to meet compliance standards, secure contracts, and ensure accurate financial reporting.

By Matt Cooper | AEC firms face a middle management gap, but technology can empower PMs, boost efficiency, and accelerate talent development.

By Matt Cooper | In 2025, faster firms win – optimize key processes from proposal to payment to stay competitive in AEC.

By Adam Langley | Time is a finite resource, but by effectively managing it, you’ll contribute to your individual success and the long-term prosperity of your firm.

Zweig Group, the leading provider of advisory services, research, and education for the AEC industry, has released its 2025 Fee & Billing Report of AEC Firms. This definitive resource offers a clear picture of today's fee...

By Mark Zweig | It’s time to take some action inside your business; do these 10 things now to be ready for whatever lies ahead.

By Lucas Gray | Why most architecture and engineering firms overspend on design software and underinvest where it matters.

By Lauren Martin | Design firms need to be vigilant about clauses and language that have the potential to significantly expand their risk while undermining their insurance protection.

By Chad Coldiron, Casey Shea & Stefanie Richter | High-performing firms that embrace technology solutions are seeing transformative results across their operations.

By Morgan Stinson | AEC firms that focus on fostering genuine client relationships build trust, loyalty, and long-term success.

By Liisa Andreassen | President and CEO of Vierbicher (Reedsburg, WI), a community planning and engineering firm that is a proven partner for thriving Wisconsin communities.

By Mark Zweig | Entrepreneurship is all about seeing and doing things differently from everyone else, so maybe you should be more questioning of the status quo.

By Will Swearingen | The latest data reveals increased billing rates, improved chargeability, and refined collections processes in AEC.

This comprehensive report offers insights into fees, billing rates, chargeability/utilization rates, project contracts, and billing practices.

By Stephen Dominguez | AEC firms struggle to retrieve all of the revenue they bill out, however there are some solutions firms can use to counteract commonplace issues.

By Liisa Andreassen | President of WithersRavenel (Cary, NC), a multidisciplinary consulting firm serving both the private and public sectors.

By Matt Johnson | Client managers face new challenges post-pandemic, requiring increased client contact, realistic budgeting, and managing expectations for success.

By Todd Hay | If you can learn to actively listen to and understand your clients, you and your firm will reap the benefits.

By Liisa Andreassen | Principal of Vector Structural Engineering (Draper, UT), a full-service structural engineering company licensed in all 50 U.S. states, Puerto Rico, and Canada.

By Lauren Rhodes Martin | Small, medium, or large, firms of every size should have a regular process in place for collection of their fees.

By Mark Zweig | If you are seeing your cashflow slowing down and your average collection period rising, you may want to take a look at why that is happening.

By Katie Batill-Bigler | Set a tone firmwide to recognize the valuable work that’s done by people in every role at your firm – not just your technical staff.

By Kevin Johns | Despite the uncertainty and impact caused by potential tax law changes, inflation, and the pandemic, forecasts are strong overall for the AEC industry for 2022.

By Mark Zweig | The AEC industry is facing unprecedented demand for what we do. If there was ever a time to say that slow-paying clients are not acceptable, it is now.

By Mark Zweig | We create much of our own good luck – and a lot of that comes down to understanding probabilities and doing things that increase our odds for success.

By Liisa Andreassen | CEO of Garmann Miller (Minster, OH), a multi-discipline design firm that impacts communities through dedicated service and smart design.

By Liisa Andreassen | Managing partner and CEO of Croy Engineering (Marietta, GA), a multidiscipline consulting engineering firm that believes in engineering the extra mile.

It comes down to respect and providing for your employees. If you do these two things, your people will quickly become your biggest cheerleaders.

In the current economic environment, avoid costly payment disputes and counterclaims by choosing clients carefully and staying on top of your receivables and collections.

In these uncharted times, we run the risk of only thinking about the immediate and not about where we are going to be three months, six months, or a year from now.

Former president of CobbFendley (Houston, TX), a 530-person firm that is committed to providing innovative engineering solutions with the goal of bettering communities.

CEO of ISG (Mankato, MN), a multi-disciplinary design and engineering firm that has growth in its DNA.

Founders of HILGARTWILSON (Phoenix, AZ), an exemplary multidisciplinary firm that was formed in the middle of the Great Recession.

President of DY Consultants, a nationally-recognized aviation consulting firm based in New York City.

President of CEI, a 20-year-old minority-owned engineering and contracting firm based in Miami Lakes, Florida.

“We need to collect our money sooner. With dragged out collection periods, most companies don’t have the working capital they need without borrowing.”

President of Ampirical (Best Firm Multi-discipline #21 for 2018), a 200-person firm on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain.

President and CEO of RLG Consulting Engineers (Best Firm Structural #13 for 2018), a Dallas-based firm in business for 65 years.

President of Bernardon (Hot Firm #39 for 2018), an 80-person architecture, interior design, and landscape architecture firm based in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Founder and CEO of Wright Engineers (Best Firm #1 Structural for 2018), a Vegas-headquartered firm where perfection is the goal but excellence is tolerated.

President, Alta Environmental (Best Firm #4 Environmental for 2018), a 50-person firm based in Long Beach, CA. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “It’s said that people typically don’t leave companies, they leave bosses,” Kay says. “Making...

As an industry, we generally leave a lot of money on the table and drive up costs with our lack of effectiveness in management and training. When we think of improving, we often turn to...

Is your firm swamped with various platforms for invoicing, project management, payroll, field reports, and more? Maybe it’s time for a change. Editor’s note: ProjectBoss is a sponsor of the 2018 Hot Firm + A/E...

President and founder of Brudis & Associates, Inc. (Hot Firm #36 and Best Firm Multi-discipline # 51 for 2016), a 90-person firm based in Baltimore. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “While I like to say we’re...

President of Long Engineering, Inc. (Hot Firm # 24 for 2017), a 90-person land surveying and civil engineering firm based in Atlanta, Georgia. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Begin to identify internally if you have potential...

Founder and CEO of GATE (Hot Firm #35 for 2017), a 300-plus person oil and gas engineering consulting company based in Houston. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “When clients/friends see what we post and comment to...

The first steps in taking control of your firm’s financial success should center around the billing cycle, timesheets and, most importantly, the backlog. December 28, 2015, was the beginning of my new path as the...

When it comes to our projects, we need to know as much as we can to ensure we stay on track for our firm and our clients. There’s a fine line between what we know...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (September 1, 2017) – Zweig Group released the annual Fee & Billing Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning & Environmental Consulting Firms yesterday, August 31, 2017. The 2017 Fee & Billing Survey of Architecture,...

What does your contract say about the ability to recover legal fees or staff time incurred to recover unpaid fees? Good question, huh? Two recent cases show that architects with good contracts can recover not...

President of Environmental Partners Group, Inc. (Hot Firm #22 for 2017), a 55-person firm based in Quincy, Massachusetts. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Their problems need to be your problems,” says Gabriel, referring to the client-firm...

President and CEO of Milhouse Engineering & Construction (Hot Firm #50 for 2017), a 180-person firm based in Chicago. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Engineers aren’t usually braggadocios,” Milhouse says. “We’re just not good at it....

CEO of Coffman Engineers (#62 Hot Firm for 2016), a 400-person virtual, multi-discipline firm with offices across the West Coast, Alaska, Hawaii, and Guam. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Outside members can act like guests at...

President of WestLAND Group, Inc. (Best Firm #41 Multi-discipline and Hot Firm #45 for 2017), a full-service civil engineering and land surveying firm based in Ontario, California. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “It’s important to identify...

CEO of BIG RED DOG Engineering & Consulting (Hot Firm #65 for 2017), a 105-person multi-discipline engineering firm based in Austin, Texas. By Richard Massey Managing Editor “It’s been true since day one and remains...

Keep your accounts receivable on a short leash if you want your collection period to shrink, and your bank statement to grow. How does a growth oriented company in our industry manage the balance between...

Try employing a project management accountant to support the project manager, and watch the work and the cash flow improve. In supporting many of the firms that we work with, we find varying models of...

CEO and founder of Comprehensive Environmental Inc. (Best Firm #3 Environmental for 2016), a 30-person firm headquartered in Marlborough, MA. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent A cornerstone of great project management? “Be available,” Pannetier says. A...

President and CEO of Jones|Carter (Best Firm Multidiscipline #17 and Hot Firm #18 for 2016), a 465-person engineering firm based in Houston, Texas. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “The board must conduct itself as a board...

Growth is all but assured in a healthy market, but if a firm doesn’t watch out, it can grow helter-skelter to the point of extinction. Many firms are experiencing growth during this post-recession period and...

President and CEO of ISG (Hot Firm #58 for 2016) a 200-person architecture, engineering, and environmental planning firm based in Mankato, Minnesota. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent With the recent acquisition of Green Bay-based Raasch Associates,...

Alternative collection methods at this time of year, even if it’s something radical, might come in handy if you need to ‘stock the cash coffers.’ As the last quarter of 2016 draws to a close,...

We got a fax the other day from a firm that wanted to cancel four seminar registrations it had sent in just a couple weeks before. Evidently, the firm had hit on hard times, had...

Complex redevelopment of a blighted area prompts team to be creative across the board – design, personnel, technology, and funding. While having a glass of wine with colleagues from New York, we reflected on the...

The subject never gets old and you can't talk about it enough. Collecting money. Architects and engineers are horrible at it! There are several reasons for this problem, including: ‎Poor self-image. If you don't think...

Even minor changes in contract language can create major liability and insurance issues for design firms, so be aware of what’s out there and act accordingly. Today’s contracts involving design firms and owners, project managers...

By Mark Zweig | Many folks working in firms in the A/E/P and environmental consulting industry don't understand commonly-used financial terminology. How can you blame them? If no one ever explained it to them you...

Make your firm more valuable by making yourself irrelevant and surrounding yourself with leaders. Firms that command high market premiums are ones in which the owners are, in many ways, always seeking to become less...

Training for Project Managers Zweig Group’s 2015 Project Management Survey found that a little more than half of firms provide either mandatory (23%) or voluntary (33%) training to project managers. That leaves 44% that don’t...

Several organizations have found that bringing financial management staff onto the project management team results in heaven-sent synergies. In Zweig Group’s consulting practice, we see many firms grapple with the interface between project managers and...

Allowing late payments because ‘this is the way the client has always paid us’ is a cash-flow killer. Accounts receivable is, for most of our clients, the source of all the cash that fuels the...

Some firms want to stay small; here’s some advice for them, and they’re welcome to ask for more. Small firms … small businesses … entrepreneurial businesses: Are they all the same thing? No! Some firms...

By Ed Friedrichs Chairman, ZweigWhite When I was CEO of Gensler I was often asked how I kept track of it all. At the end of my tenure, we had 2,400 people in 25 offices...

Press Release: July 26, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (July 26, 2011) – For many leaders in architecture, engineering, planning and environmental firms, a finance chief’s job goes beyond managing finances. When editors of The Zweig Letter...

By Tracey Jeffers Principal, Valuation Consulting ZweigWhite If you are involved with financial management at some level in your firm, you expect to regularly review the typical balance sheet and income statement. A smaller percentage...

By Tracey D. Jeffers Cash and accrual methods each have their pluses and minuses. Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part series. In her first article (The Zweig Letter, Feb. 21, issue 899)...

By Christine Brack, PMP A few weeks ago, I was talking to a client about his firm’s project management practices, its managers, and systems, and… eventually we began discussing the challenges and frustrations he was...

With clients not in any hurry to pay their bills and banks clamping down on firms that are non-compliant with their loan covenants, now more than ever is the time to do what it takes...

Frank Fickleheimer had to do something different. His firm, Fickleheimer Enginee-ring, did not have the operating capital it needed. Fifteen good years of solid growth and profits had left them with a lot of mouths...

After 28 years of working in and around A/E/P and environmental firms, it is clear that there are many good firms and only a few truly great firms in this business. The “truly great” firms...

I am getting really tired of principals (and, in some cases, finance and accounting people) telling me that there’s no way they can do better than a 96-day, 105-day, or 119-day average collection period (ACP)...

Orville Honstater was starting to sweat a little for the first time in a long time. His company, Honstater & Associates, had enjoyed a long run (more than 10 years) of profitability and good, if...

We have a terrible problem with accounts receivable in this business. The average A/E or environmental firm waits 80 days or so to get paid for their services whereas attorneys and accountants often get their...

Karen Smartstuff was really excited about the chance to work at TFA (Those Fantastic Architects). It was her second job out of school, and she was thrilled to land there. Especially after her first full-time...

I’m bullish on this business. As a group of firms, we are doing better than ever. Revenue is up. Profits are up. And the projects are gratifying. It’s an ethical business. There are a lot...

Whenever I see people get all upset about some trivial detail in their lives or their work, I find it distressing. Life is so much easier if you spend appropriate amounts of mental and emotional...

If you ask me, a good deal of success in work (and in life) comes from doing what you need to do every day. If you can’t get done what should have been done today,...

You start your A/E/P or environmental firm with a great business plan. Your marketing strategy pays off and you get lots of projects. Your recruitment approach works and qualified employees are lined up at your...

As periodically happens, I have a number of issues I want to share with our readers, none of which merits an entire article. Here they are: There will never be true equality of the sexes...

When you get to work with all of the different A/E/P and environmental firms that we do here at ZweigWhite & Associates, it is apparent that many firms are marching blindly ahead, doing things they...

Here’s a collection of practical advice I think anyone in the A/E/P or environmental consulting business can use in response to questions that seem come up over and over again: Where can I find someone...

As an old car guy, I’ve learned that gauges are vastly superior to “idiot lights.” Idiot lights tell you when something has gone wrong, such as “engine hot” (it is now overheated). Gauges tell you...

At our new “Managing a Growing Firm” seminar series, which kicked off last week in Boston, a hard-driving CEO from a local area firm took exception to one of our recommendations on how to improve...

It’s hard to believe, but 1997 is almost over. It seems as if the year just started and now it’s nearly gone. I hope you had a great year, because very few companies ever make...

I am not proud of my five airline frequent flyer program gold cards. All that means is that I spend too darn much time in the air, when I’d much rather be someplace else. But...

Every owner in an A/E/P or environmental firm knows you can make all the paper profits you want, but unless you turn those profits into bank deposits, you have nothing. I’ve written so much about...

Why do some firms grow, have happy employees, keep satisfied clients, and make their owners rich, while others start up, muddle along, and then either continue to muddle along or fizzle out completely? If you...

We’re in the throes of our annual business planning process here at ZWA. You know the routine— get everyone together, have an office party and a holiday dinner at a nice restaurant and spend a...

We often run into firms that need help turning things around. The scenario usually includes some combination of the following: Principals/top managers who aren’t billable. Excess debt caused by poor collection of accounts receivable. Owners...

The A/E/P and environmental consulting business is really pretty simple from a financial management standpoint. It shouldn’t be hard to track the numbers you need to run a firm, yet so many companies seem to...

Most of us in A/E/P or environmental consulting firms who are at project manager level or higher must travel occasionally. The probability that you will have to travel increases the larger your firm is, the...

Every week, I have to come up with something relevant to say to architects, engineers, and environmental consultants who own or manage A/E/P and environmental consulting firms. That’s my job. I like it— and because...

Every firm in this industry must do four things to survive— sell work, do work, bill for work, and get paid for work. That’s it. If you ask me, architects, engineers, and environmental consultants (along...

From time to time, architects and other design professionals all come under fire from the business types for not being sufficiently “business-minded.” And, the standard line of defense from those under attack is “I didn’t...

In the past six months, I’ve had the pleasure of working for three firms with very low average collection periods (ACPs). Average collection period is the average number of days it takes a firm to...

No small company— particularly an architecture, consulting engineering, or environmental consulting firm— can afford to ignore cash flow. Consider that a firm billing $5 million a year in fees can raise $137,000 in operating capital...

Reflecting back on all of the A/E and environmental consulting firms that we came in contact with during 1992, one thought comes to mind. By and large, our industry’s management expertise has significantly improved. The...

Many of our readers are already reflecting back on a year that was not so great, financially speaking. But in 1993, some firms will find this cloud really does have a silver lining. Many firms...