Page Comparison

Client

The client for this engagement. Use the drop-down menu to pick from a recent client list, browse for an existing client, or create a new client. View all clients in your installation through the Client Browser.

For internal, non-billable G&A projects, Projector recommends you select your own company name. This will cause internal time and expenses to roll up into your internal company.

Name

This name is shown in reports and dashboards. Maximum of 255 characters.

Code

This field may or may not be editable depending on your installation settings. It typically auto populates using a numbering scheme of your choosing. See Auto Numbering of Clients, Engagements, and Projects for more information.

Type

Types are defined under the Engagement Type Editor. A type prepopulates the engagement and its projects with various settings, like whether it is billable or non-billable, how time and expenses should be reported, budgets, scheduling, task types, default permissions, and more. 

When you change an existing engagement type you will be prompted to either keep all your old settings or to apply the new engagement type's settings.

An engagement type can be changed at any time, but the following restrictions apply:

• You cannot switch a project between billable and non-billable types.
• If there is an approved time card, then contract terms cannot be changed between T&M/NTE and FP
• If there is an approved cost card, then contract terms cannot be changed between T&M/NTE and FP
• Task type tab for projects will not change
• Engagement budget metrics will not change
• Detailed Task Management will not change
• Workspace issues will have the same status'
• GL accounts for the new type will only map to subsequent transactions

There are both practical and logical reasons for these restrictions. We don't let you switch between billable/non-billable or change contract terms because they affect your accounting data. Changing the settings midstream can cause unacceptable data routing. In addition, we try not to change settings that a user has already put time and work into. For example, we don't overwrite your budget numbers if the PM has already put time and effort into defining it. Erasing the work would be counterproductive.

Cost Center

The cost center associated with this engagement. Open the drop-down menu to choose a different cost center. Only users with the cost center permission Maintain Advanced Engagement and Project Setup can make this change. Be careful changing this after a project has begun because accounting mappings are defined at the cost center level. Changing the cost center mid project can result in uneven balances in your accounting package. It is safer to create a new engagement and then use pre-invoicing adjustments to transfer time and costs over.

If a cost center is grayed out in the selection list, then it is in a different company. You cannot switch between

companies.

Manager

The manager for this engagement. By default, the user creating the engagement is the manager. The drop-down menu provides a quick list of potential managers who are marked Can act as Project Manager on their user profile for this engagement's cost center or any of its child cost centers.

Stage

The current engagement stage. You may open the drop-down menu to display all of the choices. When creating a new engagement, this will default to the first stage in the sequence on the Engagement Stages. Changing the current stage may be blocked according to your Stage Permissions. Note that changing the engagement stage may also result in the project stage changing on the Project Info Tab. See the section on Stages to learn more about this operation.

Currency

The currency in which the client will be billed. The currency is applied through one of three paths:

• The engagement's cost center. Each cost center has a default rate card. This rate card will have a currency that becomes the engagement's currency.
• The client's rate card. There is a choice to override the cost center rate card through the Client Editor. The currency associated with that card would be used instead. 
• A rate card chosen by you. You can override the default rate card from the Project Rates Tab. This can only be done when you first create the engagement. Before clicking save you should click on the Project tab, then the rates subtab, and finally specify a new rate card in the currency you want.

Once you set the engagement's currency, it cannot be changed. If you chose the wrong currency you'll have to make a new engagement with the correct currency, and then transfer all time/expense over to the new one.

User-Defined Field

User-defined fields (UDFs) allow you to add custom attributes to engagements that are specific to your business. These attributes can be pulled into Projector's reports for analytical reporting. This section will not appear if no engagement UDFs exist.

Value

The values for each user-defined field.