Before a project hits delivery, it needs a solid frame. The right setup brings fee, budget, timing, and scope into one place so the project starts smart and finishes strong.
Below, we walk through 6 features in Total Synergy that make setup faster and cleaner, from templates and work breakdown to plan and delivery modes, plus a quick look at our new project breakdown page.
1. Create a project with just the basics, then refine as you go.
You don’t need every detail to kick off project setup. Give the work a home with the basics: name, dates, and billable status. That keeps things moving while scope, timing, and approvals settle.
As details become clearer, add specifics like submission date, payment terms, and any required custom fields such as Director in Charge.
How it helps: You capture work earlier, avoid admin bottlenecks, and keep momentum while scope and dates settle.
2. Control key defaults in one place.
Set your project defaults once and let them carry through the work. Pick your payment terms, turn on payment reminders, and add the custom fields your team relies on. Add the practical bits early, like submission date, permit or plan reference (DP), and a payment schedule reminder. If anything changes, update it at the project level and keep moving.
How it helps: You spend less time fixing setup and more time delivering, since the rules and context stay attached from day one.
3. Build your fee structure in work breakdown.
Work breakdown is where your fee structure comes together. Map out phases and stages, assign stage managers, and keep status and progress up to date. Start simple with a single-stage project and pre-create its breakdown, or go multi-stage and insert a template to add phases and tasks in seconds.
You can even drop a template in mid-project. For each stage, set the discipline and fee type, and choose a stage colour so it shows up on your Gantt chart for resourcing.
How it helps: A tidy structure now means less confusion later and makes it easier to track progress against what you sold.
4. Use templates to standardise and speed up setup.
Start with the out-of-the-box templates or build your own by discipline, service, or project type. From Work Breakdown, you can drop a template straight into an existing project to add phases, stages, and tasks in seconds.
Need flexibility? Insert templates mid-project, mix more than one if required, and carry over settings like discipline and fee type. You can even create full project templates the same way you set up a new project.
How it helps: You spend less time rebuilding the same structure, get consistent setups across projects, and help new PMs ramp up faster.
5. Budget your way: detailed line items or lump sums.
On the budget page, build line items by role, task, or person. Set units and rates, and let time × rate do the math. If it is early days, add a single lump sum at an average rate and refine later. Use markups or markdowns to handle contingency or negotiated changes.
Budget categories (internal, external, expenses) come from your rate types.
For example, staff is internal, subcontractor is external, and cash expense is an expense. If you want a cleaner view, you can hide the category columns while the categorisation stays in the data. For each line, you can also link a task or assign a specific staff member.
How it helps: You can start fast with a simple number, then add detail as things become clearer, which makes budget versus actuals comparisons stronger later.
6. Planning and delivery modes keep numbers aligned at the right time.
Use planning mode while you are shaping the project. Fees, budget, and resourcing are linked, so when you adjust one, the others update in real time.
When work begins, switch to delivery mode to lock the budget. That lets you track budget versus actuals without accidental ripple effects.
How it helps: Plan with flexibility, deliver with control. Budgets stay put and actuals tell the real story.
Coming Soon: A New Project Breakdown Page
We’re bringing work breakdown and budget together on one page so setup is faster and updates are easier. You’ll be able to edit inline, filter and sort any column, and use a side panel for richer edits.
Changes save in real time, and drag handles make reordering quick. You’ll also be able to export the full breakdown to Excel and edit dates right on the page.
Stay tuned for updates!
AMC Architecture Now Has One Source of Truth for Projects with Total Synergy
Before Total Synergy, AMC Architecture relied on spreadsheets and manual reports, so setup was inconsistent, and visibility was low. (Read the full customer story here)
Here’s what changed with Total Synergy:
✔️ Faster, consistent setup: Standardised project templates and reusable documents help AMC kick off jobs quickly while keeping structure the same across projects.
✔️ Less admin, more clarity: Key fields and defaults live at the project level, so teams are not re-entering information later.
✔️ Live visibility for leaders: Critical information now sits on a dashboard. Directors can check job progress and track project debtors instantly instead of waiting on a report.
Built for architecture and engineering teams, Total Synergy helps you start every project with a clear frame, connect fee to budget early, and keep delivery on track.
