Enterprise DNA

Instead of Synergy

Stop renting Synergy. Own your practice management system.

We build your version around your fee stages, rates and terms of appointment, bring your Synergy projects and timesheets across and run it for you. The practice keeps the database and the rules.

Synergy does not publish its prices. Its Business and Enterprise plans, and add-ons for analytics, the API, document control, HR and CRM, are quoted after a demo.

Get your version built See it working
  • check_circleYour data in a database you own
  • check_circleOpen source, no lock-in
  • check_circleBuilt and run by Enterprise DNA

What the subscription covers

A per-user plan, then add-ons for the rest

Synergy sells two plans and five add-ons, all priced on request. Resource planning, advanced forecasting and custom dashboards sit on the higher plan. Switching is about owning the fee rules and the numbers, and paying for what the studio uses.

badge

Seats for everyone who logs time

Plans are sized per user, and every architect, engineer and technician who fills in a timesheet is a user, so the bill follows headcount.

view_timeline

Resourcing on the top plan

Resource planning, revenue forecast by stage and custom dashboards are listed as Enterprise features, above the Business plan.

insights

Analytics Plus

Advanced dashboards and reports are an add-on on top of the plan.

api

Premium API

Connecting your own tools is a separate add-on, and the Enterprise plan carries higher API call limits.

folder_shared

Documents, HR and CRM

Project information and email filing, staff leave and skills, and client leads are three more add-ons.

school

Onboarding

Data migration, setup and training take a few weeks for a small or mid-sized firm, by Synergy's own estimate.

Your fees, your rules

The money jobs a director chases every Monday

Fee burn

See which stages are eating their fee

Time spent against percent complete on every fixed, capped and percentage stage, before the overrun shows in the margin.

  • check Rank stages by how far fee used runs ahead of progress
  • check Spot capped stages already past the cap
  • check Refuse new time on a finished stage until a variation is raised
  • check Keep every director override with the reason given

Variations

Get paid for the extra work

Extra scope priced, sent, approved and added to the stage fee, with nothing lost in an inbox.

  • check Draft the variation letter from the stage and the fee
  • check List variations waiting more than two weeks for a yes
  • check Add the approved fee to the stage automatically
  • check Record who approved it and when

Invoicing and claims

Invoice what is earned and chase what is owed

Work in progress by fee type, invoices raised from it, and payment claims tracked against the response time the law gives the client.

  • check Raise invoices from progress, hourly time and disbursements in one step
  • check Never bill the same work twice
  • check Flag claims with no payment schedule after 20 working days
  • check Refuse a residential claim until Form 1 is attached

People and terms

Plan the studio and keep the paperwork straight

Who is booked, who is short on timesheets and which jobs started without signed terms.

  • check Show planned hours against available hours, net of leave
  • check Name who logged under 90% of last week's hours
  • check Find projects with time on them and no signed terms of appointment
  • check Warn before a registration or the insurance runs out

Make it yours

Design your own Synergy (Total Synergy) replacement

Everything starts from the open-source base. Then it gets your name, the parts you run, your rules and your data from Synergy (Total Synergy). Try it here, and we build the real one.

2. What it runs

3. Make it fit

4. Your colour

Your business · your Synergy (Total Synergy) replacement Your version
YB Your business

auto_awesome

Answered from your own database

Build my version

We build it from the open-source base, bring your Synergy (Total Synergy) data across and run it for you.

What it looks like

Ask it like you would ask a colleague

Real answers from the demo data that ships with Design Practice for Claude Code. It runs in Claude Code inside the Claude app, so it feels like any chat you already use.

forum

Design Practice for Claude Code

Connected to your own database

Which stages are using their fee faster than they are progressing?

2404

Project
Miramar Townhouses
Stage
Feasibility
Fee_type
fixed
Complete
30
Fee_used
74
Gap
44
Total_fee
6000.00
Time_value
4410.00
Fee_left
1590.00

2401

Project
Ridge Road House
Stage
Developed design
Fee_type
fixed
Complete
50
Fee_used
85
Gap
35
Total_fee
24000.00
Time_value
20500.00
Fee_left
3500.00

2405

Project
Petone Warehouse Seismic
Stage
Seismic assessment
Fee_type
capped
Complete
90
Fee_used
115
Gap
25
Total_fee
12000.00
Time_value
13800.00
Fee_left
-1800.00

Ask it anything

Ten questions your practice can answer today

These run on a fictional Wellington practice. Synergy has its own reports and dashboards. The difference here is that a director asks the question in plain words and changes the rules without waiting for a feature.

chat_bubble Which stages have used more of their fee than they have progressed?
chat_bubble Which capped stages are past the cap?
chat_bubble Which payment claims got no schedule in time, so the full amount is payable?
chat_bubble Which variations have waited more than two weeks for approval?
chat_bubble What work is done and not invoiced, stage by stage?
chat_bubble Which disbursements were never recharged?
chat_bubble Who is booked for more hours than they have next week, once leave is counted?
chat_bubble Who logged less than 90% of their hours last week?
chat_bubble Which projects have time on them and no signed terms of appointment?
chat_bubble Whose registration, or the practice's insurance, runs out this month?

Switching

How to switch from Synergy (Total Synergy)

A move usually involves exporting your project and timesheet reports, checking what transfers, and mapping the fields and history you want to keep.

  1. 1

    Export your Synergy reports

    Synergy reports export to Excel. Save the project breakdown and timesheet report as CSV, then check with Synergy (Total Synergy) if your account limits what you can export. The project breakdown carries projects, phases, stages, fee types, fees, progress and amounts already invoiced. The timesheet report carries hours.

  2. 2

    Run a test import

    Load the exported records into Design Practice with a test run first. The test shows the counts and writes nothing, so you can see what would be brought across before records are added. Start with the project breakdown, then test the timesheet report. A successful test does not mean every detail or history item has transferred.

  3. 3

    Check the imported records

    Compare project, phase and stage counts with Synergy, and check fee types, fees, progress, invoiced amounts and timesheet hours against the source reports. Review the test results for anything the import does not map before relying on the new records. Line-by-line invoice history, rate groups and documents do not come across on their own, so decide what needs separate mapping or a different home.

  4. 4

    Run both side by side

    For a short period, keep Synergy available while you use Design Practice for current work and compare the records and results you rely on. Check that project fees, progress, invoiced amounts and timesheet hours match your source records. Use this period to find gaps in your data or rules and resolve them before you move the team’s work fully to the new system.

  5. 5

    Switch off Synergy

    Once you have checked the imported records and are ready for the team to work in Design Practice, stop using Synergy for day-to-day work. Keep any records or documents you still need to refer to, since documents and line-by-line invoice history do not come across on their own. Confirm with your team where they should record work after the switch.

construction

Where the real effort goes

The import brings core project and time records across, but the real work is matching your fields and fee rules, deciding how to handle line-by-line invoice history, rate groups and documents, and choosing how much history to bring. If you have Enterprise DNA install and run it for you, Enterprise DNA handles this migration work as part of the setup.

Not ready for a call?

Get your Synergy (Total Synergy) switch plan by email

We will send you the step-by-step plan for moving your business off Synergy (Total Synergy), what the move really involves, and how we would do it for you.

One email with your plan. No spam, and you can unsubscribe any time.

Three ways to make it yours

Choose how your practice wants to run it

Open source

Do it yourself

Free

  1. 1 Clone the repo and run npm install
  2. 2 Run npm run demo to see a fictional Wellington practice
  3. 3 Open it in Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode or Cursor
  4. 4 Test-import your Synergy project breakdown and timesheets, then load a fresh database
Get the free version

Built around your business

We customise it

Scoped setup fee, then an agreed retainer

  • check Your stage templates, fee types, rates and terms of appointment
  • check Your Synergy projects, stages and timesheets brought across and checked
  • check A timesheet page for the studio, a phone app or a different stack if you want one
  • check Your accounting system and drawing register connected where it makes sense
Get your version built

Omni by Enterprise DNA

We run it for you

One setup fee, then a retainer

  • check Set up for your directors, studio manager and accounts
  • check Fee history and work in progress moved across and reconciled
  • check Monthly invoicing, claim chasing and rule changes handled with you
  • check Run inside Omni by Enterprise DNA alongside your other practice work
Talk to Sam

Questions

Instead of Synergy (Total Synergy), answered

Synergy was built for architects. Why would we leave it? expand_more

If it does everything you need and the bill is fine, stay. Practices change when the subscription keeps growing with headcount, when the reports they want sit behind an add-on, or when their own fee rules do not fit the screens. Owning the system means the directors decide how fees, variations and claims are tracked.

Does the team still fill in timesheets? expand_more

Yes. In the free version time is logged by asking for it, or imported. Most studios want a simple timesheet page or a phone app for everyone, and Enterprise DNA builds that into your version with the same rules underneath.

Can we bring our Synergy projects and history? expand_more

Yes. Synergy exports its reports to Excel. The project breakdown brings across projects, phases, stages, fee types, fees, progress and what was already invoiced, and the timesheet report brings the hours. Line-by-line invoice history, rate groups and documents do not come across on their own, so we map those as part of your switch.

What about document control and transmittals? expand_more

This version handles fees, time, money and people. Drawings stay where they are today. If you rely on transmittals or email filing, we connect your drawing register or document system in your custom version.

Who keeps it running? expand_more

The practice owns the database, so nothing is locked to a vendor or to one person. With the managed option, Enterprise DNA runs it inside Omni, handles changes to rates and rules, and keeps the month-end invoicing on track with your accounts team.

Show Sam how your practice really bills

Book 30 minutes with Sam. Bring a Synergy project breakdown, a timesheet export and the fee rules your directors chase by hand. We will map the first version around them.

Book 30 minutes with Sam Get the free version

Design Practice for Claude Code is free and open source, published by Enterprise DNA.

Done paying for Synergy (Total Synergy)?

Get your version built