Platform comparison · Practice management and ERPs
Deltek Ajera is project accounting for small A&E firms: timesheets, billing, budgets and staffing on its own books. Its accounting goes deeper than ARK's. ARK keeps QuickBooks as the books and runs time, fees and invoices, then the projects those hours go into: design, CA, bidding and your pipeline.
Pricing
Checked October 2026: Third-party estimates range widely; the most cited is about $200* per user per month, plus implementation estimated at $5,000–$20,000*. Deltek quotes after a demo.
Third-party estimates; the vendor does not publish prices.
* Pricing not publicly posted. Estimated from online sources, checked October 2026; confirm with the vendor.
Unlimited $179/user/mo list — the Founding Forty lock $119/user/mo for three years, firms 41–100 lock $149/user/mo for three years. Staff seats $34/user/mo for people who log time and do assigned work. Construction à la carte $69/project/mo. First project free forever.
| Feature | Deltek Ajera | ARK Projex |
|---|---|---|
| Timesheets and expenses | Yes — with Timesheet Assist and receipt reading | ✓ |
| Invoicing | Yes — invoices routed for approval and sent electronically | ✓ |
| AIA-style pay applications (G702/G703-style schedule of values) | Firm invoicing only — no contractor pay-app review | ✓ |
| Project budgets and fee forecasting | Yes — budgets and project health dashboards | Yes — Fee & Budget per project, plus Revenue and Profit forecasts |
| Staffing and resource planning | Yes — Schedule Manager | Yes — Staff Allocations, with a monthly capacity view |
| Financial reports | ✓ | ✓ |
| QuickBooks Online connection | Not needed — Ajera keeps its own books | ✓ |
| CRM pipeline | Not listed on its site | ✓ |
| Proposals | Not listed on its site | ✓ |
| Submittals and RFIs (construction administration) | — | ✓ |
| Design-phase management | Partial — schedules and staffing, not deliverable workflows | ✓ |
| Bidding | — | ✓ |
| Client portal | Partial — invoice payment through the Ajera Payments add-on | ✓ |
| AI access under the person's own permissions | Partial — its own assistant (Ask Dela), not your own AI tool | Yes — your own AI tool reads ARK under your permissions; an owner or administrator can also make a token that sets up the firm |
| Published pricing | No — quote only | ✓ |
| Self-serve trial | No — demo first | ✓ |