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Track project status

Use the Project Management module in Practice CS track the status of projects. There are 2 primary methods available for tracking the status of a project:

Tracking Description
: Each project and its associated tasks include a Tracking Description
field. The 4 tracking descriptions predefined by Practice CS include: Not Started
, Started
, Completed
, and Canceled
. You can also add custom tracking descriptions to help define the current status of a project or task.

Ready Task
: Practice CS assigns a Ready flag to the task waiting to be worked on or currently in process. This helps you determine what stage or status the project is currently in. To use this method, you must associate tasks with the projects.

Use Tracking Descriptions to monitor the status of a project or task

Each project and task includes a Tracking Description
field that indicates the current status of the project or task. Practice CS predefines 4 tracking descriptions: Not Started
, Started
, Completed
, and Canceled
. These tracking descriptions can't be changed or deleted since they have special meaning to the system. However, you can add additional tracking descriptions to define the status of a project or task.

To add a custom tracking description:

Select Setup
, then Tracking Descriptions
.

Select Add
.

Enter a description (up to 30 characters) for the new Tracking Description
.

Select Enter
.

The tracking description for a project or task can be changed in the following locations:

Setup
, Clients
, the Projects
tab

Actions
, Manage Projects
, the Projects
tab

Actions
, Manage Projects
, the Project Tasks
tab

Projects portlet on the Client Dashboard

Projects portlet on the Staff Dashboard

Tasks portlet on the Staff Dashboard

Time & Expense Entry - Task Selection screen

To change the tracking description on a project or task:

Open the project or task in 1 of the previously listed locations.

Select the dropdown in the Tracking
field.

Select the tracking description that describes the current status of the project or task.

Select OK
.

The tracking description for a project or task is displayed anywhere in the system that a project or task can be opened. Additionally, the tracking description is displayed in the following locations:

Actions
, Manage Projects
, the Projects
tab

Actions
, Manage Projects
, the Project Tasks
tab

Project portlet on the Client Dashboard

Project portlet on the Staff Dashboard

Tasks portlet on the Staff Dashboard

Project Tracking report

Task Tracking report

Use the Ready task to monitor the status of a project

You can add tasks to a project to define and track the individual steps needed to perform the work associated with the project. Each project is assigned an order number when it's added to a project. The order number, which can be modified, defines the order in which the tasks are performed. Each task has a flag that indicates that the task is ready to be worked on. In order for the ready flag to be active on a task:

For the 1st task in the project:

If the Target Start Date
is based on number of months and days After Received
, the first task is marked "ready" when the Received Date
has been entered on the project

If the Target Start Date
is based on number of months and days Before due, the first task is marked "ready" when the project is added or generated.

For subsequent tasks, a task is marked "ready" when the tracking description on the prior task in the task order is changed to Completed.

Determine the status of a project based on the ready task:

To view the status of multiple projects on the Manage Projects Screen:

Select Actions
, Manage Projects
, then the Project Tasks
tab.

Filter or group the screen for the set of projects to view.

Sort the tasks descending on the Ready
field so all ready tasks are at the top of the list.

Observe the Activity of the "ready" task which indicates the current status of each project.

To view the status of a specific project on the Manage Projects screen:

Go to Actions
, Manage Projects
, and then the Projects
tab.

Select the project to check the status of.

Check for tasks that display Yes
in the ready column. This indicates the current status of the project.

note

If none of the tasks have Yes
in the Ready
column, then the Received Date
hasn't been entered on the project.

To view the status of multiple projects on the Task Tracking report
:

Select File
, then Print Reports
.

Select the Task Tracking
report.

On the Selection
tab:

Set the dates to include the projects you want included in the report.

Set the 1st filter to Ready > is selected
.

Set the 2nd filter to Project > is in the filter > Active Projects
where Active Projects is a custom project filter for Tracking Description > is in the list > <all tracking descriptions except Completed and Canceled>
.

On the Layout
tab

Set the first Group by to Project
.

Set the Sort on
the Detail by line to Client ID.

This will create a report organized by project type, then each client's project with a ready task. You can further filter the report for a particular set of projects or clients on the Selection tab.

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Track project status

Use Tracking Descriptions to monitor the status of a project or task

Use the Ready task to monitor the status of a project

This article applies to: