Klein is one of New Zealand’s leading architecture firms in healthcare design. With a team of 30, they’ve delivered some of the country’s most complex public health infrastructure, including hospitals and mental health facilities.

But with the volume and scale of their work growing, Klein needed better control behind the scenes. Spreadsheets and disjointed processes weren’t enough. They needed one platform that could simplify everything from resource planning to invoicing, while giving them live visibility into performance.

“We’re competing with big firms. We needed tools that let us run like them, without needing their headcount.” —Steven Hayes, Operations Manager at Klein

Deltek Wasn’t Worth the Risk

Klein evaluated other tools, including Deltek Vantagepoint, but quickly saw Total Synergy as the better fit.

A clear implementation path with best-in-class customer support.
More project data, instantly accessible.
A modern, scalable platform built specifically for architecture and engineering firms.

“With Deltek, it was payment up front for a product that we couldn’t demo and didn’t know how it would work. Implementation costs, setup costs, and we wouldn’t be able to roll it out ourselves.” —Steven Hayes, Operations Manager at Klein 

Why Total Synergy Stood Out

While other platforms like Deltek felt rigid and risky, Total Synergy offered the flexibility and transparency Klein was looking for. A recommendation from another firm in the industry prompted them to take a closer look, and the difference was clear.

The Total Synergy team was also a key part of the decision, responsive, engaged, and ready to help the team understand every feature, and their local presence made collaboration simple. For a digitally focused firm like Klein, Total Synergy’s scalability and industry alignment made it the right fit from day one.

“The Total Synergy team was really responsive and really quite engaged…helping us understand key features.” —Steven Hayes, Operations Manager at Klein 

From Manual to Modern: Inside Klein’s Operational Shift

Total Synergy isn’t just a software platform for Klein. It’s become the backbone of how they operate. Here’s what changed.

Reporting: From Static PDFs to Up-To-Date Dashboards

Before: Reports were compiled manually and often out of date by the time they were shared. Team members had to print PDFs or chase down data, leading to delays and disconnected insights.

After: Klein built custom Power BI dashboards using Total Synergy’s API. Now, project performance, WIP, and budget roll-ups are always live and accessible in one place. The team gets real-time insights without waiting on manual updates.

“We went from printing PDFs to just clicking a page in Total Synergy. Now we get a live roll-up of financial performance, WIP, time by phase, everything.” —Steven Hayes, Operations Manager at Klein

Forecasting: From Weekly Spreadsheet Edits to Live Projections

Before: One team member spent half a day each week updating forecasts manually, plus additional time in mid-month meetings to review changes and make adjustments in spreadsheets.

After: Total Synergy automatically updates forecasts in real time as project schedules change. No more hours wasted chasing down updates or double-checking spreadsheets. Forecasts are always current, freeing up time for higher-value work.

“Forecasts used to take someone’s whole morning. Now, when project schedules shift, the forecast updates automatically.” —Steven Hayes, Operations Manager at Klein

Invoicing: From Bottleneck to Team-Led Billing

Before: Invoicing was handled by a central admin, requiring time-consuming coordination at the end of each month. Project leads had limited visibility into billing and little control over what was sent to clients.

After: Project architects now generate their own invoices in Total Synergy, backed by built-in approval workflows. This shift has reduced bottlenecks, improved accuracy, and given project leads true ownership of financial performance.

“Invoices used to be drafted by one person and sent around for review. Now, project leads manage their own billing. It’s faster, more accurate, and gives them real visibility into project performance.” —Steven Hayes, Operations Manager at Klein 

Budgeting: Better Insights for Smarter Pricing

Before: Project phases were tracked at a high level, like “concept design,” which made it difficult to understand how time was really being spent or which tasks were using up budget.

After: Projects are now broken down by task, giving better insight into time spent and how budgets perform. This level of detail helps Klein price future projects with more confidence and accuracy.

“We’ve moved from stage-based to task-based tracking. That gives us a clearer picture of how time is spent, which helps us understand project performance and price future work more confidently.” —Steven Hayes, Operations Manager at Klein

Featured Project

Hillmorton Hospital Specialist Mental Health Services 

Te Huarahi Hou, ‘a new journey,’ was an opportunity to consolidate mental health services on one site, shifting from providing services in old, run-down, and security-centric environments, to creating sustainable, salutogenic, flexible and therapeutic environments.

The project delivered two buildings on Christchurch’s Hillmorton Hospital Campus, relocated from the ageing Princess Margaret Hospital.

The larger building (4600m2) provides inpatient and specialist outpatient services for mothers and babies, children and adolescents, and those with eating disorders. It also provides a supportive environment for Southern Regional health school and specialist day programme for children and youth. A separate 16-bed inpatient unit (1900m2) accommodates adults with high and complex needs.

Inspired by the rugged Southern Alps, offset mono-pitched roofs reference Christchurch’s residential history, softening institutional connotations. The varying roof heights accommodate service walkways, plant rooms, and anti-climb strategies.

Socially inclusive spaces with connection to the natural world are important to individuals’ wellbeing. The design provides abundant daylight and outdoor connectivity, including generous courtyards and playground for children and adolescents creating a homely environment that supports oranga hinegaro – mental wellbeing. To achieve this, the project required a careful balance between cost, and the social, aesthetic and safety benefits of the chosen design.

The project was the first in New Zealand to adapt the Green Star tool for a mental health facility achieving a 4 Green Star design rating, before all projects above a certain value were required to do so.  It has since been awarded a prestigious 5 Green Star as-built rating – the first completed healthcare facility in Aotearoa to achieve this – setting a new benchmark for sustainable healthcare design in the country.

The knowledge gained from the project has been incorporated into the Mental Health Infrastructure Programme, from where it will be applied as a benchmark exemplar to other projects around the motu.

URPS has grown significantly over the last five years, tripling revenue and expanding into multiple Australian states. But growth brought complexity. Managing dozens of staff, hundreds of projects, and large volumes of time entries each month pushed their administrative systems to the limit.

Before URPS Adopted Total Synergy

• Invoices were manually drafted and reviewed with handwritten edits on printed reports.
• Time tracking was inconsistent and often lacked context, leading to lost revenue and client pushback.
• Project reporting required emailing internal teams, waiting for replies, and manually compiling spreadsheets.
• Hundreds of draft invoices were created each cycle, requiring consultant review and feedback before they could be issued.
• Inefficiencies across these workflows made it difficult to scale.

URPS knew they needed to scale smarter. That meant better visibility into time, margins, and operations across offices.

“There’s big opportunity for us to be more profitable, and Total Synergy is part of how we get there.” —Matthew King, Managing Director at URPS

What Total Synergy Makes Possible

With Total Synergy, URPS now runs all core operational processes in one place, from time tracking and project management to invoicing and sector reporting.

Invoicing That Scales

Invoicing is now fully digital, eliminating the need for printed drafts and handwritten markups. Admin no longer waits on consultant reviews for every invoice, and billing cycles are faster and more reliable.

Smarter Time Data

Consultants are being trained to enter time accurately and with context. This reduces the back-and-forth during billing and gives leadership a clear view into project cost recovery and staff productivity.

On-Demand Visibility

Management can pull live reports by client, team, or sector without delay. Leadership no longer waits on manual reporting, and strategic decisions are backed by real-time data.

Better Cross-Office Collaboration

With a unified system, URPS has a clear view of active projects across all offices. This makes resource sharing, project tracking, and team coordination easier than ever.

Informed Sector Strategy

Total Synergy’s tracking tools support go-to-market planning, helping the team target sectors more effectively, and tailor their pitch strategies by region.

“The transparency Total Synergy provides is good. Clients can see exactly what’s been done.”  —Matthew King, Managing Director at URPS

3x Growth, Backed by Smarter Systems

URPS has tripled revenue in five years, and that growth isn’t just financial. The team has expanded its presence in Melbourne and Perth, built a strong national brand, and made significant hires across consulting and leadership.

The Adelaide HQ now serves as the operational and cultural hub. Junior staff are trained there and sent into new markets, ensuring the firm’s values scale alongside the business.

Total Synergy’s Role in Enabling this Growth

• Senior leaders now save hours each week that were previously spent chasing time data or reviewing invoices.
• Real-time reporting helps guide business development and growth strategies.
• Clean, consistent time records improve project transparency and strengthen client trust.
• A unified platform improves visibility and coordination across all office locations.

“Systems don’t run themselves. The more you invest in using them right, the more valuable they become.” —Matthew King, Managing Director at URPS

Featured Project

Adelaide Aquatic Centre

The centre features extensive indoor and outdoor pool areas, water slides, splash zones and lawned recreation spaces, as well as gym and fitness facilities and spa/sauna/steam room. It will be powered using 100% renewable energy.

URPS added value by determining a clear approval strategy from the outset, effectively mitigating risks and leveraging the strengths of our multidisciplinary team.

A Code Amendment was prepared to ensure the Code policies promote the objectives of protecting the Adelaide Park Lands while providing the policy framework for the development of a new State community facility. The Code Amendment process required particularly skilled drafting and comprehensive community engagement.

STP Consultants is one of Queensland’s leading privately owned engineering firms, with six offices strategically located across the state. The company combines local insight with state-wide capability, supporting clients throughout Queensland, across Australia, and into the Pacific region. This strong regional presence enables the firm to tailor solutions that reflect the unique needs of each community, while maintaining the resources and expertise to deliver projects of scale.

The team’s collaborative approach, technical depth, and practical mindset have positioned STP as a trusted partner across healthcare, education, aged care, retail, industrial, commercial, and community infrastructure sectors.

But the team was being slowed down by one thing: their project management software.

“We couldn’t run reports. We couldn’t trust the data. Every fix broke something else. It just wasn’t working.” —Ben Madsen, Partner & Senior Electrical Engineer at STP Consultants

TAFE Queensland Townsville (Pimlico Campus)

The Breaking Point

STP Consultants invested in IPM, a software that promised flexibility and control. Instead, it became a daily source of frustration.

The software’s limitations crept into every part of the business:

• Timesheets were delayed, dragging payroll into an eight-hour task.
• Invoicing took up to ten days every month.
• Reports were unreliable and often had to be assembled by hand.
• Leaders lacked visibility across offices and disciplines.
• Even small updates came with hidden costs, including $295 to add a new user.
• User adoption was poor and morale around the system was low.

The breaking point wasn’t one major issue, rather it was the buildup of little inefficiencies that no longer made sense for a growing business managing thousands of projects a year.

The Search for Something Better

Determined to use a system that worked, a core team took ownership of the search:

• Ben Madsen, Partner & Senior Electrical Engineer
• Aimie Anderson, Accountant & Quality Assurance
• Courtney Hall, Marketing Coordinator

Their goal was simple: find a platform that could scale with the business, support its complexity, and make day-to-day work easier.

That’s when they turned to Total Synergy.

Townsville Youth Foyer

What Changed with Total Synergy: Less Admin, Better Insights, and a More Confident Team

The difference was immediate. From the moment Total Synergy went live, the team noticed just how much smoother and faster everything became.

Manual workarounds were replaced by reliable tools. Tasks that once took days were done in hours or less.

“We’re not chasing people for timesheets anymore. Payroll used to take me eight hours. Now it takes two and a half hours. That’s unheard of here.” —Aimie Anderson, Accountant & QA at STP Consultants

Real Results, Real ROI

Across the board, Total Synergy gave STP Consultants something they hadn’t had in over a year: Control.

Timesheets are submitted on time. Project managers can tender with accuracy. Invoicing is completed in a single day. Leadership finally has access to reliable reports without stitching together spreadsheets.

James Cook University, Townsville – New Student Accommodation

Tools That Actually Work

The shift wasn’t just about speed, it was about simplicity. With Total Synergy, the team feels like they’ve got their time (and sanity) back.

Timesheets That People Actually Want to Use 


Built-in timers make it fast to fill out and even faster to approve.

Real-Time Project Financials 


See how every job is tracking across offices, disciplines, and billing stages. No more data hunting.

Budgeting Tools That Protect Margins

Scope work more accurately, split jobs by sub-discipline, and tender with confidence.

️Automated Reports by Discipline or Region 


Run WIP summaries, invoicing breakdowns, performance and KPI reports without spreadsheets.

Onboarding and Support From People Who Care

STP Consultants felt supported from day one, thanks to Total Synergy’s award-winning customer success team. With fast response times, dedicated support, and a 95% satisfaction score, help was always just a call or click away.

“The support was just amazing. Even during holidays, they showed up for us.” 
—Aimie Anderson, Accountant & QA at STP Consultants

A Culture Shift

The impact wasn’t just operational, it was cultural.

People are excited to use the platform. Even the Managing Director, Trevor Slogrove, was on the floor helping with rollout. Training sessions were full. The office felt lighter.

“Everyone just breathed easier. The old system weighed people down. Total Synergy gave us room to work the way we want.” —Courtney Hall, Marketing Coordinator

What’s Next for STP Consultants

STP Consultants continues to cement its position as a trusted provider in Queensland’s health infrastructure, delivering multi-disciplinary engineering services across several large-scale and regionally significant hospital developments.

With streamlined systems and renewed momentum, the team is focused on delivering major healthcare projects that will help shape the future of regional Queensland.

Current Highlights Include:

Mackay Base Hospital Clinical Services Expansion

STP is providing Mechanical, Electrical, Hydraulics, Fire, and Vertical Transport engineering services for the $250M+ Mackay Base Hospital Clinical Services Expansion.

The project includes the delivery of four new medical and surgical inpatient units—a Maternity Unit, Special Care Nursery, Pediatric Unit, Birthing Unit, and Medical Day Unit—designed to meet the growing healthcare demands of the region. A key feature of STP’s contribution is the delivery of highly specialised N Class Isolation Rooms, embedding advanced infection control capabilities within the hospital’s future operations.

Mater Townsville: Renal Dialysis and Maternity Unit

At Mater Mothers’ Private Townsville, STP is delivering Structural, Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, Fire, Hydraulic, and Vertical Transport engineering services for a $40M campus consolidation project.

The development will centralise maternity and renal dialysis services onto a single site for the first time in over 20 years, offering new birthing suites, special care nursery cots, and an expanded dialysis facility to support both local residents and travelling patients requiring temporary dialysis treatment. Completion is anticipated by early 2026, enhancing healthcare delivery and accessibility for communities across North Queensland.

Looking ahead, STP Consultants remains committed to expanding its presence across healthcare, education, commercial, aged care, industrial, and community infrastructure sectors.

By combining deep technical expertise, a collaborative approach, and an understanding of regional needs, STP Consultants continues to deliver smart, practical, and sustainable engineering solutions—building a healthier, more connected future for Queensland communities.

Lost in Spreadsheets

AMC Architecture is a 30-person architecture and interiors firm based in Canberra, Australia. Known for their commitment to design excellence and business efficiency, they found themselves bogged down by outdated systems, inefficient workflows, and endless spreadsheets.

“Time is money, and you don’t want someone wasting their time on exporting data to put it back into a spreadsheet and having to update it every single week.” — Hannah-Jean Cadan, Director of Operations at AMC Architecture

For years, AMC Architecture relied on ArchiOffice from BQE, alongside MYOB for financial management. While ArchiOffice initially helped organize projects, it became a bottleneck to efficiency and visibility as the firm grew.

Outdated Systems Were Slowing AMC Architecture Down

• Lack of MYOB compatibility meant ongoing double data entry, leading to inefficiencies and errors.
• Heavy reliance on spreadsheets— AMC Architecture frequently had to export data into Excel and manually filter information, making business planning a tedious and manual process.
• Customer support was outsourced, often creating a language barrier that made troubleshooting difficult.
• Not a cloud-based solution, requiring reliance on a VPN for remote access.
• Limited project visibility, particularly for integrated projects combining architecture and interiors—there was no clear way to separate or analyze these elements efficiently.
• Needed support for custom reports—generating the right reports required help from customer support, adding costs, delays, and extra steps to their workflow.

Central Village (formerly Finlay Crisp Centre)

“With ArchiOffice, we still had to export everything into an Excel spreadsheet and manually filter and format the data because the system didn’t give us the visibility we needed. It was incredibly time-consuming, especially for annual business planning when we needed that fine-grain detail about projects.” — Hannah-Jean Cadan, Director of Operations at AMC Architecture

The decision to change project management software ultimately came down to one thing: spreadsheets. Every week, an admin team member had to manually update time, expense, and fee data just to keep business operations running smoothly. Without real-time insights, decisions about new projects, staffing needs, and resource planning were made using outdated information.

“We didn’t have that information at our fingertips unless we put the work in to have it loaded in. That limitation was a wake-up call for us—we needed the ability to run reports ourselves and see a live view of how we were tracking revenue and resources.” — Hannah-Jean Cadan, Director of Operations at AMC Architecture

The Red Shed

Choosing the Right Tool

When AMC Architecture explored software options, they needed a solution built for firms like theirs, not a one-size-fits-all tool. Total Synergy stood out as a platform designed only for A&E professionals, with features tailored to their workflows. For 25 years, we’ve been built with one customer in mind—the A&E industry—ensuring that every capability supports the way architects and engineers work.

Unlike other vendors, the sales team from Total Synergy took the time to understand AMC Architecture’s needs and demonstrated how the platform could fit their workflows.

“The sales team really listened to what we needed. They created templates that mirrored our workflows and walked us through step-by-step how Total Synergy could work for us. It wasn’t just a standard spiel.” — Hannah-Jean Cadan, Director of Operations at AMC Architecture

Beyond solving their spreadsheet issues, AMC Architecture was also looking for a way to delegate more responsibility to middle management. Directors were too deep in project-level work, and without real-time visibility into finances and resourcing, it was difficult to push decision-making to the next level.

“Total Synergy gave us the ability to delegate more responsibility to middle management by providing real-time visibility into projects. Our directors were too involved in day-to-day project management, and we needed to shift some of that responsibility down. But to do that effectively, our team needed the right information to make informed decisions—and Total Synergy offered that.”— Hannah-Jean Cadan, Director of Operations at AMC Architecture

Total Synergy offered a solution to AMC Architecture’s biggest challenges from the start:

• MYOB integration eliminated double entry, saving hours of admin time each week.
• A cloud-based platform to make project data accessible anywhere, without relying on a VPN.
• Our award-winning customer success team—including onboarding, dedicated customer success managers, and support experts—backed by a 98% customer satisfaction score, back-to-back G2 Best Support Team badge, and the best response rate in the industry (15-minutes).
• Standardized project templates and reusable documents help AMC Architecture set up projects quickly, cutting down admin time and keeping everything consistent.
• Revenue forecasting gives the team a clear picture of cash flow, making it easier to plan and make confident financial decisions.
• User-friendly timesheets and built-in timers make it easy for the team to track their time accurately, leading to smoother billing and better project profitability.
• Simple invoicing removes the manual work from the team’s plate, making billing faster and cash flow more predictable.
• Powerful resource planning improves team utilization, preventing burnout and overallocation.
• Real-time dashboards give the team a clear view of project progress, finances, and overall business health.

The Transition: A Team Effort

Implementing a new system is never easy, and for AMC Architecture, the transition to Total Synergy was quite an undertaking. With over 5,000 projects spanning 25 years, ensuring a smooth migration was critical.

To navigate the transition, AMC Architecture worked closely with our Onboarding Consultant who has a deep architecture background.

“Our onboarding consultant had an architectural background, so he understood how we work. He explained every step in a way that made sense. I really enjoyed the implementation process with him. He held our hands throughout the process and was always there to answer our questions.” — Hannah-Jean Cadan, Director of Operations at AMC Architecture

From a day-to-day perspective, most staff notice only two real changes—timesheets and access to data. The difference? Everything is much easier for Hannah-Jean and the team.

“I think the timesheet interface is much easier to use in Total Synergy than what we were using with ArchiOffice. Also, the ability to copy timesheets over is a big time saver… It’s just convenient.” — Hannah-Jean Cadan, Director of Operations at AMC Architecture

The other key improvement is having critical information readily available on a dashboard. Directors no longer need to ask Hannah or an admin team member to generate reports—whether for job progress or tracking project debtors. Instead, they can access everything instantly, without waiting for a report to be printed or numbers to be manually pulled.

With Total Synergy, key insights are finally at their fingertips.

“[Total Synergy] shows that we’re organized, informed, and able to make strong, decisive choices about how the business is run. Information is power, and having it available in a clear, digestible form is priceless.” — Hannah-Jean Cadan, Director of Operations at AMC Architecture

Customs House Foyer & End of Trip Refurbishment

What’s Next for AMC

AMC Architecture is excited to keep growing its pipeline of projects and strengthening relationships with long-term clients. They’re also focused on helping their team grow by creating more opportunities to work on exciting new projects.

As they look to expand into other sectors, Hannah shared that they plan to use Total Synergy’s resource forecasting tool to help guide their growth.

“The tool gives us the information we need to make key decisions about taking on new projects—can we go for this based on our pipeline and available resources? Do we have the capacity to take it on? It gives us that insight.” — Hannah-Jean Cadan, Director of Operations at AMC Architecture

AMC Architecture’s transition to Total Synergy has been amazing to see. What started as a need to eliminate inefficiencies has grown into a firm-wide shift toward smarter, data-driven decision-making.