Project phases break a large job into manageable stages, each with its own estimates and work orders. Combined with the Financial Summary on the Details tab, you can track contract amounts, costs, and profit margins to see exactly where your money is going.
Before you start:
- Define your phase templates in Manage Lists → Project Phases.
- Create a project and select the phases it will use.
How to Access
Open a project from the Projects list and click the Work Breakdown tab to view phases, or the Details tab to view the Financial Summary.
Setting Up Phase Templates
Phase templates are managed centrally in Manage Lists → Project Phases. Each template has a name and optional description (for example, "Demolition," "Rough-In," "Finish Work"). When you create or edit a project, you select which templates apply to that specific project.
Managing Phases on a Project
- Open the project detail page and click the Work Breakdown tab.
- Click the Manage Phases toggle button to enter editing mode.
- Select or deselect phase tags to add or remove phases from the project.
- Click Manage Phases again to exit editing mode.
Result: The selected phases appear as expandable accordions on the Work Breakdown tab.
Working with Phase Accordions
Each phase on the Work Breakdown tab expands to show two sections:
- Estimates — a table showing the description, price, quantity, and total for each estimate line item linked to this phase.
- Work Orders — a list of work orders assigned to this phase, so you can track which tasks belong to which stage of the project.
This structure lets you see at a glance what work is planned and what work is underway for each phase.
Financial Summary
Once you set up a contract for the project (via the Setup Billing button on the project header), the Details tab displays a comprehensive Financial Summary with four sections:
Contract
- Original Contract Sum — the initial contract amount.
- Change Orders — the total value of all approved change orders.
- Contract Sum to Date — the original sum plus change orders.
Billing
- Billed to Date — the total amount invoiced through pay applications.
- Retainage Held — the portion of billings withheld based on the retainage percentage.
- Outstanding — billed to date minus retainage held.
Costs
- Labor — labor costs from timekeeping records.
- Products — product and material costs from work orders.
- Expenses — expenses recorded against the project.
- PO Paid — amounts paid on purchase orders.
- Total Costs — the sum of labor, products, expenses, and PO payments.
Profit
- Gross Profit — billed to date minus total costs.
- Margin % — gross profit divided by billed to date, expressed as a percentage.
Tip: Review the Financial Summary regularly on long-running projects. Catching cost overruns early gives you time to adjust scope or negotiate change orders with the customer before margins erode.
Setting Up Progress Billing
For projects that require formal pay applications (common in commercial construction), click the Setup Billing button in the project header to create a contract with a Schedule of Values. Once the contract exists, the Progress Billing tab becomes active and you can submit pay applications in AIA G702/G703 format. See Contracts & Schedule of Values for the full setup guide.
Tracking Costs Through Purchase Orders
The Purchase Orders tab on the project detail page provides summary cards showing Total POs, Total Value, Received Value, and Amount Paid. These totals feed into the PO Paid line in the Financial Summary. See Creating a PO for details on linking purchase orders to projects.
Next Steps
- Creating & Managing Projects — create and configure projects with all eight tabs.
- Contracts & Schedule of Values — set up progress billing and retainage.
- Creating a PO — order materials and track costs against the project.
- Project Phases — manage phase templates in your master list.