Overview
The project detail page has a lot of terms and concepts that can be overwhelming. In this article, we've captured all of the common terms and created simple descriptions.
Project Header
The project header will get you the much of the basic info about the Project at a glance. It's a lot of info at a glance, so we've divided it up into three sections above to break down exactly what you're seeing.
Left Side (1): On the left side you'll get the basic identifying info about the Project - what you'd call it and how you'd distinguish it from other Projects. This includes:
Client Name: This is the name of the Client that was pulled into Parallax with the Project from your CRM. It's important to avoid duplicates, so check out more info Here.
Financial Model: At a glance, you can see which Finacial Model (Time & Materials, Fixed Bid, Fixed Retainer or Internal) that you selected under Financial Settings. More info Here.
Project Name: This is the unique name associated with the Project in Parallax. You can edit it here, too!
Bottom (2): On the bottom of the header, you'll find the Project Tabs, which you can navigate through to view different aspects of the Project, as well as make certain types of changes. You'll start out on the Overview Tab; from there you can visit:
Shape Project: This is the Tab you'll use the most - go here to add People, allocate hours and shape the project how you want!
Financial Settings: This Tab is used to view and update things like your Billing Model, Rate Card, Target Budget, and Target Margin. Check out here for more info.
Costs & Revenue: This is where you can both add schedule or add Revenue to the Project, as well as adding any additional Costs. Find out more here.
Project P&L: This page is used to compare how the Project is shaking out, showing you what the Project Sold for, what's Projected based on your current Project, what Actuals have already occurred and how much of the Project is Remaining. Each of these can be sliced by Hours, Revenue, Costs and Margin! Check out here for a more thorough breakdown.
Integrations: This page is where you'll see the CRM Deal and Timesheet(s) your Project are conected to. This is where you'll go to Provision or Connect a Timesheet for the Project.
Changelog: This page is where you'll go to look at what changes have occurred on the Project. While not everything will generate an event, if you want to know some of the project history, the Changelog is where you'll go. More info can be found here.
Right side (3): Finally, on the right side of the Header, you'll get some additional important info about the project. You'll see:
Project Tags: These are any Tags currently applied to the Project - you can click on the number displayed to add new Tags!
Start and End Dates: These are the dates you've selected for the Project to begin and end. You can update these in the Shaper.
Remaining: This is the number of days that remain until the End Date you've selected.
Status: This will only display for Sold Projects, and represents the Progress within Parallax for the Project. Projects will typically go through the following flow: Awaiting Start > In Progress > On Hold (optional) > Completed, and you can update the Status here at any time.
Risk: Risk is currently something that is manually assessed and added by you. We don't pull in any Risk metric from your CRM, so everything starts as "Low" Risk, and can be manually updated here as you see fit.
Project Financials Chart
The Project Financials Chart will show you a visual representation of your project. It can be viewed based on the Financials or the Hours, and shows several different variables, and can be viewed by Week/Month in two different Chart Types. This is also where you can see and update the Sales Owner and Project Owner for the Project.
Financials vs. Hours View (1): You can toggle back and forth between the Project Financials and the Project Hours to get a feel for changes to hours as they relate to financial impact.
Metrics (2): The metrics you'll see on the chart will vary depending on if you're in Financials or Hours Views. In Financials, you'll see:
Target Revenue (Budget): This the budget Target Budget, as set in your Financial Settings.
Target Cost: This is this is the Cost determined by the Margin you set in Financial Settings.
For example: If Target Revenue is $100,000 and you set a 30% Margin, then your Margin is $30,000 - this makes your Target Budget $70,000.
Actual Revenue: This is the Revenue accrued based on Actuals that have been recorded from timesheets.
Actual Cost: This is the Cost incurred based on Actuals recorded so far from timesheets, multipled by People's Costs.
Projected Revenue (dotted): This is the Revenue that is expected based on Plans.
Projected Cost (dotted): This is the Cost expected based on Plans.
In Hours, you'll see:
Actual Hours: These are the Actual Hours that have been recorded from timesheets.
Total Projected Hours: These are the Hours that were planned based on Allocations.
Remaining Hours: These are the Hours that have not yet occurred.
Chart Type and Period View (3):
Parallax Tip: Project Hours has Additional Filters!
When selecting the Project Hours View, you can only look at Cumulative impact, but you can drill down further by filtering by Roles, specific People and Billable/Non-Bill Hours.
Sales and Project Owners (4): Here you can see and update the Sales Owner and/or Project Owner that are pulled in from your Integrations.
Offerings Tables
The Offerings Tables are separate tables for each individual Offering you've created within the Shaper, and give you high-level statistics about the Project. To get a good idea of what you can see and do, check out below right from the Offerings Tables, check out below.
Make Changes (1): Editing the Name of an Offering Name has never been easier - just click on the pencil icon and start typing! On the right side, you can also see if there is an timesheet (Active Integration) connected, and jump straight to the Integrations page.
Parallax Tip: Why can't I use the Offering Name I want?
Keep in mind that the combo of Client and Offering Name need to be unique. For a basic example, you can have Offering 1 under a Client named Apple and a Client named Orange, but you can't have two Offerings called Offering 1 that are both under Apple.
Get high-level info (2): Each separate table will get you the following high-level info about the Offering:
Offering Roles (and the Assigned People): These are the Roles that have currently been added to the Project (and any People currently assigned to those Roles).
Tags: These are the Tags applied to the Project through these People.
Notes: These are Notes that have been added by Users regarding individual Roles.
Sold: This shows the total Revenue that was projected for the Person at the time the Project was sold. This is calculated based on Sold Hours multiplied by the Person's Bill Rate.
Bill Rate: This shows the hourly rate that you will bill Clients for the Person, and is determined by the Rate Card you have applied in Financial Settings.
Actual Rev: This is the Actual Revenue that's been generated so far, based on Actuals that have occurred.
Projected Rev: This metric shows you the total Revenue expected to be generated by the Person at the end of the Project by combining Actuals that have already occurred with Planned hours for the future.
Cost Rate: This tells you how much the Person's Costs you per hour against the Revenue they generate.
Actual Cost: This shows you what the Person has Cost so far, based on Actuals that have occurred.
Projected Cost: This metric shows you the expected total Cost of the Person by end of the Project by combining Actuals that have already occurred with Planned hours for the future.
Margin and %: This will show you the delta between the Projected Revenue and Projected Costs. Deltas that are negative (and thus represent a higher Cost than the Revenue generated) will be in parenthesis.
Parallax Tip: Rate vs. Cost
Rate and Cost can be a bit confusing, since they are both calculated by hourly rates. One easy reminder is that Costs should always be in parenthesis, since they are being applied against the Revenue being generated.
Parallax Tip 2: Updating a Person
In addition to the data shown on this Chart, you can change a Person's Role or Remove them from the Project using the "..." menu to the right of %.
Add another Offering (3): Don't want to go to the Shaper to create a new Offering? Scroll down to the last Offering you've already got and click Add Offering - It's that easy!
Completed and On-Hold Project (Status) and Time Reporting
When a project is moved to a Status of Complete or On-Hold, the attached timesheet to that project is archived in the timekeeping system. The actual prior hours remain however, resources will no longer be able to track time to the timesheet.
If the timesheet is made active again in the Timekeeping system, time can be recorded however, Parallax will not pull in that data (time) into the project due to the status of Completed or On-Hold. Moving the project back to In Progress will "unarchive" the timesheet in the timekeeping system.
If a project is 'excluded' with a timesheet attached, the timesheet is not archived and is still active.