Independent designers
For solo professionals who need clients, projects, proposals, billing, and financial structure in one place without building an operations stack from scratch.
Platform walkthrough
From concept board to paid invoice, the studio runs in one flow
Diako Studio is built as an all-in-one business and project management platform for interior design studios. Instead of splitting moodboards, approvals, proposals, purchasing, invoicing, accounting, and daily coordination across separate tools, the workflow stays connected from the first project setup onward.
- 3default user groups ready on day one
- 5connected workflow layers on one platform
- 1shared workspace for creative and business follow-through
Workflow layers
01Studio foundation
02Creative engine
03Selections and decisions
04Commercial flow
05Daily operations
Diako is not just a design presentation tool. It acts as the operational backbone of the studio, covering creative work, client flow, finance, and everyday execution in the same workspace.
Who it is for
Designed for studios that need structure without losing the creative side
The product document describes Diako as a platform for professional interior design businesses of different sizes. The important point is not just who can use it, but that the same workflow can serve a solo designer, a growing studio, or a larger firm without forcing each team to rebuild its process in separate software.
Why teams switch
Moodboards, projects, proposals, procurement, accounting, and daily collaboration stop living in disconnected tools with different versions of the truth.
Growing studios
For teams that have outgrown spreadsheets, PDFs, and disconnected apps and need a single operating system for design work, coordination, and approvals.
Established firms
For larger firms managing multiple projects, supplier relationships, formal financial processes, and tighter accountability across the team.
Moodboard-first users
For designers who mainly want the visual workspace, Diako also supports a lighter Moodboard plan without forcing the full operations layer on day one.
Workflow layers
The product is stronger when you see it as one operating story
The source document does not describe Diako as a bag of features. It describes a sequence: foundation, creative work, approvals, commercial follow-through, and studio operations. That is the logic this page now follows.
01
Studio foundation
Set up the workspace once, then run every project from the same structure
Registration creates the studio workspace, after which admins configure plans, taxes, branding, team members, and access rules. Clients become the anchor for related projects, proposals, and invoices, while each project keeps its own areas, checkpoints, and delivery context.
- Three default groups are provisioned immediately: Designer, Project Manager, and Finance.
- Project access can be assigned to specific members or left open across the company.
- Project checkpoints preserve milestone snapshots that can be restored later.
Workspace setupClient directoryProject checkpoints
02
Creative engine
Build concepts by area, not as disconnected moodboards
Inside each project, designers create freeform visual boards for rooms like the kitchen, living room, or primary suite. Boards can pull from uploads, the shared library, or directly from project areas and items, so the presentation layer stays tied to the real project record.
- The canvas supports drag, resize, rotate, layering, styled text, palettes, and decorative assets.
- A context-aware toolbar keeps editing actions clear even when boards become visually dense.
- Templates, AI visual suggestions, Kitchen Design AI, and Free Style help teams explore direction faster without destroying the original board.
Area-based conceptsProject-sourced imageryAI-assisted options
03
Selections and decisions
Keep items, approvals, and client review safe as choices become real
Items are added from the company catalog or created as custom records, then submitted for internal review before they become client-facing. Meaningful changes create new versions, keeping the history clean and protecting downstream proposals, invoices, and financial records from accidental drift.
- Only approved items move forward into proposals and the formal client decision flow.
- Proposal links use a unique URL plus PIN, and clients can approve or reject items one by one without creating an account.
- For deeper collaboration, a separate CRM portal lets invited clients explicitly accept project invitations and review shared work inside their own portal.
Versioned itemsSecure proposal linkSeparate client portal
04
Commercial flow
Turn approved design decisions into proposals, purchase orders, invoices, and accounting records
Approved items become priced proposals with tax breakdowns, vendor costs become purchase orders grouped by supplier, and client-approved items become invoices with partial billing, Stripe payment links, QR codes, and automatic payment confirmation. The accounting layer keeps chart-of-account mapping, tax profiles, and record-level currencies attached to every document.
- Proposals snapshot item imagery and totals at the time the proposal is built.
- Purchase orders track vendor obligations with statuses such as Draft, Issued, Partially Paid, Paid, and Cancelled.
- Finance Pro extends the flow with proper journal posting, general ledger reporting, and immutable audit history for invoices, payments, and manual entries.
Proposal pricingVendor purchasingFinance Pro accounting
05
Daily operations
Keep scheduling, tasks, search, notifications, and showroom displays inside the same system
The platform does not stop after billing. Teams manage company-wide calendar events, task board workflow, time and cost visibility, global search, notifications, internal messaging, and public showroom screens without rebuilding context in separate apps.
- Tasks support multiple assignees, due dates, priorities, comments, checklists, and project links.
- Global search jumps directly to projects, clients, items, proposals, invoices, purchase orders, products, categories, and vendors.
- Showroom displays can auto-refresh every 30 seconds, while new media stays hidden until an admin confirms it with a 6-digit email code.
Calendar and tasksUnified searchProtected showroom updates
Control points
What makes the workflow feel reliable instead of fragile
The document repeatedly emphasizes safety: permissions, snapshots, immutable financial history, decision locks, and protected display updates. Those controls are a big part of why the product feels operationally serious.
Permissions affect menus, routes, and actions
Group permissions are enforced in both the interface and the backend, so team members only see the modules and actions their role actually allows.
Versions and snapshots protect downstream records
Item versions, project checkpoints, and immutable accounting entries keep the studio from rewriting history when products, prices, or settings change later.
Proposal decisions lock risky edits at the right moment
Once a client records an approval or rejection, the proposal cannot be casually altered until those decisions are cleared, protecting the review process from tampering.
Showroom content goes live only after explicit admin confirmation
TVs and public screens continue showing the last approved snapshot until a valid confirmation code is entered for the new playlist.
Studio journey
The end-to-end path described in the product document
This is the practical sequence a design studio follows inside the platform, from first login to day-to-day operation after invoices have gone out.
01
Step 01
Register and configure
Create the workspace, choose the plan, configure tax settings, and invite the team.
02
Step 02
Add clients and projects
Build the base records that connect the engagement, the team, and every commercial document that follows.
03
Step 03
Build concepts by area
Create room-based visual boards with templates, assets, and optional AI-assisted direction.
04
Step 04
Add and approve items
Move selections through review while keeping pricing, vendor data, and version history attached to each item.
05
Step 05
Send proposals
Package approved items into a branded review link where clients can approve or reject choices clearly.
06
Step 06
Issue purchase orders
Convert approved vendor cost rows into vendor-specific procurement documents with payment status tracking.
07
Step 07
Invoice and collect payment
Bill from approved proposal items, add tax and adjustments, and collect through Stripe-powered payment links.
08
Step 08
Run daily operations
Coordinate the rest of the studio through calendar, task board, notifications, search, Messenger, and showroom displays.
Business impact
Why this changes how the studio actually operates
Once the workflow is connected, the studio spends less time rebuilding records and more time moving decisions forward. That shows up in client experience, internal visibility, and financial follow-through.
See the workflow in context
If your current setup splits moodboards, approvals, purchasing, invoicing, and studio follow-up across different tools, this page is the clearest picture of what Diako changes.
Less rebuilding
The same project information can move from concept to proposal to purchasing to invoicing without repeated data entry.
Clearer client decisions
Clients receive cleaner proposal and portal experiences instead of scattered PDFs, email chains, and unclear next steps.
Stronger financial context
Taxes, currencies, account mappings, invoices, payments, and ledger history remain connected to the source work.
Better operational visibility
Studio leads can see tasks, schedules, approvals, procurement, and billing progress from the same platform.
Safer growth
The permission model, snapshots, and historical protections help the workflow scale without the team losing trust in the data.
One credible operating system
Diako Studio behaves like a real studio backbone, not just a presentation tool with a few extra screens.