Setting up projects for a client

Adding a project for a client

Main tab

Open the Project dialog:
There are several ways to access the Project dialog:
In the Clients screen (Setup > Clients), select the client for which you want to add project information and click the Edit button. On the Projects tab, click the Add or Edit button to open the Project dialog.
In the Manage Projects screen (Actions > Manage Projects), right-click the project list and choose either Add Project or Edit Selected Projects from the context menu.
You can also right-click any
Project
field (for example, in Time & Expense Entry) and choose Add Project or Edit Project from the context menu.
Click the Add button on the main toolbar and choose Project from the drop-down menu.
Click the Main tab and enter the following information.
Identification:
Number:
When you save the Project, the application will assign the next available number by default. If necessary, you can enter a different number here.
Client:
The name of the selected client.
Project:
Select a project template ID from the drop-down list. If you have security privileges, you can right-click in this field to add or edit a project template.
Description:
The project template description.
Invoice description:
The description of the project as it will appear on invoices.
note
The Description and Invoice description come from the project template, but you can change these for the current project, if necessary.
Project information:
Engagement:
The default is the engagement that is set up on the project template. You can select a different engagement, if necessary.
Priority:
Select Low, Medium, or High as the priority for the project.
Tracking:
Select a tracking description for the project. If you have security privileges, you can right-click to add or edit tracking descriptions in the drop-down list.
Budget information:
Base on Tasks:
Mark this checkbox if you would like budget information to be based on the information set up on the project’s tasks. When this checkbox is marked, the
Hours
,
Amount
, and
% Complete
fields are read-only.
When the
Base on task
checkbox is marked in the Project dialog, the
Hours
field is read-only and shows the sum of the hours of all tasks entered in the Tasks tab.
When the
Base on task
checkbox is marked in the Project dialog, the
Amount
field is read-only and shows the sum of the amount of all tasks entered in the Tasks tab.
When the
Base on tasks
checkbox is marked in the Project dialog, the
% Complete
field is read-only, and shows a calculated percentage of the budgeted hours for all completed tasks relative to the total budgeted hours for the project.
Example.
A task is completed when the
Tracking
field is set to Completed.
note
When the
Base on tasks
checkbox is not marked, budget information is not calculated automatically. In this case, you can manually enter a percentage in the
% Complete
field.
Calculate amount automatically:
Mark this checkbox to have budget information calculate based on staff rates. The project must be assigned to a staff member, and staff rates must be set up for that staff member and the engagement.
Budgeted:
Budgeted amounts calculated from tasks or staff rates. If neither calculation method is chosen, you can enter budget information manually.
Actual:
Actual amounts are the amounts entered in Time & Expense Entry that have been associated with the tasks (if the
Base on Tasks
checkbox is marked) or project (if it is not marked).
Est. Remaining:
You can make manual adjustments to the estimated remaining hours needed to complete the project. Enter a number in this field or click the More button to enter the new balance in the Estimated Remaining Hours dialog, where you can also enter comments. This field is not available if the
Base on tasks
checkbox is marked.
% Complete:
When the
Base on tasks
checkbox is marked, the
% Complete
field is read-only, and shows a calculated percentage of the budgeted hours for all completed tasks relative to the total budgeted hours for the project. When the
Base on tasks
checkbox is not marked, budget information is not calculated automatically. In this case, you can manually enter a percentage. Overridden percentages show in red.
Target dates: For a new project, the
Start
and
Complete
dates are set to the date calculated based on the selected project template and client. You can edit these dates, if necessary.
Actual dates:
Received:
The project template gives you the option to base project and task target dates on the date that you enter in the
Received
field. If the assigned project template has this option selected, the application calculates and populates the target dates on the project and tasks when you enter a date in this field.
Start:
The date that you enter must be on or after the received date. When you enter a date in this field, the
Tracking
field changes to Started.
Complete:
The date that you enter must be on or after the start date. When you enter a date in this field, the application sets the project’s and tasks’
Tracking
fields to Completed and populates the task’s completed dates with the date that you entered.
Due dates: The drop-down list contains the descriptions of any extensions that have been set up for the project. If you choose an extension, the extended due date calculated by the application appears in the
Current
field.
note
If the project template did not have any extensions set up, no extensions will be available from this drop-down list. However, you can add an extension by right-clicking the list and choosing Add Entry from the context menu.
Extensions that you later add to a project template are not added to existing projects. To add an extension to an existing project, right-click the drop-down list and choose Add Entry from the context menu.
Click the Recurrence button to open the Recurrence dialog, where you can specify the project frequency, dates, and generation options for future projects.
Groupings: Groupings let you categorize projects for filtering the list of projects and for creating reports. You can group projects by department and by the staff responsible.
Responsible:
The staff member responsible for the client or engagement.
Department:
The department of the responsible staff member.
Assigned: Click the More button to assign staff members to the project.
If you are licensed for the Staff Management module, you can also:
Manually assign staff to the project based on their qualifications. Select a filter from the drop-down list, or click the More button next to the
Staff qualifications
field and create a filter to specify which qualifications the assigned staff must possess to work on the project.
Automatically assign staff to the project based on a work queue. When you click the
Work queue
option, the project is placed in a queue that appears in the Work Queue portlet of the Staff Dashboard for staff who meet the qualifications.
Solution:
Select solution:
Select the solution you will use to complete the project from the drop-down list. If the solution you want to use is not available from the drop-down list, click the More button next to the
Solution path
field to navigate to the solution.
When you select a solution (Microsoft Word or Excel, or other application) for a project or task, Digita Practice Advanced will do the following when you launch the solution from the project or task:
If the client exists in the solution that you have selected, the client will be opened automatically.
If you have entered a file path for Word or Excel, the document in the file path will open automatically.
Digita Practice Advanced will automatically start a timer, if you have the
Start Timer for Projects
checkbox marked in Setup > User Preferences > Time & Expense Entry. When you close the client, document, or application, the timer is stopped. You then need to post the recorded time to Time & Expense Entry.
GoFileRoom Workflow
: If you are licensed for GoFileRoom, click the More button to launch GoFileRoom and select a workflow to associate with the project.
Notes
: Use this field to enter any additional information about the project. Text that you enter here will appear on the Routing Sheet report.
Click the Scheduling button to open the Scheduling dialog, where you can schedule the project for one or more staff members. If you have specified staff qualifications for the project, only those staff who meet those qualifications will appear in the Scheduling dialog.

Tasks tab

Links tab

Custom Fields tab