On 9 October 2019, Build Studios was very glad to host the Museum of Architecture Business Academy program workshop: Financial Management for Your Practice and Projects. The Business Academy aims to help start-up enterprises in the built environment sector with their business practices, and to enhance their entrepreneurial ability. The workshop focused on how to efficiently manage the financial performance of architects’ practices using computer software, Xero and WorkflowMax, and to generate useful analysis and reports.

The workshop was lectured by Maree Maxfield, the founder of the cloud services consultancy business Maxama. Maree has provided a wide range of services on financial and project management for architectural practices since 2012.

Many of the attendants were the managers of start-up businesses in the built environment sector and were looking for approaches to address the inefficiencies they have encountered in managing their financial information.

Maree firstly demonstrated some key reports that could be created on Xero to provide a comprehensive overview for project managers and help them set aspiring yet achievable targets. In addition, Maree emphasised the importance for architects to use more detailed reports to conduct individual project analysis. This provides a thorough understanding of the profitability of each job and insight for staff and resources management.

By the end of the workshop, the attendants demonstrated much more confidence from Maree’s guidance and endorsed the practicality of Xero and WorkflowMax as a powerful project management tool.