Projects

Applies to Workletto 1.x.

A project is what your team tracks time on. Each project can have a client, a billing setting, a budget, a team and its own tasks. Everyone has a Projects page, but members see only the projects they can track time on (see “What members see” below). Only admins and managers add, change, archive or delete projects.

The list is sorted by client, with projects that have no client last. Each row shows the project’s name, its client (or “No client”), “Billable” or “Non-billable”, and “Chosen team” when only chosen people can track time on it. Members see these for the projects they can see. Click a name to open the project.

Add a project

Admins and managers: at the top of Projects:

Type the Project name (up to 200 characters).
Choose a Client, or leave “No client”. Only active clients are offered. The link beside the form goes to Clients to add one. See Add and manage clients. A project needs a client before its time can be put on an invoice.
If your organization has project templates, choose one under Start from a template, or leave “No template”. Below the list, Workletto sums up what the template sets, like “Fixed fee · Hours budget · 4 tasks · Everyone”.
Leave Billable ticked, or untick it. Choosing a template sets it to the template’s.
Click Add project.

A client can’t have two projects with the same name, ignoring capital letters, and neither can projects with no client. Workletto says “This client already has a project called” and the name. The same check applies when you rename a project or move it to another client. A project that already shares a name with another can still be edited without changing its name or client.

The new project opens on its Settings tab, and it starts with a copy of every company-wide task marked to be added to new projects. It is open to everyone until you choose otherwise. A project started from a template has the template’s settings, team and tasks instead.

Project templates

A template is a project’s settings saved under a name, to start new projects from: whether it’s billable, how it’s billed (the project rate, people’s own rates or a fixed fee, with the amount), the budget, the team, and the tasks with their notes. It never has a client; you choose the client and the name each time.

To save one, open a project’s Settings tab, click Save as template under Template, type a Template name (it starts as the project’s name), and click Save template. The template is the project as last saved: changes not yet saved with Save project aren’t in it. Two templates can’t have the same name, ignoring capital letters.

To use one, choose it under Start from a template when you add a project.

Templates are listed under Manage, Templates, with what each one sets. Open More actions beside a template to Rename or Delete it. Nothing stays linked: renaming, deleting or changing a template doesn’t change projects made from it, and changing those projects doesn’t change the template. People who have left the organization are left out of a template’s team. Amounts are copied as they are, in the new project’s currency. Admins and managers can save, use and manage templates.

Settings

Open a project’s Settings tab (or click Settings on its row in the list). It has four sections. Click Save project to keep your changes; Workletto says “Project saved.”

Project

The Name, and the Client. If the project’s client has been archived, it stays as a choice, marked “(archived)”, but no archived client can be chosen for another project.

Billing

Billable. Ticked means that new time on this project starts out billable. It sets the default for new entries only: time already tracked keeps whatever it had, and anyone can change an entry’s Billable box. Time that isn’t billable never goes on an invoice or counts as billable hours.
One hourly rate for the whole project. Everyone’s billable time is charged at the Project hourly rate, in the client’s currency: yours, unless the client is billed in another currency.
Each person’s own hourly rate. Billable time is charged at the rate set for the person who tracked it, under Manage, People. Someone with no rate is charged nothing.
A fixed fee, invoiced in full or in parts. Enter the Fixed fee. See Fixed fee projects below.

These three choices appear only while Billable is ticked. A rate that can’t be read as an amount is refused: “Enter amounts like 120 or 95.50.” A decimal comma works too (95,50), and so do thousands marks (1,250.50 or 1.250,50). A single point followed by three digits, like 1.500, is refused rather than guessed at.

Amounts in the app (the project’s overview, reports) are worked out from the hours and the rate as they are now, so changing a rate changes them everywhere. Invoices are different: an invoice keeps the rate it was made with.

Fixed fee projects

A fixed fee project bills an agreed fee instead of its hours.

Time on it is tracked as usual, and counts against a budget in hours. It isn’t billed by the hour: it never goes on an invoice as hours, and it has no billable amount in Reports.
You bill the fee when you make an invoice, in full or in parts, such as a deposit now and the rest at the end. See Bill a fixed fee.
The project’s overview shows how much of the fee is invoiced and how much is left to bill.

A fee that isn’t an amount above zero is refused: “Enter the fixed fee, like 12000 or 9500.50.”

Once part of the fee is on an invoice (a draft counts):

The fee can’t go below what’s invoiced. Workletto says, for example, “$4,000.00 of this fee is already on invoices, so the fee can’t be less than that.” Raising the fee is fine.
The project stays a fixed fee project: “Part of this project’s fee is already on an invoice, so it stays a fixed fee project.” Its time was never invoiced, so switching to an hourly rate would make all of it billable at once.

Fee per phase

Some work is agreed as a fee for each phase, such as Schematic Design, Design Development, Construction Documents and Construction Administration. A fixed fee project can bill that way:

Add the phases as tasks on the project’s Tasks tab.
On its Settings tab, under Billing, tick Fee per phase (a fee on each task) and click Save project. The box appears once the project is saved as a fixed fee project.
Under Phase fees, enter each phase’s fee and click Save phase fees. A task left empty isn’t a phase.

The project’s fee is then the sum of its phases, shown as “Fixed fee:” and the sum, and it can’t be typed in by hand. Each phase is billed on its own, in full or in parts, within its own fee: see Bill a fixed fee. The project’s overview lists the Phases with each one’s fee, what’s invoiced, what’s left to bill and the hours tracked on it.

You can switch between one fee and a fee per phase only while none of the fee is on an invoice (a draft counts): Workletto says “Part of this project’s fee is already on an invoice, so it can’t switch between one fee and a fee per phase.” Once part of a phase’s fee is invoiced, that phase’s fee can’t go below it, and the phase can’t be deleted (“This phase’s fee is on invoices, so it can’t be deleted.”). Switching back to one fee keeps the sum as the project’s fee, and the tasks stop being phases. A project template saved from a project billed per phase keeps its phases’ fees.

Before any of the fee is invoiced, you can switch the project back to an hourly rate.

Budget

Choose No budget, Total hours, or Total fees (billable amount), and enter the amount. A budget in hours counts all hours tracked on the project; a budget in fees counts the billable amount. You are warned at 80% and when the budget is used up: see Budget alerts.

Hours are typed as a number, such as 40, 12.5 or 12,5, or like 40:30. Anything else gets “Enter the budget in hours, like 40, 12.5 or 40:30.” A budget can be up to 100,000 hours.
If you chose hours or fees and left the amount empty, Workletto asks for it: “Enter the budget in hours.” or “Enter the budget amount.”
A fixed fee project offers No budget and Total hours only. Its time has no billable amount to count against a budget in fees.

Team

Choose who can track time on the project:

Everyone can track time on this project. This is the default.
Only the people I choose. A list of the people in your organization appears; tick the ones who can. Admins and managers can always track time, whether they are ticked or not.

People who can’t see a project don’t see it in the list, can’t choose it in the Time page, and can’t see its tasks.

The project page

Click a project’s name to open it. Projects, above its name, goes back to the list. Its Overview tab shows, along the top:

A project's Overview: its numbers, open tasks, recent time, team and profitability

Hours tracked, and how many of them are billable (“All billable” when every hour is).
Billable amount, with how it is worked out: “At each person’s rate”, “At” the project rate an hour, “No rate set yet”, or “Non-billable”.
Fixed fee, instead of the billable amount on a fixed fee project: the fee, a bar, and what’s invoiced and left to bill, like “$4,000.00 invoiced · $8,000.00 left to bill” (or “All invoiced”).
Budget, as a percentage, a bar and the amounts (“(past the 80% alert)” or “(over budget)”).
Tasks, how many are done out of all, with a link to the ones still open.

Below them:

Open tasks: up to five tasks not yet done, with their status, who they are assigned to and when they are due. All tasks opens the Tasks tab.
Recent time: the five latest entries on the project, newest first, with the day, who tracked it, the task (or the notes) and the hours. See this project in Reports opens the time report with this project chosen.
Team: “Everyone can track time on this project.” or “Only these people can track time here.”, with each person who has tracked time here and their hours, most first. Before anyone has, it says “No time yet.”
Profitability (admins and managers): what the project has earned and cost, all time, worked out as in the Profitability report, with the profit and the margin. If someone who tracked time here has no cost rate, it says so, because their time counts as costing nothing.

The hours include running timers up to now. The Tasks tab shows the count of open tasks in brackets.

Admins and managers also see New invoice at the top when the project has a client: it opens a new invoice for that client.

Tasks on a project

Open the Tasks tab. Anyone who can work on the project can add and change its tasks, not only admins and managers. Admins and managers also see a link to Manage, Tasks for the tasks every project starts with.

Add a task

Type the New task (up to 200 characters).
Choose who it is Assigned to, or “Nobody”. Only people on the project’s team can be chosen. Workletto says “That person isn’t on this project’s team.” if you pick someone who isn’t, except an admin or a manager, who can always be.
Set a Due date if you like.
Click Add task.

The list

Tasks are grouped as In progress, To do and Done, with a count for each. A row shows the task, who it is assigned to (“Unassigned” if nobody) and its due date, for example “Due 20 Oct”. An open task whose date has passed shows “(overdue)” in red.

Tick the box to mark a task done, and untick it to move it back to To do.
The list beside an open task changes its status between To do, In progress and Done.
Edit opens the task: its name, Notes (up to 5,000 characters), who it is assigned to and its due date. Click Save, or Cancel to leave.
Delete, in the same editor, asks “Delete the task” and the name, and says “Time tracked on it stays on the project. This can’t be undone.” The time entries that used the task keep their project and lose the task. Because that changes other people’s entries, only an admin or manager can delete a task that has time on it. Anyone else sees “This task has time on it. Ask an admin or manager to delete it.”

Open tasks are what people choose in the Task list when they track time. A done task is no longer offered there. The tasks assigned to you appear on Projects under “Your open tasks”, with their due dates, and link to the project’s tasks.

Archive a project

Archive a project when the work is over. Next to the project on the list, open More actions and choose Archive, or click Archive project at the foot of its Settings. Workletto asks to confirm and says: “It leaves the list of projects people can track time on. Its time and invoices stay, and you can restore it any time.”

An archived project:

is moved to Archived at the bottom of the Projects page, with its number in brackets, and its page is marked “Archived”;
can’t be chosen for new time or timers, and its open tasks aren’t offered;
keeps all its time, expenses and invoices, and still shows in reports.

Click Restore to bring it back. A project that has no time or expenses can be deleted permanently: click Delete project at the foot of its Settings, or choose Delete in the More actions menu of an archived project. Workletto says “This can’t be undone.” If the project has time, expenses or an invoiced fee, it says “This project has time, expenses or an invoiced fee on it. Archive it instead.”

What members see

A member sees only the projects they can track time on: those open to everyone, and those they are on the team of. For each one they see the name, the client’s name and whether it is billable; on the project page, the hours tracked and how many are billable, the team and the tasks, and only their own entries and hours under Recent time and Team. They don’t see rates, billable amounts, budgets, budget badges, Profitability, New invoice or the Settings tab, and they can’t add, change, archive or delete projects. They can add and change tasks, with the limit on deleting tasks that have time. Archived projects they were on appear under Archived on the list, without any buttons.