Ofivio vs Monograph

Monograph is one of the better pieces of software written for architects, and comparisons that pretend otherwise are not worth reading. It is focused, well designed, and its customers like it — which is rarer in this category than it should be.

It is also built around a different practice than Ofivio is, and that difference decides the choice almost entirely.

The one question that decides it

Does your practice supervise construction and produce bills of quantities?

If no — if you design, document, hand over, and bill against time or phases while somebody else administers construction — Monograph is built for you and Ofivio is carrying a great deal of machinery you will never open.

If yes — which is the norm across Pakistan, India, the Gulf and much of South East Asia — then the second half of your business is the half Monograph does not model.

What Monograph is better at

• Time tracking and utilisation. It is built on this, and it shows.
• Resource forecasting — who is on what, weeks ahead, at a level of polish we do not match.
• Phase-based fee planning for time-billed work.
• Interface design. It is a cleaner, more focused product than ours, partly because it attempts less.
• Fit with US practice conventions, AIA phases and the way American firms structure engagements.

What Ofivio does that Monograph does not

• Native bills of quantities with volume groups and a reusable rate library.
• Procurement — BOQ line straight to purchase order, with supplier and stock records behind it.
• Daily site reports from a phone: photos, snags, labour counts, progress against programme.
• Dual-fee accounting that keeps the design fee and the supervision fee separate all the way through.
• A full chart of accounts with vouchers, rather than project financials that then export to an accounting package.
• HR, attendance and payroll for the site and studio team.
• An assistant that can read and act on the state of the practice, in English or Urdu.

Different assumptions, not different quality

Choose Monograph if

• You bill hourly and utilisation is the number you manage the practice by
• Construction administration is somebody else's job
• You are a US practice and AIA phase conventions matter to you
• You want a focused tool rather than a broad one

Choose Ofivio if

• You supervise construction as well as designing it
• You produce BOQs and they should not live in a spreadsheet
• Your site team needs to file reports from a phone
• Design fee and supervision fee are separate revenue streams you need measured separately
• You would rather run the practice in one system than integrate three