The 7-Minute A&E Firm Health Check
A&E firm health check questions show owners of architecture, engineering and design consulting firms where the firm still depends on them. Ours is a free, 15-question self-assessment. Add your name and email at the end, and your full scorecard appears on screen right away.
Most owners know the firm leans on them too much. Few know exactly where: pricing, billing, cash, capacity or the decisions only they can make.
Answer the 15 questions below. You need no records, and you finish with a score for each area and your next steps.
Complete the Health Check
How to answer
- Use your current process, not the one you intend to build.
- Mark Yes only when your team shows a recent, usable record or repeatable process and names who owns it.
- Mark Unknown when you are unsure. Unknown answers show where evidence is missing.
- Allow about 7 minutes. Answer from what your team shows today.
This health check is a self-assessment. It is not an audit, valuation, certified benchmark or prediction of profitability.
What the A&E Firm Self-Assessment Scores
The 15 questions fall into five operating areas, three questions each. Several match the architecture firm KPIs owners track most, such as utilization and days to invoice. You answer Yes, No or Unknown, based on what your team shows today.
- Pricing and scope: whether you estimate with a documented method, write down scope boundaries and exclusions, and approve scope changes before extra work.
- Project and billing visibility: whether a named person tracks each project's billing and progress, you review WIP with definitions your accounting advisor agrees to, and invoice handoffs repeat.
- Cash and financial visibility: whether you review receivables with a named owner, keep a cash outlook of at least eight weeks, and review exceptions on a set schedule.
- Capacity and accountability: whether you see committed work and staffing capacity in one view, define utilization with a numerator and denominator, and tell project managers which measures they own.
- Owner independence: whether someone besides you runs the recurring pricing, billing and reporting process, critical processes have a trained backup, and approval rules let routine work proceed without you.
How Scoring Works
A Yes earns one point. A No or Unknown earns none, and Unknowns are counted separately because they show where your firm needs evidence.
| Score | What the score suggests |
|---|---|
| 12 to 15 | Many basic controls are visible. Review your weakest area and test your backup operator. |
| 8 to 11 | Several repeatable elements exist, but gaps remain. Pick one recurring bottleneck and assign a process owner. |
| 4 to 7 | Important controls are informal or not visible. Establish a reliable baseline before buying new tools. |
| 0 to 3 | Little documented visibility shows in these answers. Begin with record readiness and one simple operating routine. |
The bands guide your priorities. They are not validated research thresholds, and no industry comparison is implied.
What Happens After You Submit
Your full scorecard appears on screen as soon as you submit, with a score for each area, your highest-priority gap and three practical next steps. Print it or save it as a PDF. Next Phase A&E receives a copy of your answers, and Rodney McNabb replies by email within two business days, usually sooner.
Want help closing the gaps? See our A&E consulting services, the A&E firm diagnostic and how fixed-fee A&E consulting works.
Planning to sell the firm or hand it to partners within 10 years? Buyers and valuators look hard at owner independence. See A&E firm succession planning.
Start Here
Answer the 15 questions above to see where your firm still depends on you, or request a meeting for a free call of up to 45 minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an A&E firm health check?
A short self-assessment showing where an architecture or engineering firm depends on its owner. The Next Phase A&E version scores 15 questions across pricing, billing, cash, capacity and owner independence.
How long does the health check take?
7 minutes or less. The check has 15 questions, and you need no records to answer.
Is the health check free?
Yes. Your full scorecard appears on screen, with no obligation to buy anything.
Who is the health check for?
Owners of architecture, engineering, commercial interior design and specialty design consulting firms of any size. Firms with a core team of 3 to 20 full-time equivalents get the most from the next step. Most firms are small: the AIA 2024 Firm Survey found 60% of U.S. architecture firms have four or fewer employees. See who we help, including architecture firms and engineering firms.
What does Unknown mean?
Mark Unknown when you are unsure. Each Unknown shows a place where your firm lacks a recent, usable record or a named owner.
Is the health check an audit?
No. The check is a self-assessment, not an audit, valuation, certified benchmark or prediction of profitability.
Is this an owner dependence assessment?
Yes, in part. The owner independence area works as an owner dependence assessment: it checks whether pricing, billing and reporting run without you, and whether critical processes have a trained backup.
Who sees my answers?
Next Phase A&E receives a copy of your answers and uses your details to show your results, reply to you and, if you opt in, send practical guides. See our Privacy Policy.