See it all the time, but not totally sure what it means?
Stage (Deals/Sales Pipeline)
Stage is a pre-sale deal concept
- Governed by CRM with stages defined by CRM pipeline
- Ultimately guided by percentage likelihood of sale
Status (Active Project)
Status is a post-sale concept
- Defined by Parallax and limited to "Presale," "Awaiting Start,” “In Progress," “On Hold," and “Completed”
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.
Target Start Date
Target Start Date (TSD) is a custom field that is typically set up during your initial connection to your CRM. Target Start Date allows Parallax to differentiate between when the Deal is being Sold, and when the Project should actually start, in case the Project won't start immediately after being Sold.
Target Start Date is listened to by Parallax, so as the Date is changed in your CRM, you can see the Project Start Date change, as well.
Close Date
Close Date represents the date the Deal is being Sold within your CRM. Unlike TSD, the Close Date is only used as a back-up to set the Project Start Date if the Target Start Date is not selected at the time the Deal is pulled into Parallax (usually at creation). Once the Close Date is used to set the Project Start Date, Parallax will not listen to any further changes that happen to the close date.