Question 1

What is Aria?

Accepted Answer

Aria is a delivery operations platform for businesses that run on client work. It brings projects, people, time and money into one live operating picture, identifies what needs attention and recommends the next move while there is still time to influence the outcome.

Question 2

Who is Aria for?

Accepted Answer

Businesses whose revenue depends on delivering work for clients — agencies, consultancies and other professional service teams. It is particularly useful when delivery, capacity, time and commercial information currently live across several different tools, spreadsheets or people.

Question 3

Is Aria a PSA?

Accepted Answer

Aria covers many of the operational areas traditionally associated with PSA software — projects, resources, time and commercial performance. But that is not how we define the product. Aria is a delivery operations platform: the focus is not simply storing operational data in one system, it is helping teams understand what is changing, why it matters and what they may need to do next.

Question 4

Is Aria a project management tool?

Accepted Answer

Project delivery is part of Aria, but Aria is designed around a wider operating picture. The plan connects to the people delivering it, their capacity, actual time, scope, costs, margin, risks, changes and client decisions. The plan becomes part of understanding where delivery is heading rather than existing as a standalone task list.

Question 5

What problem does Aria solve?

Accepted Answer

Most service businesses already have plenty of data. The harder problem is knowing what it means soon enough to do something about it. Aria connects the information around delivery so teams can see where projects, capacity or margin are starting to drift before the outcome is already fixed.

Question 6

What does Aria manage?

Accepted Answer

Depending on your plan and workspace configuration, Aria can bring together opportunities, Statements of Work, projects, tasks and phases, people and capacity, time, project health, risks and governance, scope and change control, budgets and rates, billing and costs, client approvals, project updates and reporting.

Question 7

How does information connect across Aria?

Accepted Answer

The value is not simply that the information is stored in the same place — Aria uses the relationship between it. Actual time can change the view of remaining delivery. Capacity can change whether planned work is realistic. A predicted delay can change expected cost and margin. An approved scope change can alter the commercial baseline. That connected picture is what lets Aria identify what needs attention earlier.

Question 8

Does Aria replace all of our existing tools?

Accepted Answer

Not necessarily. Aria is designed to become the operating picture around client delivery, but the right setup depends on how your team already works. Where supported, integrations bring useful context from the systems around Aria rather than forcing every piece of work to happen inside one application. See the integrations page for what connects today.

Question 9

Can we use Aria for multiple clients and projects?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Aria is designed to manage delivery across a portfolio of client work rather than treating every engagement as an isolated project, so you can move from a business-level signal into the underlying project when something needs attention.

Question 10

How does Aria use AI?

Accepted Answer

Where interpretation can remove work or help someone recognise something sooner: extracting information from Statements of Work, explaining project health, identifying work at risk, supporting forecasts, drafting timesheet entries from available evidence, preparing project updates and daily debriefs, answering questions about your delivery information and recommending supported next actions. The purpose is not to replace delivery judgement — it is to help people understand what is happening and decide what to do next.

Question 11

Does Aria make decisions automatically?

Accepted Answer

No. Important delivery decisions stay with the person using Aria. Aria can identify what needs attention, explain what it is seeing and recommend a next move. Where a supported action would change operational information, Aria presents the proposed action for approval before it is carried out. Aria recommends; you stay in control.

Question 12

Can I see why Aria has flagged something?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Open an insight to see the record or evidence behind it and when it was last checked. You can act on it, ask Aria, snooze it for seven days, dismiss it or say it is wrong. If the underlying issue is fixed, the advice clears rather than repeating indefinitely.

Question 13

Does AI calculate our financial figures?

Accepted Answer

No. Financial figures are calculated from structured project and commercial data. Generative AI helps interpret or explain them, never invent them. Where important information is missing, that limitation is stated alongside the number instead of being filled in with something plausible.

Question 14

Can Aria answer questions about our projects?

Accepted Answer

Yes, where Aria Assistant is available for your plan and workspace. Because delivery information is connected, you can ask about projects, risks, resources, time or the wider portfolio without navigating through every screen, and answers are grounded in the information Aria can access.

Question 15

Is our data used to train AI models?

Accepted Answer

No. Your workspace data is used to serve your workspace. Our approach to AI is set out in full on the ethical AI page.

Question 16

Can Aria create a project from a Statement of Work?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Upload a Statement of Work and Aria extracts the project information it can find — scope, dates, roles, milestones, deliverables, rates and other delivery details. You review the extracted information before the live project is created. You can also create a project without a Statement of Work and enter the approved contract value manually.

Question 17

Does Aria automatically trust everything it extracts?

Accepted Answer

No. Project creation includes a review stage. Aria shows what it has extracted and keeps the source document attached to the project, so uncertain or conflicting information can be checked before it becomes part of the project.

Question 18

Can I change what Aria extracts?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The point of extraction is to reduce re-keying, not to remove human control. Every extracted field is editable in the review stage, and you can also ask Aria to revise the draft in chat.

Question 19

What happens if information is missing from the SOW?

Accepted Answer

Aria does not invent missing contractual or commercial information. Where something important cannot be found, the review stage makes that clear so somebody can add or confirm it.

Question 20

Can Aria plan work before an opportunity is won?

Accepted Answer

Yes, where tentative project planning is enabled. An opportunity or proposal can be used to create tentative delivery demand, so operations can understand the potential impact on capacity before the work becomes committed.

Question 21

How does Aria show project health?

Accepted Answer

From information already in the project — recognised delivery progress, risks, issues, schedule movement and commercial signals. Rather than only showing a status, Aria explains what it is seeing, and project managers can still apply their own judgement. Once a project is complete or cancelled, old deadlines stop generating live-delivery warnings.

Question 22

Can Aria predict when a project will finish?

Accepted Answer

Where enough delivery information is available, Aria forms a predicted completion view from the live project rather than relying only on the original committed date. It is a current forecast, not a guarantee, and the contributing detail can be opened and recomputed.

Question 23

What is Work at risk?

Accepted Answer

Work at risk surfaces work that looks likely to miss its expected delivery date before it is already overdue. Aria shows the factors contributing to the warning and suggests possible interventions for the team to consider.

Question 24

Can project managers override Aria?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Where an override is supported — project health, for example — the person responsible can apply their judgement and record the reason, and Aria keeps the underlying system assessment for context.

Question 25

Does Aria include resource planning?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Aria shows how work is distributed across the team, where someone is becoming overallocated and where capacity remains available. Because the capacity view is connected to project work, it changes as delivery changes.

Question 26

Can Aria include pipeline work in capacity planning?

Accepted Answer

Yes, where tentative demand has been created from an opportunity. That lets operations compare committed work with expected future work and see where delivery pressure may build if the pipeline lands.

Question 27

Does Aria include timesheets?

Accepted Answer

Yes. People record time against the work they are delivering — from a live timer, the weekly grid, or by telling Aria what they worked on — and those actuals feed back into delivery, capacity and commercial performance.

Question 28

Can Aria draft timesheets using AI?

Accepted Answer

Where AI-drafted timesheets are enabled, Aria suggests entries from available evidence such as timers, work activity, meetings, calendar context and project information. The person reviews and corrects the suggestions; Aria does not submit time on their behalf.

Question 29

Can we use different rates for different clients or projects?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Rate cards hold rates by role, and a rate card can be set as the default for a client or selected for a specific project, so the right rate is applied to the work being delivered.

Question 30

Can Aria track project margin?

Accepted Answer

Yes, where the required commercial and cost information is available. Aria keeps contract value, earned revenue, recognised cost, cost at completion and forecast margin distinct. Fixed-fee revenue is recognised through cost-to-cost progress, capped at the approved contract value; if an input is missing, Aria marks the result as not measurable rather than inventing it.

Question 31

How does Aria show whether a project is over or under budget?

Accepted Answer

Aria compares cost at completion with the project's cost budget and shows the cash and percentage variance as favourable or adverse. If no approved cost budget exists, it can use the delivery plan as a clearly labelled provisional baseline. The client fee is shown separately and is never used as the budget comparator.

Question 32

Why is seeing forecast margin useful?

Accepted Answer

Because discovering a margin problem after the project finishes leaves very little to decide. A live forecast gives the team a chance to investigate what is driving the movement while the delivery plan can still be influenced.

Question 33

Can Aria show what a project delay might cost?

Accepted Answer

Where enough project and commercial information is available, Aria models the potential commercial exposure a delay creates — additional labour cost, margin movement, revenue timing and contractual-date exposure. The basis of the calculation is shown, and anything Aria cannot measure is marked as such rather than estimated silently.

Question 34

Does Aria handle invoicing?

Accepted Answer

Aria holds project budgets, rates, costs and billing state, and keeps billing information connected to the delivery project. It connects to Xero for invoicing and payment status. Aria is not an accounting platform — your accounting system stays the system of record for accounts.

Question 35

Are financial figures shown with or without VAT?

Accepted Answer

Amounts are stored and calculated net of VAT. A workspace can choose to display billing and cash figures including VAT at its default rate, and Aria states the basis beside those figures. Cost, margin and variance remain net of VAT.

Question 36

Can Aria track project scope?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Aria maintains a scope of record against the project, so the team can see the agreed baseline rather than relying on the original contract, an email thread or somebody's memory.

Question 37

How does change control work?

Accepted Answer

A proposed change moves through five stages — Understand, Decide, Review, Approve, Done. The workflow captures what is changing, its delivery and commercial impact, the proposed treatment and whether client approval is required.

Question 38

What choices can we make when a client asks for more work?

Accepted Answer

Aria records the decision as charging for the additional work, exchanging existing scope, absorbing the work, or declining the request. The important thing is that extra work becomes a deliberate commercial decision rather than disappearing into delivery.

Question 39

Can clients approve changes through Aria?

Accepted Answer

Yes, where the client portal and approval workflow are enabled. Changes needing client approval are surfaced in the portal, so the decision and its trail stay attached to the project.

Question 40

Can clients access Aria?

Accepted Answer

Aria provides a controlled client-facing portal for supported projects. The client sees the information you intentionally make available rather than your internal workspace, and plan items can be marked internal-only so they never appear.

Question 41

What can clients do in the portal?

Accepted Answer

Depending on the project configuration: view the project overview, phases, client-facing budget, documents and updates, raise requests, and respond to approvals.

Question 42

Can Aria create project status updates?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Aria prepares a factual update from information already in the project and other supported sources. The project manager reviews the draft before it is published or sent.

Question 43

Can we see what information the AI used?

Accepted Answer

Where source disclosure is supported, Aria lists the underlying sources used to prepare an update or an answer, so the draft can be checked rather than taken on trust.

Question 44

Does Aria include reporting?

Accepted Answer

Yes — standard reports across the operating information held in Aria, plus bespoke reports generated from a question you ask, and scheduled reports that run on a recurring basis.

Question 45

What does Aria integrate with?

Accepted Answer

Gmail, Outlook Email, Google Calendar, Outlook Calendar, Fireflies.ai, Jira, Xero, Slack and Microsoft Teams. The integrations page describes what each one does. Only connections that exist today are listed.

Question 46

Why does Aria integrate with email and calendars?

Accepted Answer

The aim is not to add entries to a marketplace. Useful activity around client delivery often sits in meetings, calendars and communication tools, so where supported Aria uses that context to reduce re-entry and improve the operating picture around the work.

Question 47

Do we have to replace our existing project tools immediately?

Accepted Answer

Not necessarily. The right rollout depends on your operating model and which parts of Aria you adopt first. Integrations and imports can carry information across, though we would not promise every external system can stay in place permanently.

Question 48

Who sets up a connection?

Accepted Answer

Email, calendar and meeting accounts are connected by each person under their own settings. Jira, Xero, Slack and Microsoft Teams are connected once for the workspace by an administrator.

Question 49

Is there an API?

Accepted Answer

Not a public one today. If an API is what would make Aria work for you, tell us — that feedback shapes what we build.

Question 50

Is there a free plan?

Accepted Answer

Yes. There is a Free plan, and it is also where a workspace lands if a trial ends without a subscription. Current plans and inclusions are on the pricing page.

Question 51

Is there a free trial?

Accepted Answer

Yes — 14 days, with no card required to start.

Question 52

Can we pay monthly or annually?

Accepted Answer

Both. Aria is licensed per seat with monthly or annual billing across two paid tiers, Insights and Orchestration. Prices for your region are shown on the pricing page.

Question 53

What happens when the trial ends?

Accepted Answer

You are not locked out. If you do not subscribe, the workspace falls back to the Free plan and your data stays where it is.

Question 54

What's the difference between Insights and Orchestration?

Accepted Answer

Insights covers the connected operating picture — delivery, people, time, commercials and explanation. Orchestration adds Aria's proposed operational actions on top. The pricing page sets out what each tier includes.

Question 55

Can larger teams get a tailored plan?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Enterprise is a custom quote for larger teams needing things such as SSO, advanced permissions and audit, dedicated onboarding, an SLA and data residency options. It is arranged through us rather than self-serve — get in touch from the pricing or contact page.

Question 56

How does Aria protect customer data?

Accepted Answer

Data is encrypted in transit and at rest, access is scoped per workspace and enforced at the database level, and roles determine what each person can see. The security page covers this in detail.

Question 57

Have you been independently assessed?

Accepted Answer

Aria has completed a Google CASA Tier 2 assessment, which includes verification against the OWASP Application Security Verification Standard. We do not claim certifications we do not hold.

Question 58

Does Aria use customer data to make up project information?

Accepted Answer

No. Operational outputs are grounded in the information available to the system. Where information is missing or uncertain, that limitation is shown rather than presenting an invented project or financial fact as truth.

Question 59

What happens to documents I upload?

Accepted Answer

Uploaded documents are stored against the project they belong to in your workspace, access is scoped to that workspace, and Aria uses them as context for the project. The privacy policy sets out data handling and retention.

Question 60

Can clients see our internal information?

Accepted Answer

Only what you choose to share. The client portal exposes a deliberately limited view, and plan items can be marked internal-only so they never appear to a client.

Question 61

Can we export our data?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Reports can be exported, and if you leave you can take your data with you. The privacy policy sets out data handling and retention.

Question 62

Where can I read about Aria's approach to AI?

Accepted Answer

The ethical AI page sets it out in full: AI is used for interpretation and drafting, financial figures are calculated from structured data, and important operational decisions remain human-owned.

Question 63

Who is the company behind Aria?

Accepted Answer

Aria Software Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 17207112, registered office 9 Woodthorpe Lea, Beverley, East Yorkshire.

Question 64

How quickly can we get started?

Accepted Answer

You can create a workspace and start bringing projects into Aria straight away — manually, through supported imports, or from a Statement of Work. How much setup is involved depends on the data and workflows you bring across, so we would rather not quote an arbitrary implementation time.

Frequently asked questions

About Aria

How Aria works

AI & decision support

Projects & Statements of Work

Project delivery

People, capacity & time

Commercial control

Scope & change control

Clients & reporting

Integrations

Pricing & trial

Security & data

Getting started