Accounting Services for Architecture and Engineering Firms
From accurate time tracking and overhead allocation to job costing and project profitability, we build financial clarity for creative and technical teams.
Architecture and engineering firms often operate in a hybrid world, blending creative services, technical execution, and professional reporting. But too often, their accounting systems don’t reflect how projects run, how teams bill, or how overhead flows across jobs.
At Vistance Accounting, we help A&E firms clean up their books, allocate resources correctly, and confidently understand the profitability of each project or client.
“We’re delivering great projects, but the numbers never seem to add up.”
If your team is booked solid but you can’t tell which projects are making money, it’s time to upgrade your accounting.
We help architecture and engineering firms set up time tracking that integrates with financial reporting, allocate overhead based on time or budget, and clarify whether each job is profitable. We also ensure R&D efforts, such as process innovation or technology use, are tracked and capitalized properly for SR&ED claims.
Who We Work With
We support:
Architecture firms with multiple projects and consultants
Civil, structural, electrical, and mechanical engineering firms
Environmental and planning consultants
Design-build and multidisciplinary firms
Most of our clients are between $1M and $20M in revenue and ready to professionalize their financial systems to match their operational complexity.
What You Get with Our A&E Accounting Services
Whether you're a small boutique studio or a large multidisciplinary firm, we tailor your financial systems to match your workflows. You’ll get:
- Project-based revenue and cost tracking.
- Integrated time tracking and labor allocation.
- Overhead distribution across projects or departments.
- Profitability analysis by project, phase, or team.
- Forecasting for hiring, capacity, and utilization.
- R&D tracking and SR&ED claim preparation.
- Full compliance with GST/HST and corporate tax filings.
We turn your firm’s operations into accurate, actionable financials.
Why Firms Trust Vistance
We understand the blend of time, billing, creativity, and compliance that defines successful architecture and engineering businesses.
We track time and labour properly.
We integrate time tracking into your accounting system to reflect the true cost of staff and contractors.
We allocate overhead with intention.
Whether it’s square footage, hours, or fees, we apply consistent rules for spreading overhead across projects.
We clarify project profitability.
Know exactly what you made on every project and why.
We support R&D and SR&ED.
If you’re innovating workflows or investing in internal systems, we help capitalize that R&D and support SR&ED submissions.
We handle compliance and filings.
From taxes to payroll, we keep your obligations in order while you focus on design and delivery.
Let’s Talk
If you’re ready to take control of your numbers and gain insight into your projects and performance, we’re ready to help.
Frequently Asked Questions
Have more questions? Here are some frequently asked questions architecture and engineering firm owners ask us.
Can you track billable vs non-billable time?
Yes. We integrate time tracking systems and use the data to inform overhead allocation and job costing.
Do you handle project-level reporting?
Absolutely. We build reports that show financial performance by project, client, or team.
What if we use tools like Monograph, FreshBooks, or Harvest?
We can integrate or work alongside your existing tools to clean up your books and generate better insights.
Do you offer R&D and SR&ED support?
Yes. We help you identify and capitalize eligible R&D efforts and support the SR&ED process from documentation to claim.
Do you handle tax compliance?
Yes. We manage GST/HST, payroll, and corporate tax filings for firms across Canada.
