Software for architects and interior designers in Surat: ERP, CRM and AI automation, with a turnkey firm case study
Yukti AI, a software company in Varachha, Surat, builds ERP, CRM and AI automation software for architects, interior designers and turnkey design-and-build firms in Surat, across Gujarat and India. A multi-module system starts from ₹30,000, with the final quote after a free 30-minute workflow audit. This page also shows the proof: a case study of a custom system built for an architecture and interior design firm in India that runs turnkey projects. Enquiries, BOQ quotations, drawing approvals with a recorded sign-off, a phase-wise Gantt, site visits, site progress, trade vendors, purchase orders and milestone billing run in one system. It is live, in use, and was built in about 7 days.
The client is an architecture and interior design practice that takes projects turnkey: it designs the space, then delivers it on site through electrical, plumbing, civil, HVAC, carpentry, tiling and glazing vendors. Yukti AI built it a 16-module ERP and CRM on React and a 26-table PostgreSQL database: a lead pipeline, client records with family details, BOQ quotations with a GST PDF, drawing approvals with Approve, Reject and Request Revision, a Design-to-Handover Gantt, site progress and issue logs, vendors by trade with purchase orders and a material log, milestone payments with a profitability chart, client-visible documents, a calendar, team utilisation and a communication inbox.
Software for architects and interior designers in Surat — enquire
Yukti AI builds custom ERP, CRM and AI automation software for architecture studios, interior design firms and turnkey design-and-build practices. Start with a free 30-minute workflow audit; the case study below shows a working system.
- Enquiries, BOQ quotations with GST and drawing approvals with a recorded sign-off in one project record
- Site progress, trade vendors, purchase orders and milestone payments for turnkey work
- WhatsApp and AI automation for client updates and payment reminders, added when you are ready
- A full multi-module ERP/CRM starts from ₹30,000, with the final quote after the free 30-minute workflow audit
- One-time build including data setup, training and 12 months of support
Office: 220, Leonard Square, Yogichowk, Varachha, Surat - 395006, Gujarat, India · WhatsApp: +91 95862 55455
Quick facts
| Client | An architecture and interior design firm that runs turnkey design-and-build projects (anonymised) |
|---|---|
| Location | India |
| Industry | Architecture & interior design — turnkey, multi-trade project delivery |
| Trades per project | Architecture, Interior Design, Electrical, Plumbing, Civil, HVAC, Structural, Carpentry |
| Core challenge | Enquiries, drawings, quotations, site work, trade vendors, milestone payments and client updates all have to be tracked per project, across many trades at once |
| Solution | Custom architecture firm ERP + CRM — one system for the whole turnkey practice |
| Modules (16) | Owner Dashboard, Leads & Enquiries, Clients, Quotation & BOQ, Project Timeline, Tasks & Site Visits, Site Progress, Client Approvals, Vendors & Materials, Payments, Documents, Calendar, Team, Communication Center, Client Portal, Vendor Portal |
| Project phases | Design → Client Approval → Execution → Finishing → Handover |
| Status | Live and in use. Client and vendor portal views are part of the system and being rolled out. |
| Build time | About 7 days |
| Stack | React 19, Vite, Tailwind CSS 4, Recharts, Supabase (PostgreSQL, 26 tables), hosted on Vercel |
| Built by | Yukti AI, Surat, Gujarat |
What is software for architects? A system that runs the business side of an architecture practice — enquiries, clients, projects, drawings and approvals, quotations, site work, vendors and payments — in one place. For a turnkey firm it must also cover multi-trade site execution, which is what separates an architecture firm ERP from a simple project tracker.
Is it live? Yes. It is live and in use, and was built in about 7 days. Client and vendor portal views are being rolled out, and an AI layer and automatic WhatsApp messaging can be added on the same data.
Why is a turnkey practice hard to run on generic software?
A turnkey architecture and interior design firm is a design studio, a multi-trade site contractor and a collections desk at once. A generic CRM sees only the sales pipeline, a task app sees only tasks, and accounting software sees only invoices. None of them links a drawing sign-off to a site, a purchase order and a milestone payment, which is exactly what a turnkey project needs.
- Many trades, one site. Electrical, plumbing, civil, HVAC, structural and carpentry work runs alongside tiling and glazing, each with its own vendor, orders and deliveries.
- Drawings need a recorded decision. A layout is not final until the client approves it, and an approval given on a phone call cannot be shown to anyone later.
- Households decide. On residential work a spouse, son or parent often has a say alongside the person paying.
- Money moves by milestone. Booking advance, design approval, execution and handover payments each need tracking, and the overdue ones need chasing.
For turnkey work, the lead, the BOQ quotation, the drawing approvals, the trade POs, the site log and the milestone payments should be one linked project record, not six files and three chat groups that have to agree.
What problems was this software for architects built to solve?
It was built to move six jobs a turnkey practice usually handles by hand into one system: capturing enquiries from four channels, getting drawings signed off, keeping quotation versions straight, coordinating trade vendors and material per site, collecting milestone payments and keeping clients informed. The left column describes that manual work in general terms, not in the client's own words; the right column is what the system does now.
Without one system
- Enquiries from four channels with no shared pipeline, owner or follow-up date
- Drawing approvals agreed in chat or on a call, with no recorded sign-off
- Quotation revisions saved as separate files, with no shared version or status
- Vendors, POs and material movement tracked separately for each site
- Milestone dues followed up from memory; profit per project unclear
- Clients calling the office for progress and payment updates
With the system
- Every enquiry on a five-stage Kanban with source, assignee, budget range and last follow-up
- Each drawing Approved, Rejected or Revision Requested, with the sign-off name and time on record
- BOQ quotations with versions, a status and a print-ready GST PDF
- Vendors by trade, POs with a status, and a material in/out log per project
- Milestones marked Pending, Paid or Overdue, and budget vs actual vs revenue per project
- Progress, site photos, milestones and client-visible documents ready for the client view
Why a custom build instead of off-the-shelf architecture practice management software?
Many packaged architecture practice management tools are built around the design office: time, fees and documents. A turnkey firm also runs sites, trade vendors, purchase orders and material. General task tools such as ClickUp, Notion or Asana are built for task lists; a BOQ line with a unit and a rate, a drawing with a recorded sign-off and a milestone that turns Overdue would all have to be set up by hand on top of them and kept linked to the same project. A custom build let the data model match how the firm actually delivers work, which is the principle behind every AI-powered business management system Yukti AI builds: software shaped around the client's real workflow.
Want a system like this for your business?Tell us how your business runs today and we’ll show you what one system would replace. Free workflow audit, reply the same day.
Get a free workflow auditHow is the architecture firm ERP put together?
Every module reads and writes one PostgreSQL database through a shared data layer. The project record sits in the middle: sales work leads into it, and drawings, site work, vendors and payments hang off it, so a figure entered in one screen is the figure every other screen shows.
CRM for architecture firms: leads, clients and BOQ quotations
The sales side is a custom CRM shaped around how architecture and interior design clients buy: an enquiry from a known source, a site visit, a quotation that goes through versions, and a decision that is often made by a family rather than one person. Three modules cover it.
Leads & Enquiries
The Add Lead form captures name, phone, source (Website, WhatsApp, Instagram or Referral), status, assignee, budget range and requirement. Leads show as a table with the last follow-up and a click-to-call number, or as a five-column Kanban: New, Contacted, Site Visit Scheduled, Converted and Lost. Filters by source and status show, for example, how many Instagram or referral enquiries have reached the site-visit stage.
Clients and the client record
Client cards show Individual or Business, city, tags such as Villa, Premium, Corporate or Repeat Client, a satisfaction rating, lifetime value and outstanding (pending plus overdue milestones). The client page adds one-tap call, WhatsApp and email, a Family Details card listing each household member's relation, and tabs for Projects, Payment History and Client Visible documents. Why it matters: on a residential job, the household members who have a say in the design are on record with their relation to the client.
Quotation & BOQ
A register lists every quotation with its project, client, amount, version (v1, v2 …), status (Draft, Sent, Approved or Revised) and date. The builder loads BOQ lines — material or item, unit in Nos, Sqft, Kg or Rmt, quantity and rate — with inline editing, a live subtotal, an optional 18% GST checkbox and a grand total. Generate PDF opens a print-ready quotation that the team saves as a PDF. Why it matters: as BOQ quotation software, it shows every quotation with its version number and status, so the team can tell which version was Sent, which was Revised and which the client Approved.
How does the drawing approval workflow work?
Every drawing sent to a client sits in one approvals list with a thumbnail and a status: Pending, Approved, Rejected or Revision Requested. Client and designer comments stay on the drawing itself. When a drawing is approved, the system records the name of the person who signed off and the exact time, and shows that sign-off on the drawing.
The drawing view has three actions: Approve, Reject and Request Revision. Approving stores the sign-off name and a timestamp and shows a “signed off by … on …” badge, so when a question comes up on site months later, the answer is on the drawing rather than in someone's phone. Every comment is stored with its author and time, which turns a scattered revision conversation into one history per drawing.
The sign-off is an approval record inside the firm's own system: who approved which drawing, and when. It is not a legal e-signature. A signature pad and version uploads per revision were explored in the scoping model; Aadhaar eSign and a numbered drawing register with GFC (good for construction) status can also be added.
Architect project management: phases, tasks and site visits
Every project runs through five phases — Design, Client Approval, Execution, Finishing and Handover — on its own Gantt chart. Tasks sit under each project with an assignee, due date and status, and site visits are scheduled as calendar events, so the whole studio works from the same plan.
Project Timeline (phase Gantt)
Each phase stores a start offset and a duration in days, a done, active or upcoming status, and its own colour. The project header shows the client, start and end dates, a status badge and an overall progress bar, and a task list shows each task's assignee, due date and status. Because all five phases sit on one timeline, the studio and the site team can see which phase each project is in and what comes next.
Tasks & site visit planning
An All Tasks table lists task, project, assignee, due date and status (Pending, In Progress or Completed), with totals for pending, completed and scheduled site visits. Schedule Visit takes a title, project, date, time and duration and saves it as a site-visit event, so the same visit appears on the calendar without being entered twice.
Calendar
A month grid colour-codes five event types — meetings, site visits, deadlines, tasks and calls. Clicking a day shows its schedule, an upcoming list sits alongside, and a New Event form adds an event, optionally tied to a project. A client meeting, a site visit and a drawing deadline for the same project sit on one calendar.
How does site progress tracking work on a turnkey project?
Each project gets an overall progress percentage, a site photo gallery in which every photo carries a location label and a date, and an issue log. When something goes wrong on site, it is reported against the project along with who reported it, and the issue moves from Open to In Review to Resolved.
Choosing a project shows its progress slider (0–100%) and its gallery, labelled by location such as a ground-floor living room, which matters on an interior project where several rooms move at different speeds. The Issue Log lists issue, project, reporter, date and status across all projects. Daily site logs with weather, geotagged entries and a before-and-after view were part of the scoping model and can be added.
Turnkey project management: trade vendors, POs and material
A turnkey firm is only as reliable as its vendors. The Vendors & Materials module keeps a directory of vendors by trade, purchase orders with their status, and a material in/out log per project in one place, so the office knows what was ordered for each site, from whom, and what actually arrived or left.
- Vendor directory. Each vendor carries a trade chip — Electrical, Plumbing, Civil, Carpentry, Tiles, Structural, HVAC or Glazing — and a click-to-call contact.
- Purchase orders. PO number, vendor, items, project, amount, date and status, moving from Pending Approval to Approved, In Transit and Delivered.
- Material in/out log. Date, Inward or Outward, material, quantity with its unit (square feet, rolls, bags, running feet, tons or panels), project and vendor.
A vendor quote comparison on price and lead time, stock with reorder levels and a site-expense ledger with petty cash were part of the scoping model and can be added.
How are milestone payments and project profitability tracked?
Clients are billed by milestone. Each project has a payment schedule — for example a booking advance, design approval, execution phases and handover — with every milestone marked Pending, Paid or Overdue. Reminders are logged, outstanding amounts roll up to each client, and a profitability chart compares budget, actual spend and revenue for every project.
Payment tracking
The Milestone Payment Schedule lists project, milestone, due date, amount and status. The Payment Reminder Log records each reminder's client, milestone, amount, channel (Email, WhatsApp or both) and date. The Project Profitability bar chart sets budget, actual spend and revenue side by side for each project.
Owner Dashboard
Four KPI cards — Total Active Projects, Total Revenue, Pending Payments and Delayed Projects — sit above a monthly revenue-versus-expenses chart and a project status donut (On Track, Delayed, Completed). An Active Projects Snapshot shows a progress bar per project, and a Recent Activity feed covers photos, approvals, payments, leads, drawings, POs, issues and tasks. Rupee amounts are shown in lakh and crore with Indian number grouping.
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Get a free workflow auditInterior designer software for documents, conversations and the team
Three supporting modules keep the practice's paperwork, conversations and people in the same system as its projects. These are the parts of interior designer software that usually live outside the project tool, in shared drives, phones and staff spreadsheets.
Document & drawing management
Files sit in folders — Drawings, Contracts, Approvals and Vendor Docs — each with a file count. Every file shows its access level (Client Visible with an eye icon, Internal Only with a lock icon), size and last-updated date, and that one flag decides what reaches the client's record and the client view.
Communication Center
One inbox with filters for WhatsApp, Email, Calls and Internal, and totals for conversations, unread, open and resolved. Each conversation is tied to a context such as a project or a purchase-order delivery, shows an unread badge until opened, and keeps a thread with a reply box; threads are marked Open or Resolved. Today the inbox is the firm's record of these conversations; two-way sync with the WhatsApp Business API and email can be added.
Team
Team cards show each person's role, department, Active or On Leave status, a utilisation bar and active project count, filtered by Design, Site, Accounts, Sales and Admin, with totals for headcount, average utilisation and people on leave. Staff are linked to the projects they work on.
What each person works in, including clients and vendors
Inside the firm, the modules map to its five departments. Client and vendor portal views are part of the system and being rolled out; they read the same data as the office screens, so nothing is re-entered for them.
Principal & accounts
The Owner Dashboard, project profitability, the milestone schedule, the reminder log and outstanding amounts by client.
Sales
Leads on the Kanban, follow-ups, site-visit scheduling, and building and revising BOQ quotations.
Design team
Drawings for approval and their comment threads, document folders, and the Design and Client Approval phases on each Gantt.
Site team
Tasks and site visits, site progress and photos by location, the issue log, POs and the material in/out log.
Client view
Progress percentage and current stage, milestones by phase (Completed, In Progress, Upcoming), payment history, Client Visible documents and a Message Team action.
Vendor view
Their own purchase orders, active orders, orders needing a response, total business and rating, with Submit Delivery and Submit Invoice actions.
How does one turnkey project flow through the system?
From the first enquiry to handover, each step below is recorded in the same system. The quotation, drawings, POs, site log and milestones all sit against the same project and client, so nobody has to piece the story together from separate files.
Every status the system tracks
Statuses are what turn a list into a to-do. These are the status sets built into this architecture firm ERP; the core ones for leads, quotations, drawings, purchase orders, payments and site issues are enforced as database constraints, so every screen uses the same values. Badges use one colour code everywhere: green for on track, approved and paid; amber for pending, in review and revision requested; red for delayed, overdue, rejected and lost.
| Record | Module | Statuses |
|---|---|---|
| Lead | Leads & Enquiries | New, Contacted, Site Visit Scheduled, Converted, Lost |
| Quotation | Quotation & BOQ | Draft, Sent, Approved, Revised |
| Drawing | Client Approvals | Pending, Approved, Rejected, Revision Requested |
| Project phase (Design, Client Approval, Execution, Finishing, Handover) | Project Timeline | Done, Active, Upcoming |
| Task | Tasks & Site Visits | Pending, In Progress, Completed |
| Purchase order | Vendors & Materials | Pending Approval, Approved, In Transit, Delivered |
| Site issue | Site Progress | Open, In Review, Resolved |
| Payment milestone | Payments | Pending, Paid, Overdue |
| Project | Owner Dashboard | On Track, Delayed, Completed |
| Document | Documents | Client Visible, Internal Only |
| Conversation | Communication Center | Open, Resolved |
| Team member | Team | Active, On Leave |
How was it built in about 7 days?
Speed came from building the interface first and the database second. The firm could review every screen with example content before a single table existed, and the database was then designed to match the screens the firm had already reviewed.
Scope the whole practice
A wider 25-module scoping model mapped what a turnkey practice could run in software, from cost estimation with an architect's markup to attendance and payroll.
Focus on 16 modules
The production build was narrowed to a focused set of 16 modules, laid out as a clickable interface for review.
Design the database
A 26-table PostgreSQL schema with 19 indexes, mirroring the interface's data, with the main status sets enforced as database constraints.
Wire every screen to live data
Each screen was switched to live queries through one shared data layer, so every module reads and writes the same records.
Indian formats & mobile layout
Amounts in lakh and crore, Indian dates, and a layout that collapses to a slide-in menu and single-column cards on a phone.
Go live, then roll out portals
Deployed as a web app and refined after go-live, with the client and vendor portal views being rolled out next.
Technology and integrations
The system is a React single-page web app on a managed PostgreSQL database. It runs in any modern browser on a computer or phone, with nothing to install, and every action — adding a lead, reporting a site issue, approving or commenting on a drawing, replying in the inbox, scheduling a site visit — reads and writes live data.
Integrations: the first version keeps external integrations light. Quotation PDFs use the browser's print-to-PDF, with no PDF library to maintain, and tel: and mailto: links give click-to-call and email from lead, client and vendor records. WhatsApp and email appear as channels in the inbox and reminder log, where conversations and reminders are recorded. The WhatsApp Business API, an email service, a payment gateway and Tally can be connected when needed, and an AI layer of the kind described on AI ERP can be added on the same data.
Full technical stack
- React 19 with Vite — a fast single-page web app.
- Tailwind CSS 4 — responsive layout; the sidebar becomes a slide-in drawer on phones and KPI grids collapse from four columns to one.
- React Router 7 — 18 routes, including a detail page per client.
- Recharts 3 — revenue-versus-expenses, project status and profitability charts.
- Supabase (PostgreSQL) — 26 tables and 19 indexes, with status values enforced by constraints.
- Vercel — hosting for the web app.
Terms used in this case study
- Turnkey (design-and-build)
- The firm handles both design and site execution across trades for one client, and hands over a finished space.
- BOQ (bill of quantities)
- A line-by-line list of materials and items, each with a unit, quantity and rate, from which a quotation is built.
- Rmt, Sqft, Nos
- Running metre, square feet and numbers — common BOQ units in Indian interior and civil work.
- Drawing sign-off
- The recorded approval of a drawing: who approved it and when.
- Milestone billing
- Billing the client in stages tied to progress, such as a booking advance, design approval, execution phases and handover.
- Material inward / outward
- Movements of material into and out of a site, logged with quantity and unit against the project and vendor.
Want a system like this for your business?Tell us how your business runs today and we’ll show you what one system would replace. Free workflow audit, reply the same day.
Get a free workflow auditWhat can be added on the same data
None of the items below are part of the current build. They are natural next phases for a turnkey practice, and most would build on records the system already holds: projects, phases, drawings, vendors and milestones.
AI layer
Progress updates drafted for each client from the phase plan and site updates, flags for drawings waiting too long and milestones turning overdue, and meeting summaries with action items.
WhatsApp messaging
Automatic milestone reminders, site-visit confirmations and progress updates over the WhatsApp Business API, with replies landing in the inbox.
Invoices & accounts
GST invoices generated from milestones, a site-expense ledger with petty cash, and invoice data pushed to Tally.
Drawing control
A numbered drawing register with revisions and GFC status, drawing types, RFIs, transmittals and consultant coordination.
Cost estimation
Material cost plus contractor labour, an architect's markup and GST, worked out to a target client price before the BOQ quotation goes out.
People & site admin
Attendance, payroll and daily site logs, explored in the scoping model and ready to be scoped as a later phase.
Is this architecture firm management software right for your practice?
It fits any architecture or interior design practice where one project involves design, client decisions, site work and staged payments, and it fits turnkey design-and-build firms best, because it was built for one. A five-person studio can start with leads, quotations, drawings and payments and add the site and vendor modules later; a larger firm can take the full set from day one.
- Architecture firms that also execute interiors and fit-outs on site
- Interior design studios coordinating electrical, plumbing, carpentry, tiling and glazing vendors
- Design-and-build firms that bill by milestone and need to see overdue payments at a glance
- Contractors and developers that deliver projects in phases — see AI automation for construction firms and AI automation for real estate developers
Built in Surat, for firms across India
Yukti AI is a software company based at 220, Leonard Square, Yogichowk, Varachha, Surat, Gujarat, building custom business management systems for firms across Surat and India. Its other project-based builds include a business management system for Maven Lift, a Surat elevator maker, covering site survey to quotation, project tracking and milestone payments, and a fabrication ERP for ZUNOWA, an aluminium and glass fabricator, with project stage tracking and karigar management.
How much does software for an architecture firm cost, and how long does it take?
This system was built in about 7 days. Yukti AI does not sell it as a subscription package: each firm gets a fixed quote for a one-time custom ERP build after a free workflow audit. The audit maps how enquiries, drawings, quotations, sites, vendors and payments work in your practice today, and the quote covers only the modules you need.
| What moves the quote | Why |
|---|---|
| Number of modules | A CRM-plus-quotations start is smaller than the full 16-module practice system |
| Client and vendor portals | Outside users need their own views of progress, payments and POs |
| Integrations | The WhatsApp Business API, email, a payment gateway or Tally each add work |
| Data migration | How many existing clients, projects and vendors have to be moved in from Excel or other tools |
For what drives the price of custom software in India, read Custom ERP software cost in India. If your practice runs on spreadsheets today, replacing Excel and Tally with one system explains how the move is made.
Software for architects and interior designers in Surat and Gujarat
Short answer: Yukti AI, based in Varachha, Surat, builds custom ERP, CRM and AI automation software for architecture and interior design firms. A multi-module system starts from ₹30,000, with the final quote after a free 30-minute workflow audit. The case study on this page shows the kind of system we build for a turnkey firm.
If you run a design studio, an interior design firm or a turnkey design-and-build practice in Surat, you probably recognise the pattern. Enquiries arrive on WhatsApp, Instagram, the website and through referrals. Quotations live in Excel files with names like “final_v3_revised”. Drawing approvals happen on a call. Site updates arrive as photos in a group chat. Vendor orders are written in a notebook, and the milestone payment that was due last week is remembered only when the owner happens to look at the bank statement.
None of that is a software failure. It is what happens when a business that is creative and site-heavy at the same time grows past the point where one person can hold everything in their head. The fix is not a bigger spreadsheet. It is one linked project record, so that the lead, the quotation, the drawings, the site log, the vendor orders and the payments all hang off the same project and agree with each other.
That is the kind of system the architecture and interior design firm in this case study runs on, and it is what we build for firms in Surat, across Gujarat and elsewhere in India. We are a software company, not a reseller. We start with a free workflow audit, map how your studio really works, and then build only the modules you need. You can read how we approach this in general on our pages for custom ERP software in Surat and custom CRM software.
Who this page is for
- Architecture studios that bill by stage or by fee and need projects, drawings, approvals and collections in one place.
- Interior design firms that quote from a bill of quantities and need to keep quotations, orders and site progress on one project.
- Turnkey design-and-build practices that design the space and then deliver it through electrical, plumbing, civil, carpentry, tiling and glazing vendors.
- Interior fabrication and modular furniture firms that sit between the designer and the site and need job-wise costing and stage tracking.
- Studio owners who want one dashboard for revenue, pending payments and delayed projects across their projects.
Why start from Surat, then Gujarat, then India
Surat is a city of owner-run businesses, so a studio here often works directly with business-owner clients and is itself led by one or two principals with a small team, many site visits and WhatsApp as the main working channel. Software that assumes a large corporate firm with a separate admin department does not fit. We build for the owner-led studio first, and the same approach can be extended for firms in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot or anywhere else in India.
You can see the rest of our work for other trades on the case studies page and the industries we build for.
ERP vs CRM vs project management vs AI automation for a design firm
Short answer: A CRM handles enquiries and clients, project management handles tasks and schedules, and an ERP links money, vendors, materials and approvals to each project. AI automation sits on top of those records and drafts, reminds and flags. A turnkey firm usually needs all four, but in the order shown below.
Buyers often search for four different things when they really want one outcome: a firm that runs without chasing. Here is how the four terms differ in an architecture or interior design practice, and how to choose where to start.
| Tool type | What it answers | Typical gap for a design firm |
|---|---|---|
| CRM | Who enquired, from where, what budget, who follows up, did the site visit happen? | Stops at the sale. Does not know about drawings, vendors or payments. |
| Project management | Which task is due, who is late, what phase is the project in? | Tasks have no rupee value, no BOQ line and no purchase order attached. |
| ERP | What did we quote, buy, deliver and bill, and what is still pending? | A generic ERP may not have design approvals or site photos built in, so they can end up as workarounds. |
| AI automation | What needs attention today, and can the routine message be drafted or sent? | Needs clean linked data underneath, otherwise it automates the mess. |
The order matters. If your biggest leak is lost enquiries, start with the CRM and a quotation builder. If your biggest leak is site coordination, start with projects, vendors and purchase orders. If the owner cannot see money across projects, start with milestone payments and the dashboard. AI automation comes after one of these is in place, because it needs records to read. Our guide on ERP vs CRM: what a growing business needs first goes deeper on the decision, and how AI changes a CRM explains the automation layer.
We do not sell the four as separate products. We build one system and switch modules on in the order that hurts most. That is the idea behind our AI-powered business management system.
Which modules does architecture and interior design firm software need?
Short answer: At minimum: leads, proposals and quotations with a BOQ, projects with phases and milestones, site progress, vendors and contractors with purchase orders, billing with GST, team tasks and a document store. The table below shows what each module does and who in the firm uses it, so you can mark which ones you need first.
| Module | What it should do | Who uses it | In the system on this page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leads and enquiries | Capture source, budget, requirement and assignee; schedule a site visit; mark converted or lost | Principal, sales | Yes: five-stage pipeline |
| Proposals and quotations | Build a quote from BOQ lines, keep versions, apply GST, produce a PDF | Designer, sales | Yes: BOQ builder with versions and PDF |
| BOQ and rate library | Reuse material and item rates instead of retyping them | Estimator, designer | Line items yes; a saved rate library can be added |
| Projects and milestones | Phases from design to handover, tasks, due dates, delay flags | Project manager | Yes: Design to Handover Gantt |
| Drawing approvals | Send a drawing, collect comments, record approve, reject or revise with name and time | Designer, client | Yes |
| Site progress | Dated photos by location, progress percentage, issue log | Site engineer, supervisor | Yes |
| Vendors and contractors | Directory by trade, purchase orders, delivery status, material inward and outward | Site team, purchase | Yes |
| Billing and GST | Milestone schedule, pending and overdue flags, reminder log, outstanding by client | Accounts, principal | Milestones and reminders yes; GST invoicing can be added |
| Team tasks and calendar | Assign work, schedule visits, see who is free | Everyone | Yes |
| Documents | Folders for drawings, contracts and approvals; client-visible or internal-only | Designer, client | Yes |
| Client and vendor portal | A separate login view of progress, payments and orders | Client, vendor | Portal views included; rollout in progress |
| Reports and dashboard | Revenue, pending payments, delayed projects, profitability per project | Owner | Yes |
Notice that the table has twelve rows but you may only need five of them on day one. A focused build of a few modules is quicker and cheaper than a full practice system, and you can add the rest later on the same database. If your list is mostly leads and quotations, read about custom CRM software. If it also includes vendors, stock and billing, the custom ERP software page is the better fit.
How to use this checklist
- Mark each row as daily pain, sometimes or not needed.
- Count the daily pains. Three or four is a focused build; eight or more is a full practice system.
- Bring the marked list to the free workflow audit so the quote reflects your real scope.
How does a turnkey interior and fabrication workflow run in software?
Short answer: It runs as one chain: enquiry, site visit, BOQ quotation, drawing approval, purchase orders to trade vendors, fabrication and site execution, milestone billing and handover. Each step writes to the same project record, so nobody re-enters data and the owner sees status, cost and dues at any moment.
Many interior firms in Surat do not stop at drawings. They also get furniture, partitions, glass work, panelling and fittings made and fixed on site. That puts a fabrication step between the purchase order and the site, and it is the step where most jobs lose track of cost.
- Enquiry and site visit. The lead is logged with source and budget. A site visit is scheduled and shows on the team calendar.
- Measurements and BOQ. Items, units and rates go into the quotation builder. Versions are kept so the client can compare v1 and v2.
- Drawing sign-off. Layouts and elevations are sent, discussed in a comment thread and approved with a recorded name and time.
- Procurement and fabrication. Orders go to vendors by trade. For made-to-measure items, a fabrication stage can be added to the same chain.
- Site execution. The site team updates progress, uploads dated photos and logs issues until each is resolved.
- Milestone billing. Booking advance, design approval, execution and handover payments are tracked as pending, paid or overdue.
- Handover. Final documents go into the client-visible folder, and budget, actual spend and revenue can be compared for the project.
The architecture firm system on this page covers enquiry, site visit, BOQ quotation, drawing sign-off, vendor purchase orders, site progress and milestone billing for a design-and-build practice; the fabrication step and measurement capture are not in it. For firms whose workshop is part of the business, we have also built a stage-tracking system for an aluminium and glass fabricator, described in the fabrication ERP and CRM case study, and the general approach is on our fabrication ERP software page. These are different businesses, and we label them that way: the fabrication system is a separate client build, and it shows how a workshop step can be added to the same pattern, not a module of this architecture system.
For another example of a project-based business that runs from site survey to quotation to tracking, see the business management system built for Maven Lift, a Surat elevator maker.
BOQ and quotation software for architects and interior designers
Short answer: A BOQ quotation tool lets you build a quote from line items with a unit, quantity and rate, keep every version, add GST and print a PDF. The saving is not just speed. It is that the approved quote becomes the baseline for purchase orders and the profit check at the end.
The most common spreadsheet failure in a design firm is the quotation. Someone copies last project’s file, changes half the rates, forgets a row and sends it. Three weeks later nobody knows which version the client approved. A proper quotation module fixes four things.
- Structured lines. Material or item, unit such as Nos, Sqft, Kg or Rmt, quantity and rate, with a live subtotal.
- Versions and status. v1, v2 and v3 with Draft, Sent, Approved or Revised, so the approved number is never in doubt.
- Optional GST. An 18% GST switch and a grand total, with a print-ready PDF that carries the firm name, project, client and date.
- A reference for what happens next. The approved quote stays on the project, so the team can check purchase orders against it by hand; an automatic quote-versus-order comparison can be added.
Two upgrades fit naturally on top and are not in the current build: a saved rate library so common items are priced once, and a cost estimation step that works out material cost, labour, markup and GST to a target client price before the BOQ goes out. Both can be added as extra modules and are quoted after the audit.
If you quote with Excel today and want to keep Excel as the front end during the move, replacing Excel and Tally with one system explains how the transition is staged without losing history.
WhatsApp automation for client updates, site visits and payment reminders
Short answer: WhatsApp automation sends routine project messages from your system: visit confirmations, drawing-ready alerts, milestone reminders and progress updates. It uses the WhatsApp Business API, so messages go from an approved number with templates. This is a planned add-on for the architecture system, not something in the current build.
For a Surat design firm, WhatsApp is not a nice-to-have channel. It is where clients reply fastest, where vendors confirm deliveries, and where site engineers send photos. The trouble is that all of it is manual and personal. The principal types the same “your payment is due” message ten times a month, and the staff member who knew the history leaves.
What can be automated
- Enquiry replies. An instant acknowledgement to a new enquiry that asks for the plot or flat type, area and budget range, then drops the answers into the lead record.
- Site visit confirmations. A reminder the evening before, with the address and the designer’s name.
- Drawing alerts. A message that a drawing is ready for review, with the status updating when the client responds.
- Milestone reminders. A polite reminder when a payment is due or overdue, logged against the milestone.
- Progress updates. A short note after each phase moves, drawn from the project record.
- Vendor confirmations. Purchase order sent, delivery date confirmed, delivery received.
What to know before you plan it
WhatsApp Business API messages sent outside the 24-hour reply window use pre-approved templates, and Meta charges per template message, so the running cost depends on volume. We explain the cost structure on the page about WhatsApp Business API pricing in India, and the general idea in the WhatsApp automation guide. For the service itself, see WhatsApp automation.
If you want an AI assistant to hold the first conversation, our WhatsApp AI chatbot in Surat page explains the approach. We built a WhatsApp AI sales agent, described in the Arjun case study, which answers inbound messages on one number for two businesses. That is Yukti AI’s own build for its sister business, and it is evidence of the capability, not a feature already switched on in this architecture build. In the architecture system today, conversations are recorded in a single inbox with WhatsApp, Email, Calls and Internal filters; automatic two-way sync is the part that can be added.
AI use cases for architects and interior designers: built vs can be built
Short answer: AI helps a design firm most by reading its own project data: drafting client updates, flagging late drawings and overdue payments, summarising meetings and answering owner questions. In the architecture system on this page the AI layer is not switched on yet. Related AI features exist in other client systems we built, and the rest can be built.
AI in a design firm is easy to oversell, so here is a plain table. “Built in a client system” means we have delivered that capability for a different client in a different industry; one example is our own sister business, and we say so. “Can be built” means it is feasible on the data this system already holds, but it has not been built for this firm yet.
| AI use case | Status | What it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Quotation drafting from a short brief | Built in a client system (an AI quotation engine for a box maker). Can be built for BOQ quotes. | A rate library and past quotations to learn the firm’s items and pricing |
| WhatsApp reply to a new enquiry | Built in Yukti AI’s own sister business (a WhatsApp AI sales agent). Can be built for a design firm. | WhatsApp Business API, your services and FAQs |
| Outbound payment reminder calls | Built in a client system (voice AI reminders in Hindi). Can be built for milestone dues. | Milestone data, a calling number, consent and call scripts |
| Client progress note from site updates | Can be built | Phase plan, progress percentage and site photo captions |
| Flag drawings waiting too long for approval | Can be built | Approval status and sent dates, which the system already stores |
| Flag milestones turning overdue | Can be built | Milestone dates and statuses, already stored |
| Meeting summary with action items | Can be built | Call recordings or typed notes, plus the task module |
| Owner Q&A: “which projects are delayed this month?” | Can be built | The project, task and payment tables |
| Reading a vendor bill or delivery challan from a photo | Can be built | Photo upload and a review step, because OCR needs a human check |
| Automatic measurement from a drawing or a floor plan | Not recommended without a design-tool integration | CAD or BIM file access, which this build does not have |
Where AI should not decide
AI should draft, flag and summarise. It should not approve a drawing, change a rate, or send a payment demand without a person checking. In our builds the AI proposes and the team confirms. That keeps your design judgement and your client relationships in human hands.
Our pages on AI ERP, AI CRM and AI automation in Surat explain the general approach. The delivered examples are the Box Factory AI CRM and ERP, the voice AI payment reminder system and the page on voice AI payment reminder calls. For planning an AI project from scratch, see AI consulting and AI agents.
Site progress, vendor and contractor management for a design-and-build firm
Short answer: Keep vendors by trade, raise every order as a purchase order with a status, log material in and out per project, and record site progress with dated photos and an issue log. That gives you one place to see what was ordered, what arrived, what is stuck and what the site actually looks like.
On a turnkey job the designer is also the main contractor in the client’s eyes. When the electrician is late or the tiles arrive in the wrong shade, the client calls the studio, not the vendor. The studio therefore needs the same visibility a site contractor would have.
Vendor directory by trade
Trades commonly include electrical, plumbing, civil, carpentry, tiles, structural, HVAC and glazing. Each vendor record holds contact details and trade. Calling a vendor is one click from the record.
Purchase orders with a visible status
A purchase order moves through Pending Approval, Approved, In Transit and Delivered. The site team sees what is on the way. Because the order sits on a project, the office can check it against the approved quotation; an automatic comparison can be added.
Material in and out
Material inward and outward entries are logged with quantity and unit per project. When the carpenter asks for more plywood, you can see what was bought, what was issued and what is left, instead of guessing.
Site progress and issues
The site engineer picks the project, adds dated photos labelled by location, updates the overall progress percentage and, when something goes wrong, reports an issue. The issue moves from Open to In Review to Resolved, and the log shows who reported it. Because the system opens in a phone browser with nothing to install, the update can be done from the site itself.
The same linked-record pattern is used in other systems we have built, such as a hardware wholesale and retail ERP in Gujarat for stock, challans and ledgers, and a cable and broadband operator ERP and CRM in Surat with a phone-first field app for technicians. If your firm is closer to a builder than a design studio, our workflow automation page covers lighter automation options.
Implementation, data migration and cost factors for architecture firm software
Short answer: A multi-module ERP and CRM from Yukti AI starts from ₹30,000, with the final quote after a free 30-minute workflow audit. Focused builds take about 7 to 10 days; multi-module systems take a few weeks. The price is a one-time build including data setup, training and 12 months of support.
Most buyers want three numbers: how much, how long and what is included. We prefer to give a range up front and a fixed number after we understand your studio, because two firms with the same headcount can have very different needs.
What is included
- The build of the agreed modules, shaped around your own project phases, statuses and documents.
- Setup of your existing data: clients, projects, vendors and open quotations.
- Training for the principal, designers, site team and accounts.
- 12 months of support after launch. After that, a small annual maintenance fee applies.
What moves the quote
| Factor | Smaller scope | Larger scope |
|---|---|---|
| Modules | Leads and BOQ quotations | Full practice system with site, vendors and billing |
| People using it | Principal and a few designers | Design, site, sales, accounts and external vendors |
| Portals | Internal use only | Client and vendor logins |
| Integrations | None | WhatsApp Business API, email, Tally, payment gateway |
| Existing data | Fresh start | Years of projects and clients in Excel to be cleaned and imported |
| AI layer | None at first | Drafts, flags and summaries on top of the data |
How migration works
We ask for your current spreadsheets, a sample quotation, a sample project folder and a list of vendors. We clean column names, agree what is worth importing, load a test copy, and ask you to check ten records you know well. Only then do we load everything. Old files stay where they are, so nothing is lost. A fuller walk-through is in moving from Excel and Tally to one system.
For a wider view of what drives the price of custom software, read custom ERP software cost in India. The architecture system on this page was built in about 7 days, and a first working version of a focused system is typically ready in the 7 to 10 day range.
A buying checklist for architecture and interior design firm software
Short answer: Before you buy or commission anything, check eight things: fit with your stages, quotation handling, approval records, vendor tracking, payment tracking, phone access, who owns your data, and what support costs after year one. A vendor who cannot answer these plainly is not ready for your firm.
- Does it match how you deliver? Ask them to walk through one of your real projects, from enquiry to handover, on screen.
- Can it produce your quotation? Give them a recent BOQ and see whether the units, versions and GST work as you use them.
- Is a drawing approval recorded? Ask what you can show a client if they later deny approving a layout.
- Can it track vendors and orders per project? Not just a contact list.
- Does it show dues and profit per project? Ask for an example where budget, spend and revenue sit together.
- Does it work on a phone at the site? Your supervisor will not log in from a desk.
- Who owns the data and the code? You should be able to export your data and know where it is hosted.
- What does year two cost? Ask for support and maintenance in writing.
Broad claims such as “complete ERP for every industry” and demos that show only the dashboard. Ask to see the quotation screen, the approval screen and the purchase order screen. Those three tell you whether the tool understands design work.
If you want to rehearse the questions, our custom ERP vs off-the-shelf ERP guide lists what to ask both kinds of vendor.
Ready-made architecture software or a custom build: which is right?
Short answer: Ready-made software suits a design-only studio with standard stage billing and a small team. A custom build suits a turnkey or interior-and-fabrication firm whose workflow mixes drawings, BOQ quotes, trade vendors and site execution, where generic tools need heavy workarounds. Some firms start ready-made and move to custom when workarounds multiply.
| Question | Ready-made tool | Custom build |
|---|---|---|
| Start-up time | Immediate sign-up | Days to a few weeks |
| Fit with turnkey site work | Often needs workarounds | Shaped around your phases and trades |
| Pricing model | Usually recurring per user | One-time build, then small annual maintenance |
| Changing a status or field | Limited to what the vendor allows | Changed on request |
| Data ownership | Depends on the vendor’s terms | Agreed in the contract |
| Local needs such as Tally and WhatsApp | Varies by product | Built to your accounting and messaging set-up |
There is no single right answer. If your studio bills fees by stage and never touches site work, a packaged tool may be enough and cheaper to begin with. If you buy, install and hand over, the data model matters more than the feature list. We do not claim a custom build is always better; we say it is better when your process is the thing that makes your firm different. The detailed argument is in custom ERP vs off-the-shelf ERP, and our custom web app development in Surat page covers builds that are lighter than a full ERP.
Does architect and interior design software work with Tally and GST?
Short answer: It can. Your project system keeps quotations, milestones and dues, while Tally stays your book of accounts. Invoice and receipt data can be pushed to TallyPrime, and GST is applied in the quotation. Whether you keep Tally, or later move away from it, is your decision, not a requirement.
Many design firms keep their books with a chartered accountant, often in Tally, and nobody wants to disturb that. The sensible split is simple. The project system answers operational questions: what was quoted, what is due, what was ordered. Tally answers statutory ones: ledgers, GST returns, balance sheet.
- In the current build: the quotation can add 18% GST or leave it off, and milestone dues and outstanding amounts are tracked per client.
- Can be added: GST invoices generated from milestones, a site-expense ledger with petty cash, and invoice data pushed to Tally.
- Your CA decides: tax treatment, invoice format and the timing of GST on stage payments. We build to your accountant’s instructions and do not give tax advice.
Our technical page on Tally integration with a custom ERP explains how the connection works, when to keep Tally, and what to watch for during migration.
Support for architects and interior designers in Surat and across Gujarat
Short answer: Yukti AI is a Surat company at 220, Leonard Square, Yogichowk, Varachha, Surat 395006. Surat firms can visit us for the free 30-minute workflow audit. Firms in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot and the rest of India can start on WhatsApp. Support is included for 12 months after launch.
Software for a design firm only works if someone you can reach understands your day. We work in English, Hindi and Gujarati, and many of our clients are owner-run businesses where the principal is also the buyer, the user and the person who decides on a Sunday evening that a field needs to change.
How a project with us runs
- Free workflow audit (30 minutes). You describe how an enquiry becomes a handover. We note the leaks.
- Scope and quote. We list the modules, the integrations and the data to be moved, then give a fixed quote.
- Build. You see working screens early, not only at the end.
- Data setup and training. Your team practises on their own projects.
- Launch and 12 months of support. Fixes and small changes you ask for after use are handled under the support period; larger new modules are quoted separately.
What we will not do
We will not promise a fixed saving or a percentage improvement, because those depend on your firm. We will not sell you modules you do not need. We will also tell you plainly if a ready-made tool would serve you better.
You can read about the person behind the work on the Paras Dhankecha page, see our Yukti AI CRM product if you only need a CRM with WhatsApp, or talk to us directly through the contact page. For n8n-based automation that connects your existing tools, see n8n automation in Surat, and for AI assistants, AI agent development in Surat.
For a similar project-based business, the tour operator software case study shows how enquiries, itineraries and payments are linked in one record.
Questions architects and interior designers ask
Explore more
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An ERP built around your own workflow, statuses and documents — not a generic template.
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A CRM shaped around your enquiry sources, pipeline stages and follow-ups.
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App & Web App Development
Custom web apps and software built by Yukti AI in Surat for businesses across India.
Replace Excel & Tally
Move a business off scattered spreadsheets and onto one system, without losing its history.
Case study: Maven Lift
A project-based business management system for a Surat elevator maker, from site survey to AMC.
Summary
- Yukti AI, a software company in Surat, Gujarat, built a custom ERP and CRM for an architecture and interior design firm in India that runs turnkey design-and-build projects.
- The architecture firm management software Yukti AI built has 16 modules on a 26-table PostgreSQL database, covering leads, clients, BOQ quotations, drawing approvals, a phase Gantt, site visits, site progress, vendors, purchase orders, material, milestone payments, documents, a calendar, the team and a communication inbox.
- The drawing approval workflow Yukti AI built for the firm lets each drawing be Approved, Rejected or marked Revision Requested, keeps a client-designer comment thread, and records the sign-off name and timestamp.
- The BOQ quotation builder in Yukti AI's system works in Nos, Sqft, Kg and Rmt, keeps quotation versions and statuses, applies optional 18% GST and produces a print-ready PDF.
- For turnkey site execution, the system Yukti AI built organises vendors by trade, tracks purchase orders from Pending Approval to Delivered, and logs material inward and outward per project.
- Yukti AI's architecture firm ERP tracks milestone payments as Pending, Paid or Overdue and charts budget, actual spend and revenue for every project on the owner's dashboard.
- The system is live and in use, was built by Yukti AI in about 7 days, and its client and vendor portal views are being rolled out.