Where we work · SoMa, San Francisco
Before this month's invoices go out, do you know which phases are already over fee?
Architecture (49) and engineering (27) are the largest groups among SoMa's 114 registered design and agency locations in city data. I'm Vaughn English, based in the Bay Area, and I work with 5 to 50 person architecture, engineering, design, and agency firms in San Francisco. The $350 audit looks at one workflow, like billing prep or business development tracking, and ends in a written keep, repair, switch, or build recommendation. If we build, the $350 is credited toward it.
Billing week
The question a client asks, and how long it takes to answer.
Before: percent complete, decided at invoice time
Picture a client email: "How much fee is left on design development?" Does the answer wait for billing week, when a project manager estimates percent complete for each phase, someone lines that up against hours logged so far, and missing timesheets hold it up? If so, the audit asks how many days pass between the hours being logged and anyone seeing that a phase is over.
After: the answer is on one screen
Our time and budget tracker demo is a demo with fake data, not a client project. Percent complete is entered per phase as work moves, and the project health view sets it beside fee used, flags phases at risk, and lists who has not logged hours yet, so billing prep starts from a complete picture. It exports plain CSV and runs in your browser with no account. A real build would be scoped to your data, and the audit may just as well say keep what you have.
What it costs
Check what your sales tools cost per seat.
For project accounting suites, Deltek Ajera, Workamajig, and a low-cost timesheet stack, see the price table on our Jackson Square page and the Ajera cost guide. This page covers a different line on the invoice: the CRM used to track proposals and business development. HubSpot's published Sales Hub prices, checked 2026-09-29:
| HubSpot Sales Hub tier | 2 seats | 5 seats | 10 seats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter (from $7 per seat per month, billed annually) | $168 | $420 | $840 |
| Professional ($90 per seat per month, billed annually) | $2,160 | $5,400 | $10,800 |
| Professional, year one with the required $1,500 onboarding | $3,660 | $6,900 | $12,300 |
Yearly cost, from HubSpot's Sales Hub pricing page. Billed monthly, Professional is $100 per seat per month. Our agency software guide covers the per-seat project tools side.
Questions for a SoMa architecture or engineering firm
- How many people on the CRM invoice send proposals or follow-ups each week?
- Which Professional features, such as sequences or workflows, did anyone use last month?
- Would Starter seats cover the people who track pursuits?
- Between the pursuit tracker and the timesheet system, how many tools does a new project pass through before its first invoice?
The neighborhood
SoMa in the city's own numbers.
In a fresh pull of the city's Registered Business Locations data on 2026-09-29, 114 active locations in the city's "South of Market" analysis neighborhood report one of seven codes: 49 architecture, 27 engineering, 6 landscape architecture, 12 interior design, 10 graphic design, 7 advertising, and 3 PR (exact query). In the same area, 174 active locations report a software publishing or computer systems design code (exact query). These are registered locations, not people or firm headcounts, and codes are self-reported. Counts change as registrations open and close. The city puts the addresses we checked on Second Street and Third Street in its "Financial District/South Beach" neighborhood, so the count leaves out part of SoMa as many people use the name. For interior design studios, our Design District page next door covers FF&E software costs and open client deposits.
Wikipedia describes the area's boundaries as "Market Street to the northwest, San Francisco Bay to the northeast, Mission Creek to the southeast, and Division Street, 13th Street and U.S. Route 101 (Central Freeway) to the southwest", and says that "South of Market became a local center of the dot-com boom" during the late 1990s (Wikipedia, checked 2026-09-29).
FAQ
SoMa questions.
Do you have an office in SoMa?
No. Workflow Ownership has no office in SoMa and no public street address. Vaughn English is based in the San Francisco Bay Area and serves San Francisco firms. The audit runs as an online working session.
How many architects and engineers are registered in SoMa?
In a fresh pull of the city business registry on DataSF on 2026-09-29, 114 active business locations in the city's "South of Market" analysis neighborhood report an architecture, engineering, design, or agency code: 49 architecture, 27 engineering, 6 landscape architecture, 12 interior design, 10 graphic design, 7 advertising, and 3 PR. These are registered locations, including sole proprietors, not headcount, and codes are self-reported. The exact query is linked on this page.
Is SoMa mostly tech companies?
Software is a big neighbor. In the same DataSF pull, 174 active locations in the South of Market analysis neighborhood report a software publishing or computer systems design code, against 114 for the seven architecture, engineering, design, and agency codes. Wikipedia says that during the late 1990s "South of Market became a local center of the dot-com boom".
Does a small engineering or architecture firm need HubSpot Sales Hub Professional?
That depends on which Professional features you use each week. HubSpot lists Sales Hub Professional at $90 per seat per month billed annually, plus a required one-time $1,500 onboarding fee, and Starter from $7 per seat per month billed annually. The audit checks which ones your team opens.
What does the audit cost, and what do we get?
It is $350 for one workflow, such as billing prep, timesheets, or business development tracking. You get a written keep, repair, switch, or build recommendation based on what you pay and what your team actually uses. If we later build a tool for you, the $350 is credited toward the build.
Next step
Name the tool that slows down billing week.
List it with any others your firm pays for, with seats paid and people who use each. I reply within 2 business days with a free one-page cost snapshot, including the questions to ask before renewal. If billing prep deserves a closer look after that, the $350 audit is the paid step, credited toward a build. The timesheets and project budgets guide walks through the billing math first, and the snapshot page lists everything you get.
Get the free snapshot