Project Management

Creating and Managing Projects

Projects represent the work you do for clients. Each project ties to a client record, carries a contract value in your chosen currency, and serves as the anchor for invoices, payments, team assignments, and activity history. To see every project belonging to a single client (with collection progress for each), open the client and switch to the Related tab.

Creating a new project

Click the Add button at the top of the Projects page. A multi-step form opens on the right side of the screen, guiding you through the required information in logical stages.

1. Step 1 - Project Info - Enter the project name, select the client, add a description, and set the current status.
2. Step 2 - Timeline & Contract - Choose start and end dates, set the contract value and currency, select the project type, and configure recurring billing. If the project is recurring, set the recurring interval (monthly, quarterly, etc.) to define the billing frequency, and the next due date to indicate when the next recurring invoice should be generated.
3. Step 3 - Team & Documents - Apply tags for categorization, assign team members from your employee list, and attach any relevant documents. You can drag and drop files onto the drawer or click the upload area to browse.

Required and optional fields

• Project name: A descriptive name that will appear on invoices and reports.
• Client: The client this project belongs to. Must be an existing client record.
• Contract value: The agreed price the client pays for the project. This is used to measure collection progress as payments come in.
• Currency: The billing currency for this project (defaults to your system currency). Currencies available here are controlled in Settings > Preferences.
• Start / End dates: The planned timeline for the engagement.
• Description: Optional free-text notes about scope, deliverables, or special terms.
• Type: A classification for the project (e.g., fixed-price, retainer, time-and-materials). Helps you categorize and filter projects by engagement model.
• Tags: Optional labels for filtering and grouping projects (e.g., "Web Development", "Retainer", "Priority").
• Recurring interval: Sets the billing frequency for recurring projects (monthly, quarterly, etc.). When configured, Belvak tracks billing periods and surfaces upcoming invoices for approval.
• Next due date: Tracks when the next recurring invoice is due. This date advances automatically each time you approve or skip a billing period.

The project drawer

Click any project row to open the project drawer. The drawer has a hero header showing the project name, client, status badge, and contract value at a glance. Below the header, information is organized into grouped sections: project details, financial summary, team members, linked documents, and activity history. You can upload files directly from this view - drag a file onto the drawer or click the "click to browse" link in the documents section.

Editing and deleting projects

Open the project drawer and click the Edit button to modify any field. The same multi-step form appears with the current values pre-filled. To delete a project, use the delete action from the row's three-dot menu or right-click context menu. Deletion is permanent and requires confirmation.

Changing a project's currency

If you change the currency on a project that already has invoices or payments, Belvak will show you a confirmation dialog listing exactly how many invoices and payments will be affected. If you confirm, the system updates the currency on the project and on every linked invoice and payment in one step, keeping all financial records consistent.

If the project has no linked invoices or payments, the currency change applies immediately with no confirmation needed.

Linking projects to proposals

Projects and proposals have a bidirectional relationship. When you create a project, you can optionally link it to an existing proposal. The link appears in both the project drawer and the proposal drawer, so you can always trace a project back to the deal that originated it.

To convert a proposal into a project, open the proposal and use the "Convert to Project" action. This automatically approves the proposal and opens the project creation form with the client, contract value, and description pre-filled from the proposal.

Cloning Projects

When you need to set up a new project that mirrors an existing one, use Clone Project to duplicate it instead of starting from scratch. This is especially useful for recurring engagement types (e.g., "Website Redesign" or "Monthly Retainer") where the same team, tags, and contract terms apply each time.

How to clone a project

Open the three-dot menu on any project row (or right-click the row) and select Clone Project. The system opens the project creation form with the following fields pre-filled from the original:

• Project name - prefixed with "Copy of" so you can rename it.
• Client, description, contract value, and currency.
• Project type and recurring interval (if applicable).
• End date (if set on the original).
• Tags and team assignments - the same tags and employees are carried over.

What gets reset

The clone resets the status to Active, the start date to today, and leaves the next due date empty so you can set a fresh billing schedule. Documents are not copied - upload new contracts as needed.

Project Statuses and Workflows

Every project has a status that reflects where it stands in your delivery pipeline. Statuses help your team know what needs attention and drive automated behaviors like recurring invoice generation.

Available statuses

• Active: Work is currently in progress. This is the default status for new projects. Recurring invoices are only generated for active projects.
• On Hold: Work has been temporarily paused. The project remains visible but recurring invoice generation is suspended.
• Completed: All deliverables have been handed over. The project is finished but stays in your records for reporting and reference.
• Cancelled: The project was abandoned or terminated before completion. No further invoices will be generated.

Changing a project's status

Open the project for editing and select the new status from the dropdown. Status changes are logged in the activity history so your team can see when and why a project moved between stages.

Filtering by status

Use the filter controls at the top of the projects table to show only projects in a specific status. This is useful for daily standups (filter to Active), pipeline reviews (filter to On Hold), or end-of-quarter reporting (filter to Completed).

Impact on invoicing

Recurring invoices are tied to project status. Only projects with an Active status will generate upcoming invoices. If you place a project On Hold or mark it Completed, the recurring schedule pauses automatically. When you reactivate the project, invoicing resumes from where it left off.

Contract overrun alerts

Belvak monitors collection progress on one-time projects and alerts you when the total invoiced or paid amount exceeds the contract value. When an overrun is detected, you will see three levels of notification:

• Row highlight: The affected project row is visually flagged with a red indicator on the left edge and a warning icon next to the contract value.
• Page-level alert: A banner appears at the top of the projects table listing all projects that have exceeded their contract value, so you can spot issues at a glance.
• Drawer warning: When you open the project drawer for an affected project, a warning alert is displayed prominently below the header, making it clear that this project has gone over budget.

Assigning Team Members

Knowing who is working on what is essential for resource planning. Belvak lets you assign employees to projects so everyone can see team composition at a glance.

Adding employees to a project

When creating or editing a project, use the team members field to select employees from your organization. You can assign multiple employees to a single project, and a single employee can be assigned to multiple projects simultaneously.

1. Open the project for editing (or create a new one).
2. Navigate to the team assignment step in the form.
3. Search for and select the employees you want to assign.
4. Save the project. The assignments are stored immediately.

Viewing team members

Open the project drawer to see the full list of assigned team members in the team section. Each member is shown with their name and role, making it easy to identify who is responsible for what.

Resource planning

Team assignments give you visibility into employee utilization across your project portfolio. By reviewing which employees are assigned to active projects, managers can identify team members who are overloaded or available for new work. This is especially valuable for service companies juggling multiple concurrent client engagements.

Tracking Project Progress

Belvak gives you several ways to monitor how a project is progressing, from financial collection to day-to-day activity. Here is how to use each one.

Collection progress bar

Every project displays a collection progress bar that compares the total payments received against the contract value. This gives you an instant visual indicator of how much revenue has been collected. The bar appears in both the projects table and the project drawer.

• Contract value: The total amount the client agreed to pay.
• Collected: The sum of all payments recorded against invoices for this project.
• Remaining: The difference between contract value and collected amount.

Invoice tracking

From the project drawer, you can see all invoices linked to the project. Each invoice shows its status (draft, sent, paid, overdue), amount, and due date. This lets you quickly identify unpaid invoices that need follow-up without leaving the project view.

Activity log

Every change to a project is automatically recorded in the activity log. This includes creation, edits to any field, status changes, team member updates, and deletion. Each log entry captures who made the change, when it happened, and what was modified. You can review the activity log in the Settings page to see a chronological history across all entities.

Notes

Use the notes section in the project drawer to add project-level comments. Notes are visible to all team members with access to the project and are useful for documenting decisions, meeting summaries, scope changes, or anything that does not fit into a structured field.

Tags and organization

Tags let you categorize projects beyond the standard fields. Common tagging strategies include tagging by service type (e.g., "Web Dev", "Consulting", "Design"), priority level, or department. Tags are filterable in the projects table, so you can quickly pull up all projects of a certain type.

Row actions

Each project row offers quick actions accessible from the three-dot menu or by right-clicking the row. These let you take common actions without opening the project drawer:

• Clone Project - duplicates the project with its tags and team assignments pre-filled into a new creation form.
• View Invoices - opens the Invoices page filtered to show only invoices linked to that project.
• Add Invoice - opens the invoice creation form with the project already pre-linked.
• Activate / Complete / Mark on Hold - quick status changes directly from the table, without needing to open the edit form.

Column visibility and context menu

Use the column visibility toggle (the eye icon in the action column header) to show or hide table columns, tailoring the view to the information you need for your current task. The same popover also contains the Group By option described below. All row actions described above are also available via a right-click context menu on any row, giving you a faster alternative to the three-dot dropdown.

Searching and filtering

The projects table supports full-text search and column-level filtering. Use the search bar to find projects by name, or apply filters on status, client, tags, date range, and other columns. Filters can be combined to narrow results.

Grouping Projects

When you have many projects, it can be helpful to visually cluster them by a shared attribute instead of scrolling through a flat list. The Group By feature organizes your project table into collapsible sections, each with a header showing the group name and how many projects it contains.

How to group projects

1. Click the eye icon in the action column header to open the column visibility popover.
2. Scroll to the Group By section at the bottom.
3. Select a grouping option. Currently available options are:
   • Client - groups projects by the client they belong to.
   • Type - groups projects by their type (One-time or Recurring).
4. Select None to return to the default flat list view.

Working with grouped rows

When grouping is active, the table displays section headers that span the full table width. Each header shows the group name and a count badge indicating how many projects are in that group.

• Collapse and expand: Click any group header to collapse or expand it. This lets you focus on the groups you care about and hide the rest.
• Works with filters: Grouping applies on top of your current status tab and search filters. Only projects that match your active filters appear in the groups.
• Persisted preference: Your grouping choice is saved and will be remembered the next time you visit the projects page.