Where we work · Union Square, San Francisco
Union Square design firm, ad shop, or PR agency? Check what your software costs per person who actually uses it.
In the city registry, design, architecture, engineering, ad, and PR codes are 69 of the Union Square district's 2,997 active locations, and 17 of those 69 are ad or PR. In SoMa the same two codes are 10 of 114. I'm Vaughn English, in the Bay Area. Send me the tools you pay for, like your agency suite or your CRM, with seats paid and the people who use each, and I price each one that has a published price at list price for free. If one looks out of line, the $350 audit tells you in writing whether to keep it, repair it, switch, or build something you own. If you build with me, the $350 is credited toward it.
A two-minute test
Ask your office one question and time the answer.
Pick one open job or retainer. Ask: how much of the budget is used, and is that ahead of or behind the work done? If someone can read the answer off a screen, your software is earning its keep on that question. If the answer is "I'll pull the hours and get back to you," the gap between those two is what the audit measures: which part of the job the software does, and which part a person rebuilds by hand.
Reading it off a screen looks like our time and budget demo (fake data, a made-up architecture studio, not a client).
What it costs
An agency suite, a sales CRM, and an A/E suite, priced out.
Union Square's registered mix includes 17 ad and PR agency locations, the same number as engineering (counts below). So this page prices an agency suite (Workamajig) and a sales CRM (HubSpot Sales Hub), plus Deltek Ajera for architects and engineers. We do not know which software any particular business in Union Square uses. For more tools and a 5-person column, see the cost table on our Jackson Square page.
| Tool, yearly license | 10 people | 20 people |
|---|---|---|
| Workamajig (list price, $49 per user per month, one month free on annual payment; published tiers start at "10+ users") | $5,390 | $10,780 |
| HubSpot Sales Hub Professional, every person seated ($90 per seat per month billed annually) | $10,800 | $21,600 |
| HubSpot Sales Hub Professional, client-facing staff only (ESTIMATE: assumes a quarter of staff need a seat) | $3,240 (3 seats) | $5,400 (5 seats) |
| Deltek Ajera (ESTIMATE, $60 to $90 per user per month) | $7,200 to $10,800 | $14,400 to $21,600 |
Workamajig: its pricing page (checked 2026-09-29) lists $49 per user per month at 10 or more users, so a 6-person agency would pay for 10 seats, $5,390 a year (ESTIMATE, based on the tier wording). HubSpot: its pricing page (checked 2026-09-29) says the price "does not include the required, one-time Professional Onboarding for a fee of $1,500." The quarter-of-staff seat count is our assumption, not HubSpot's. Ajera: Deltek publishes no price; the range is ITQlick's third-party estimate, which also puts implementation at $5,000 to $20,000.
Three things to check on your next invoice
- On the CRM: which features that only your paid tier includes did anyone use last month?
- On the agency suite: how many seats belong to people who only enter time? Would a separate time tool cover them for less?
- On both: when a client asks how many hours went into their retainer, which system gives the answer, and does anyone copy it into a spreadsheet first?
Guides with the full math: how to tell if your agency is overpaying for project management software, what Deltek Ajera costs a small architecture firm, and timesheets and project budgets without Ajera.
The neighborhood
Union Square, counted by the city's own district line.
The city does not treat Union Square as one of its analysis neighborhoods, but its Registered Business Locations data tags each address with its community benefit district, and one of them is the Union Square Business Improvement District. Pulled 2026-09-29, 69 active locations in that district report one of seven codes: 23 architecture, 3 landscape architecture, 17 engineering, 5 interior design, 4 graphic design, 9 advertising, and 8 PR. These are registered locations, not people or firm sizes, and the codes are self-reported. Ad and PR make up 17 of the 69. On our SoMa page, the same two codes are 10 of 114. Run the exact query yourself. For scale, the district has 2,997 active locations in all (query); the largest coded groups are lessors of nonresidential buildings (132), dentists (118), physicians (97), beauty salons (78), and hotels (70), and 588 have no code (query). Six software publishing and computer systems design codes (511210, 513210, 541511, 541512, 541519, 54151, the same six as our SoMa page) add up to 106 (query).
The Union Square Alliance, which runs the district, says it is "generally bordered on the north by Bush Street, on the east by Kearny Street, on the south by Market Street and on the west by Taylor Street," and that it "expanded its district boundaries and service levels during its renewal in 2019" (Union Square Alliance FAQ, checked 2026-09-29). Wikipedia notes that "Union Square" means both the plaza and "the central shopping, hotel, and theater district surrounding the plaza for several blocks" (Wikipedia, checked 2026-09-29).
A 2023 city decision names design uses in Union Square directly. On June 14, 2023, the city announced that zoning changes for Union Square and Downtown were "unanimously approved by the Board of Supervisors." For Union Square, it said: "On upper floors, that includes allowing for additional office, service, design and retail uses" (sf.gov, checked 2026-09-29). Rules can change after an announcement, so confirm current zoning for a specific address with SF Planning.
FAQ
Union Square questions.
How many design, architecture, and agency businesses are registered in Union Square?
In the city business registry on DataSF, 69 active locations in the Union Square Business Improvement District report one of seven codes: 23 architecture, 3 landscape architecture, 17 engineering, 5 interior design, 4 graphic design, 9 advertising, and 8 PR. We pulled it on 2026-09-29. These are registered locations, including sole proprietors. The registry has no headcount, so it says nothing about firm size, and the codes are self-reported.
Why count by the business improvement district and not by neighborhood?
The city's analysis neighborhoods have no Union Square. The same 69 locations fall in four of them: 52 in Financial District/South Beach, 13 in Nob Hill, 3 in Tenderloin, and 1 in South of Market. The registry does have a field for the Union Square Business Improvement District, so we counted by that. The query links are in the neighborhood section of this page.
What else is registered in the district?
Design and agency codes are a small slice. The same filter returns 2,997 active locations in the district. The largest coded groups are lessors of nonresidential buildings (132), dentists (118), physicians (97), beauty salons (78), and hotels (70); 588 have no code. Six software publishing and computer systems design codes add up to 106. The query links are in the neighborhood section of this page.
We are a 12-person agency on Workamajig. What is the list price?
At Workamajig's published $49 per user per month with one month free on annual payment, 12 seats come to 12 x $49 x 11 = $6,468 a year. That is list price for the Agency plan only. Implementation is not priced on the page, and your contract may differ.
Is the audit worth $350 if the answer is "keep what you have"?
That is one of the four possible answers, and you get it in writing with the reasons: what you pay, what your team uses, and what switching or building would cost. If the answer is build and you hire us for it, the $350 is credited toward the build.
Next step
Which tools are on your list?
Email the tool names, seats paid, and your headcount, and I price each one that has a published price free within 2 business days (what you get). The $350 audit comes later, only if you want one (other areas).
Email your tool names