Creating a Project
We'll start with a simple, one-time project where we'll bill the client for the actual hours worked (also known as a Timesheet).
Creating a Project
In the top menu, select the Projects tab and then click on Add New Project on the right.
Project Form
Description of Individual Fields
For our example, we'll fill out the form as follows:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
Project Type | One-time |
Project Name | Website redesign |
Project ID | 001 |
Client | Milkshake Corporation |
Budget Type | Time Estimates |
Estimate per Person | |
Client Rate | Client Rate per Activity |
Project Start | 11/1/2024 |
Project End | 11/30/2024 |
In our example, we're using the budget type Time Estimates, which we'll briefly explain:
Time Estimates Means that we'll bill the client based on our time estimates and predetermined hourly rates. Regardless of how many hours we actually spend, the budget remains the same.
Estimate per Person Indicates that we'll assign each person a specific number of hours they are expected to spend on a given activity.
Client Rate per Activity Means that the same hourly rate is set for performing a specific activity, regardless of who performs it.
To learn more about the different types of budgets, read the article Types of Budgets.
Next, click on Continue to Tags.
The next part of the setup deals with project tags. We'll skip them for now. We'll cover Tagging in a separate chapter.
So let's proceed by clicking Continue to Budget.
Budget Form
The available fields vary depending on the budget type. What remains consistent is filling in the activities and people on the left side of the form. Learn more in the section on Types of Budgets.
Now we'll fill in the individual activities of our project.
In our example, we'll use the following activities, which we created in the Create Activities section of Quick start in 5 steps guide.
In the table below, you can see the activities, team members, estimated hours, and the hourly rates we'll charge the client.
For the <me> entry, select yourself (in our example, David Maralík) so you'll be able to log your time on the project.
| Activity | Person | Estimated Hours | Client Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
Design | Jessica Miller | 10 | $150 |
Design | <me> | 3 | $150 |
Development | Arthur Smith | 5 | $180 |
Development | John Jackson | 15 | $180 |
Account Management | Margaret Collins | 5 | $0 |
Account Management | <me> | 3 | $0 |
In our example, we've set a zero rate for Account Management. This way, you'll see how Costlocker marks hours that won't be billed to the client.
After filling in the details, your screen will look like this:
From the completed budget, we see that a total of 41 hours are to be worked on the project, and we will receive $ 5,550.00 from the client for the work done by the team.
People not assigned within the budget cannot log time on this project.
Click the Continue to Project Expenses button to proceed to the next step.
Project Expenses
Project expenses are used to record external purchases associated with the project. These are usually subcontracted freelancers providing services at a predetermined price or various resold items.
Some examples:
Renting a photo studio
Purchasing stock photos
Outsourcing parts of the project to a subcontractor
Travel expenses related to the project
In our case, we'll record the following items:
| Name | Purchase Price | Selling Price |
|---|---|---|
Copywriting | $800 | $1200 |
Traveling costs | $200 | $0 |
After filling in, our form will look like this:
Here, we see that the total project expenses is $1,000.00 while our revenue will be $1,200.
Click the Continue to Summary button to proceed to the final step.
In this step, we define the Responsible Persons. You can select from team members with the roles of Administrator and Manager.
Confirm your settings by clicking Save, which will take you to the project detail page.
Congratulations!
You've just created your first project.
To understand what each number means and how to work with the Project Detail, see the section Project Detail.
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