Launched this week, Kiwi-designed Clarc is an integrated cloud-based management platform where all the day-to-day
operational needs of an architectural firm are met under one streamlined roof. Designed to house everything you need to
manage your projects and your practice, Clarc takes the time out of business admin and enhances collaboration for
architects, architectural designers, engineers, and surveyors, freeing them up to focus on what matters – designing,
planning and creating for clients.
Clarc is the brainchild of founder and architect Owen Xing. Unable to find a tool that did the whole job, or a great job
for his own business, he decided to work with fellow architects and developers to create one himself. The objective: To
design a solution that could handle the complex workflow of the construction industry’s professional consultants and
deliver clarity – over budgets, plans, responsibilities and deadlines.
“I kept thinking that it shouldn’t be this hard. It has to be possible to work together, work simple - to cut out the
unnecessary complexity and make it easier to do business with you. That’s what Clarc achieves.”
Core to Clarc’s premise is the value of relationships and how teams can achieve so much more than individuals - whether
those be internal teams or virtual teams formed in partnership with other firms or consultancies.
“The modern workflow is a heavy burden on your work day, made more so by the need to collaborate with people in
different companies and even different geographies. By removing the obstacles to great teamwork, we can help our
customers achieve so much more”, he says.
According to Owen, the impact of the platform on his own business was instantaneous: “We went from spending up to 20
minutes generating one invoice to a few minutes, and because our client portal makes digital signatures possible,
finalising contracts takes just an hour or two, rather than up to 10 days. Budget blowouts are a thing of the past
because our teams can see in real time how much budget is left against which tasks, how realistic that is and make
adjustments as necessary. That means budgets that are kept on track, clients happy and ultimately better project
outcomes. Personally, I am saving at least an hour a day on administration tasks, time I now get to spend on what I
really want and need to be doing - creating.”
Initially developed as a bespoke solution solely for his own firm, the tool’s immediate success showed Owen how much the
broader building supply chain would benefit from such a solution, and so Clarc was born.
“Clarc is built for architects, by architects with a deep understanding of the construction industry and how our
workflow actually works.”
The integrated management platform allows a team to more easily track project progress, with projects broken down into
manageable chunks and individual tasks assigned to team members including notes and due dates. Projects act as shared
folders that always show the latest version of a drawing, allowing for better document version control.
Collaboration is key to Clarc, both internally and externally. Importantly, this includes with clients, who have a
dedicated client portal to view reports, approve designs, and sign contracts with the digital signature functionality.
Live chat allows team members to easily chat to each other, and with clients meaning prompt decisions that keep projects
moving, and clients happy.
Clarc simplifies budget tracking and its smart, automated invoicing allows users to import timesheets and repetitive
items instantaneously. It integrates with Xero and MYOB, so that invoices are updated across all invoicing platforms as
required. In addition, Clarc’s scheduling feature syncs with Google Calendar and Outlook for calendar entries and adds
any scheduled task or meeting directly to timesheets.
Learning what worked well, what didn’t, and being able to act upon those key insights and improve future business
performance is also a crucial feature. Project reports can be instantly generated including detailed breakdowns from
timesheet records, consultant utilisation and coming in January, project profitability.
With Clarc now being used by a number of architectural consultancies up and down the country, Owen is keen for others to
benefit from the clarity it creates: “We’re excited and proud to launch a tool specifically targeted to our industry.
One that we know from personal experience will deliver a great outcome for your business - and for your clients.”
To find out more about Clarc, to book a demonstration, or a free trial, visit www.clarc.co.