Ratios
Ratios let you compare project data more effectively.
Instead of looking only at raw totals such as hours, fees, area, construction cost, or profit, ratios let you divide one value by another to see how projects perform relative to their size, budget, or scope.
This is especially useful when planning future work, setting fees, building budgets, or deciding which project types are worth pursuing.
What Ratios Do
A ratio compares one project value to another.
For example, you may want to track:
Hours per square foot
Fee per square foot
Fee as a percentage of construction cost
Hours per construction dollar
Profit per project area
Profit per bed
Hours per classroom
Construction cost per unit
The value of a ratio is that it makes projects easier to compare, even when they are different sizes.
A 50-bed hospital and a 30-bed hospital may have very different total fees, hours, and construction costs. But ratios help you compare them on a more normalized basis.
Creating a Ratio
To create a new ratio, start by adding a ratio for your projects.
You will define:
Ratio name
Access level
Access groups, if needed
Numerator
Denominator
Output type
Decimal display
The numerator is the value on top of the calculation. The denominator is the value the numerator is divided by.
For example, if you want to calculate fee per square foot, the fee would be the numerator and project area would be the denominator.
Choosing the Numerator and Denominator
The numerator and denominator determine what the ratio actually means.
For example:
Fee ÷ Project Area = Fee per square foot
Hours ÷ Project Area = Hours per square foot
Fee ÷ Hours = Fee per hour
Fee ÷ Construction Cost = Fee as a percentage of construction cost
Profit ÷ Project Area = Profit per square foot
This gives you flexibility to build ratios around the way your firm thinks about project performance.
Choosing the Ratio Type
After selecting the numerator and denominator, choose how the result should display.
You can display a ratio as:
Number
Currency
Percentage
Use a number when the result is a general quantity, such as hours per square foot.
Use currency when the result represents money, such as fee per square foot or profit per unit.
Use a percentage when the result should be shown as a percent, such as a fee as a percentage of construction cost.
Decimal Places
You can also choose how many decimal places should be displayed.
This controls how precise the ratio appears in the system.
For some ratios, whole numbers may be enough. For others, especially percentages or small values, you may want one or two decimal places.
Why Ratios Matter
Ratios help you use past project data to make better decisions about future work.
For example, if your firm designs elementary schools, you may want to know how many hours you typically spend per square foot.
When a new elementary school opportunity comes in, you can look at the expected building size or construction budget and compare it to similar past projects.
That gives you a faster, more informed way to estimate:
How many hours does a project requires
What fee may be appropriate
Whether the budget is realistic
Whether the project type is profitable
Whether the work is worth pursuing
Ratios help turn project history into planning intelligence.
Example: Hours per Square Foot
Suppose you want to understand how much effort your firm usually spends on a specific type of project.
You could create a ratio using:
Numerator: Hours billed
Denominator: Project area
Output type: Number
This would show how many hours were spent per square foot.
If several past elementary school projects show a similar hours-per-square-foot pattern, that becomes useful when budgeting the next elementary school project.
Example: Fee as a Percentage of Construction Cost
You may also want to track your fee compared to the construction cost.
You could create a ratio using:
Numerator: Fee
Denominator: Construction cost
Output type: Percentage
This helps you understand whether your fees are consistent across similar project types.
It can also help identify projects where the fee was too low compared to the size or complexity of the work.
Example: Profit per Unit
Ratios are not limited to estimating hours or fees.
You can also use them to evaluate profitability.
For example, you may want to compare:
Profit per square foot
Profit per bed
Profit per classroom
Profit per building type
Profit per construction dollar
This can help you decide which types of work are actually worth pursuing.
Some projects may look attractive because the total fee is large. But when you compare the profit ratio, another project type may perform better.
Using Ratios for Project Planning
Ratios are especially useful when creating budgets and fees for future work.
If you know the approximate size, construction cost, or unit count for a new project, you can compare it to completed projects with similar characteristics.
That gives you a better starting point for:
Fee planning
Labor budgeting
Proposal strategy
Staffing expectations
Profitability review
Go/no-go decisions
Ratios help move planning away from guesswork and toward real project history.
Final Thought
Ratios give you a way to compare projects that are not exactly the same size. That is what makes them powerful.
They help you see patterns across your work, understand what past projects actually required, and use that information when setting fees, building budgets, and deciding which opportunities to chase.