Engagement - Setup Engagement

Set engagement name, cost center, type, stage, and manager.

Permissions and Settings

To make changes on this tab you must have one of the following permissions:

To change the engagement type you must have the cost center permission Maintain Advanced Engagement and Project Setup. See How do I change the Engagement Type?. You cannot change between billable and non-billable engagement types. If an engagement type is not available in the drop down list, then it is because it is the wrong type.


Engagement

This subsection is where you set high level options.

Fields

Description

Engagement Name

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

Engagement 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.

Engagement Cost Center

The cost center associated with this engagement. If a cost center is grayed out in the selection list, then it is in a different company. You cannot switch between companies. Clone this engagement instead and transfer any time/cost over.

Only users with the cost center permission Maintain Advanced Engagement and Project Setup can make this change.

Accounting

Be careful changing this after a project has begun because accounting mappings are defined at the cost center level. Changing the cost center mid-delivery 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.

Engagement 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.

Time and Cost WIP

Time and Cost WIP mappings are set by engagement type. If the new engagement type uses different WIP accounts you need to first unapprove all time and cost, then change the engagement type. Otherwise your WIP accounts will be out of balance.

Engagement Manager

The person in charge of this contract.

Defaults to the user who created the engagement.

The drop-down menu provides a quick list of potential managers who are marked Include in Project Manager list on their user profile.

Engagement Manager Team

By default this list contains the following users:

Add additional engagement managers using the dropdown box.

Can Act as EM - when ticked can perform all the functions of a typical engagement manager. Otherwise they are granted view-only access only.

Include on Email List - cc these users on all project manager emails such as scheduling, budget alerts, and invoice to approve emails

Engagement Stage

When creating a new engagement this defaults to the first Engagement Stage. Stage permissions govern when you can move between stages. Changing the engagement stage may also result in all child project stages changing. For example, when the engagement closes it forces all projects to closed.

Engagement Client

The client for this engagement.

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.

Currency

The currency in which the client will be billed. You cannot change the currency. If the currency is incorrect, clone the engagement and transfer any time/cost over.

The currency for an engagement is set when it is created.