Although jobs can span multiple days, if you have longer-term projects with complex work assignments and specialized invoicing needs, you may want to consider using the Project record. Projects allow you to better manage projects that may have a longer duration and several pieces of work assigned underneath it.
Enabling Projects
To begin using projects, you'll first need to enable it. Start by clicking on Company Settings and selecting Features & Plugins. Navigate to Project Management and select Enable. Now you're ready to begin creating and tracking your projects!
Managing Your Projects
After enabling Projects, find them on the left-side of your screen under Work. Once on the Projects page, you will be taken to the List view by default. Here you can view a list of all of your projects. In this view, you can see the Project names, status, date range, assigned teams, completion percentage, and associated customer.
By clicking the Open, Closed, Unassigned, Archived, or All tabs, you can easily sort your projects by status, as well as see which projects have not been assigned to teams. You can also see all of your projects at a glance.
You can also use the Gantt tab to organize your projects by date, and see what you have going on for the month. Hover over any of the projects listed in the Gantt view to show the details.
Click on the By Status tab to see your projects organized by their completion status.
Creating a Project
Create a Project from Scratch
Click the Create Project button to create a new project.
In the pop-up window, select the customer, name your project, add a description, and choose the start and end date. The location will automatically be pulled from your customer's information.
Next, change the Project Status to reflect the stage that the project is at. You'll be able to updated this as the project progresses.
If you'd like to track your progress on this project, use the completion percentage slider to indicate your current completion level. You can continue to update this slider as the job progresses. You must also click Select Team Assignment to assign one of your teams to this project. To learn more about teams, visit this article.
This will pop up a window where you can select a team to assign this project to. Once you've selected a team, click 'Apply'.
Once your project's details are complete, click Save.
Create a Project from a Job
Start a project from an existing job record to keep everything connected. This is perfect for when a small job, evaluation, or estimate visit turns into a larger project! Select Actions > Create Project on a job record to get started, then follow the steps listed above to complete your project.
Create a Project from a Template
Create project templates in the web app to save time and ensure consistency! Build new sub-records or attach previously created templates for records such as subtasks, estimates, and invoices.
To create a project template, toggle on Save as Project Template when filling out your project details. To build a project from an existing template, select Import Template, then select your desired template.
Navigating a Project Record
After creating your proejct, you will be taken to the project record, where you can:
View and edit all the details you just entered
Add comments
Add jobs or subtasks
Create estimates and invoices
Attach files
Track employee timesheets
And more!
Click the Actions button to perform any of these actions.
You can also select any of these actions from the tabs at the top of the Project Record.
Adding to a Project
Now, you'll want to add jobs to this project. This can be done from the tabs at the top of the Project Record or from the Project Actions button. Click Create New to set up the first job for this project.
Note: If you are not already in the Project Record, you can also create a job from the Jobs button on the left-hand side of your screen. (Just be sure to link it to the related project!)
This will pop up a window to create a job within this project. The Project, Customer and location will be pre-populated. If you need a refresher on creating jobs, click here. You can assign this job to any team member on the team that is assigned to this project.
Once you press Save, the job will show up in the jobs list within the project. Repeat this process to add all the jobs you need in this project.
Once you've added all of your jobs to the project, and your team members have been automatically notified, you may want to add some comments to this project for your team to see. To do so, click on the Comments tab at the top of the Project Record. Write your comment, then click the Send button. This will be visible to all members of the team assigned to this project.
You can also add files to this project under the Files tab.
Examples of file uploads may include:
Photos you want to share with your team
PDF documents like a service manual for a particular piece of equipment.
Related Project Tab
When viewing a record linked to a project, you'll notice the Related Project tab at the top of your screen. This tab allows you to view all records linked to the project from an easy-to-access location. Many users use this feature to reference files from a previous job while working on the project's next job.
Click here to quickly open other jobs, estimates, invoices, purchase orders, and files linked to the same project.
You can also create any of those records and automatically link them to the project from this page by using the Create button.
Completing a Project
When your project is complete, navigate to the Info tab in your Project Record and change the status to Complete. You'll also want to set the completion percentage to 100%.
Video Tutorial
Have additional questions?
Contact us at support@fieldpulse.com or use the chat feature in the bottom right corner of your screen.