Client intake for architecture firms: one form, one reply, one folder

Step by step

1. 1Write the form once

   Use Google Forms or Microsoft Forms. Ask only what you need to open the project: project name, client name, client email, site address, project type and target start. Budget and brief detail wait for the first meeting.

2. 2Fix the project number format

   Pick a prefix, the year and a three-digit sequence, for example P-2026-014. If the firm already numbers projects, keep that format and continue the sequence.

3. 3Fix the subfolder list

   Agree one list of numbered top-level folders, for example 01 Admin, 02 Drawings, 03 Correspondence, 04 Photos, 05 Invoices. One person owns the list.

4. 4Send the same-day reply

   The day the form arrives, reply with what you received, the project number, the next step and who the client will hear from.

5. 5Log the project in one sheet

   Add one row to a Projects sheet: number, name, client, date opened and the folder link. Every other system (status emails, RFI log, invoices) can read from that list.

6. 6Automate once the steps stop changing

   When the form, numbering and folders have stayed the same for a few projects, a form-submit trigger can create the folder and the row. It should share nothing on its own.

Why intake is worth fixing first

Intake is the one admin task every project goes through. If it starts differently each time, the differences spread: files land in personal folders, numbers are skipped or repeated, and nobody is sure which email has the client's correct address. Fixing intake fixes the first link in every other chain on this site, from the weekly status email to the RFI log, because they all read from the same Projects sheet.

What the form should not ask

Long intake forms feel thorough and get abandoned, or filled in with guesses. Keep the form to what opens the project. These belong in the first meeting instead:

• Budget. Clients answer more honestly when you can explain what the number covers.
• Detailed brief and room-by-room needs. These change in the first conversation.
• Planning history and site constraints. You will want documents, not a text box.
• Fee expectations. Discuss them once you understand the scope.

Project numbers that never collide

The safest rule is a prefix, the year and a sequence that never resets mid-year: P-2026-001, P-2026-002. Store the last number used in one place, such as a cell in the Projects sheet or a script property, and read it before assigning the next. Two people opening projects on the same day is where duplicate numbers come from, so let one form or one person own the sequence.

What an automated version does, and what it should not do

In Google Workspace, the form saves answers to a linked sheet, and an Apps Script form-submit trigger can assign the number, create the folder and its subfolders in Drive, and write the folder link back to the row. In Microsoft 365, a Power Automate flow does the same with Microsoft Forms, Excel for the web and a SharePoint library. Either way, three rules keep it safe:

• It shares nothing. Folders are owned by the account the trigger or flow runs under, and a person shares them.
• It sends nothing to the client on its own. The same-day reply can be prepared as a draft, then read and sent.
• Someone can pause it: delete the trigger, or turn off the flow, and stop the form accepting responses.

Copying a full template folder tree with files inside is a bigger build than creating empty subfolders. Start with empty folders; add templates once the list is stable.

Copy-paste intake kit

The form questions, the reply and a settings sheet. Replace everything in [square brackets].

Download the templates as a plain text file, no signup needed.

1. Project name (short answer, required)
2. Client name (short answer, required)
3. Client email (short answer, required)
4. Client phone (short answer)
5. Site address (paragraph, required)
6. Project type (choice: New build / Renovation / Addition / Interior fit-out / Other)
7. Target start (date)
8. How did you hear about us? (short answer)
9. Anything else we should know? (paragraph)

Hi [Client first name],

Thank you for the details on [project name]. We have opened it as project [number], and that number will be on every email and document from us.

Next step: [next step, for example a 30-minute call to walk through the brief]. [Name] will be in touch by [date].

If anything in the form changes before then, reply to this email.

Best,
[Your name]
[Firm name]

Form link and form owner:
Who fills the form (client, or someone in the firm after the first call):
Project number format and last number used:
Parent folder for all projects, and its owner:
Subfolder list, and who may change it:
Who shares the folder with the team, and how:
Who sends the same-day reply:

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Google Docs Editors Help: Choose where to save form responses (linking a form to a sheet)
• Google Apps Script: Installable triggers (form-submit triggers)
• Google Apps Script: Class DriveApp (creating folders)
• Microsoft Learn: Overview of using Microsoft Forms and Power Automate