Projects & phases

Give each phase its own budget and rate.

Use the same phases as your proposal. Give each one its share of the fee or its own hours plan, then log work against the right phase. You can see which part needs attention without losing the overall project view.

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One project expanded into its phases. Each phase has its own budget, and the phase amounts add up to the project total.

Keep each phase's budget, rate, and status in one place.

A project total can tell you the whole job is over budget, but not whether the extra hours went into planning, design, revisions, or delivery. That makes the number hard to act on and even harder to learn from.

Give each phase its own share of the fee or planned hours. As you log time, Phased shows which part needs attention while the rest of the project continues normally.

Match the project structure to the agreed fee.

Use the phase names from your proposal and assign each phase its share of the agreed price. Change the rate only where a phase should earn something different, and choose the task groups needed for that work.

The hours you log, the budget warnings you see, and the reports you create all follow this structure. You can update the live project later without changing a report that has already been created.

Start simple. Split when the project grows.

Begin with one project and one budget when the work does not need a visible phase breakdown. Add phases later when the structure becomes clear.

Adding phases does not rewrite earlier entries. Their hours stay together until you choose which new phase they belong to.

Nova Rebrand Simple project
€5,400 budget · 39h logged

Set your usual rate once. Change only what differs.

Set the rate you use most often for the workspace. A project can use a different rate, and an individual phase can use another one when needed. Phased automatically uses the most specific rate you have set.

Enter the agreed price and Phased shows how many hours it allows at that rate. Or enter the planned hours and see their value. Changing a rate updates this comparison, never the original budget you entered.

What the rate turns into

The rest of the toolkit

Split one price evenly

  • Enter one project price and Phased divides it evenly across the phases.
  • Switch to Per phase to adjust the amount for each phase.
  • The phase amounts always add up to the project total.

Money or hours

  • Start with the agreed amount and the rate you want the work to earn; Phased shows the planned hours.
  • Or enter the hours you can spend and see what they are worth at that rate.
  • Changing the rate updates the converted figure, but never changes the budget you entered.

Simple stays simple

  • Use one project budget when the work does not need a phase breakdown.
  • Add visible phases later if the job grows or its structure becomes clearer.
  • Hours already logged stay in place until you choose to move them to a new phase.

Reported, then paid

  • Move each phase through To do, Working, Done, Reported, and Paid.
  • The project row summarises progress, such as 1/3 paid.
  • Close out one phase while the next remains active instead of treating the whole project as one status.

Out of scope, per entry

  • Mark a time entry when it covers work outside the agreed price.
  • Its hours stop counting against the original phase budget.
  • The entry remains in your records and can be priced separately on Pro.

Archived, never deleted

  • Archive a finished project to remove it from active pickers and the active-project count.
  • Its hours, budgets, and reports remain available when you need the history.
  • Projects that already contain work are archived rather than permanently removed.

Common questions

Do I have to use phases?

No. Start with one project and one budget when that matches the job. If you need more detail later, add phases and decide where the hours already logged should sit. Nothing is lost.

What happens to logged time when I split a project into phases?

It stays where it is. Adding phases does not silently redistribute or recalculate earlier entries. Move an entry only when you want its hours to count toward a different phase.

Is the budget a hard limit?

No. You can always keep logging time. Phased warns when the planned hours are running out and shows what the fixed price is earning per hour, but it does not decide why the work ran long. Mark an entry Out of scope only when it covers work outside the agreement; reports call that marked work Additional Work.

Can two phases have different rates?

Yes. Set the rate you use most often as the workspace default. Change it for a project or an individual phase only when that work should use a different rate, such as higher-value concept or design work.