About Phases

Phases allow you to organise tasks, costs and other items on your jobs into logical groups for quoting, costing, invoicing, reporting and management purposes, providing you with greater visibility, context and control.

Phases are currently available on job templates, quotes, jobs and invoices.

Items you can store in Phases

The following table shows how the tasks, costs and other items you can store in phases depend on the stage in the workflow. Numbered items in the table relate to notes below.

Sources of phases at each stage in the workflow

The following table shows how quotes, jobs and invoices can inherit phases and their contents from earlier stages in the workflow. Phases and their contents can also be added manually to job templates, quotes and jobs. Numbered items in the table relate to notes below.

1. The phases in a job can be added manually or they can come from the job template used to create the job or from the quote that was accepted as the basis for the job. And, of course, the quote itself can be based on a job template, which may also contain phases.

Create phases and their contents in any order

When you are creating phases and their contents manually, the order that you do this is up to you.

• You can create all the tasks and costs first, then create the phases to assign them to. This approach may be preferable if you want to get a clear picture of all the task and cost items required to complete the work then group them into phases later.
• You can create the phases first and then create the items to assign to each phase. This approach may be preferable if you already have a clear idea of the phases or general structure of the work, and want to populate the phases progressively.
• Or you can use a combination of both approaches to gradually build the phase structure and contents you need.

The Unassigned phase

Any items that are not specifically assigned to a phase are considered to be in a special phase called Unassigned. For example, when you add a new task or cost item to a quote or job, if you don't associate the item with a specific phase, the item is associated with the Unassigned phase. You can associate the item with a different phase later on, if you wish.

Working with phases at each stage of the workflow

The ways you can work with phases varies slightly depending on the stage of the workflow.

• Phases on job templates: You can create phases on a job template at any time, then assign tasks, costs and milestones to those phases, as required. If the same phases are required on more than one job, you can save time by setting up a template that contains those phases. Then you can apply one or more templates to build a quote or job with the required organisation of phases, tasks, costs and other elements.
• Phases on quotes: You can create phases on a draft quote at any time, then assign tasks and costs to those phases, as required. Phases on quotes allow you to organise your quotes into phases (deliverables), so that your customers can see what they’re getting. Each phase is a named container for selected tasks (labour) and materials (costs or disbursements) whose billable value you can subtotal to present to your client on a quote. The quote can show the level of detail you require—individual items or just a subtotal for the phase.
• Phases on jobs: You can create phases manually on a job at any time, then you can assign tasks, milestones, costs, notes or documents to the phases, as required. Jobs based on a job template or a quote that contains phases will automatically inherit those phases and their contents. Phases and their contents are specific to each job, so if you create phases manually for one job they will not be available to another job unless you copy an existing job with its phases or save the job as a template.

• Phases on invoices: If a job or quote contains phases, you can choose to include phases in the invoice. When creating the invoice, you can also choose to ignore any phases completely, and just show the job's tasks and costs (but we recommend that you include phases in your invoice if you have used phases in your quote).

  To ensure that your profit reporting is consistent through all stages of your job's workflow, there are restrictions on the changes you can make to draft invoices:

  • It is possible to add tasks and costs into phases on invoices, but only costs have the potential to flow back to the job, depending on your settings.
  • Phase management (edit/delete/add/amend phases) can only be done in the quote or job manager areas. For example, you can’t create a new phase on an invoice. A phase needs to be included in your quote or job and then it flows through when you create the invoice.

Managing phases

Creating phases

You can create phases manually in job templates, quotes or jobs, but invoices inherit any phases and their contents from the job being invoiced. The flow of phases and their contents from job to invoice works only in one direction. This is because any changes made on the invoice (with the exception of additional costs as mentioned above) would exist only on the invoice and cannot flow back to the job. For reporting insights, the phases shown at the invoicing stage are a reflection of those on the job.

When you create a task, cost or other item in a job template, quote or job, you can also specify which phase to assign it to – provided that the phase already exists. For this reason, it may be more convenient to create all the phases you need and then create the items to go into those phases. It is also possible to create the tasks, costs and other items before you create the phases. However, this requires additional steps to assign the tasks, costs and other items to those phases.

Although you can create as many phases as you need in a job template, quote or job, for ease of management, we recommend a maximum of about 20 phases in any one job template, quote or job.

Job template

To create a phase in an existing job template:

1. Navigate to Settings > Job Settings > Job Template tab.
2. On the Job Template tab, drill down on the job template you want to work with.
3. Scroll down to the Phases section and click the + Add Phase button.

4. On the Add New Job Template Phase screen, type a name for the new phase.

   A phase name can be up to 100 characters in length (including spaces).
5. (Optional) Type a description for the new phase. This description is available on quotes based on the job template and is available on invoices for jobs based on the job template or quote.
6. Add the new phase into the job template. The phase will be empty until you assign tasks, costs or milestones to it.

Quote

To create a phase in a draft quote:

1. In the Sales menu, select Quotes.
2. Click the Draft tab and drill down on the draft quote you want to work with.
3. Click the Phases tab.
4. In the Phases pane, at left, click + Add A New Phase.

5. In the Add Phase dialog, type a name for the new phase.

   A phase name can be up to 100 characters in length (including spaces).
6. (Optional) Type a description for the new phase. This description is available on the quote itself and on invoices for jobs based on the quote.
7. Click Add. The new, empty phase is created and appears last in the Phases pane.
   The new phase is saved automatically into the quote.

When the quote is accepted, the phases are created automatically on the job as they appear in the accepted quote.

Job

To create a phase in a job:

1. In the Jobs menu, select All Jobs.
2. On the Job Manager screen, drill down on the number of the job you wish to work with.
3. Go to the Phases tab of the job.
4. Click + Add a new phase.

5. In the phase Name field, type the name of the phase you wish to create.

   A phase name can be up to 100 characters in length (including spaces).
6. (Optional) Type a description for the new phase. This description is available on the quote itself and on invoices for jobs based on the quote.
7. Add your changes. The new phase appears in the Phases pane.

Assigning items to phases

After creating a phase, you need to assign specific milestones, tasks, costs or other items to that phase.

Job template

• Add new milestone, task or cost items to the job template, as required.

To assign items to phases in an existing job template:

1. Navigate to select Settings > Job Settings > Job Template tab.
2. On the Job Template tab, drill down on the job template you want to work with.
3. Click on the title of a milestone, task or cost.
4. On the Edit Job Template Milestone, Task or Cost screen, select a phase in the phase drop-down list.
5. Click Save. When the job template is used, the milestone, task or cost will automatically be stored in the phase you selected.

Quote

• Add new tasks or costs to the draft quote, as required.

To assign items to a phase in a draft quote:

1. In the Sales menu, select Quotes.
2. Click the Draft tab and drill down on the draft quote you want to work with.
3. From the Details tab of the quote, click the task or cost you want to assign to the phase.
4. Select the phase from the dropdown menu and save the changes to the item.
5. Once there is at least one item assigned to each phase, you can drag and drop the tasks and costs between different phases using the dots on the left hand side of each item.

Job

• Add new task, cost, milestone, note or document items to the job, as required.

To assign an item to a phase in a job:

1. In the Jobs menu, select All Jobs.
2. On the Job Manager screen, drill down on the number of the job you wish to work with.
3. In the job information screen, click the name of the item you want to assign to a phase.
4. Select the correct phase from the dropdown menu and click Save.
5. Once there is at least one item in each phase, you can drag and drop items into different phases using the dots to the left of each line.

Deleting phases

Job template

To delete a phase in a job template:

1. Navigate to Settings > Job Settings > Job Template tab.
2. On the Job Template tab, drill down on the job template you want to work with.
3. On the Edit Job Template screen, scroll down to the phases section.
4. Click on the name of the phase you wish to delete.
5. Click the Delete button in the bottom left of the edit phase box.
6. Deleting a phase won't delete the items in that phase. They will return to the Unassigned phase.

Quote

To delete a phase in a draft quote:

1. In the Sales menu, select Quotes.
2. Click the Draft tab and drill down on the quote you want to work with.
3. Click the phases tab. Existing phases in the quote are displayed in the phases pane.
4. Click the phase you wish to delete. The phase description and contents are displayed.
5. Select Edit Phase.
6. Select Delete and confirm deletion. Any items in the deleted phase are now listed in the Unassigned phase.

Job

To delete a phase in a job:

1. In the Jobs menu, select All Jobs.
2. On the Job Manager screen, drill down on the number of the job you wish to work with.
3. Click the Phases tab. Existing phases in the job are displayed in the Phases pane.
4. Click the phase you wish to delete. The phase description and contents are displayed.
5. Select Edit Phase.
6. Select Delete and confirm deletion. Any items in the deleted phase are now listed in the Unassigned phase.

Invoice

Although you can't delete a phase on your invoice, you can choose which phases to include at invoice creation time. In addition, you can create custom print templates to customise the information contained on your invoice.

Renaming phases

Job template

To rename a phase in a job template:

1. Navigate to Settings > Job Settings > Job Template tab.
2. On the Job Template tab, drill down on the job template you want to work with.
3. On the Edit Job Template screen, drill down on the name of the phase you wish to rename.
4. On the Edit Job Template phase screen, type the new name in the phase Name box.
5. Save your changes.

Quote

To rename a phase in a draft quote:

1. In the Sales menu, select Quotes.
2. If necessary, choose a filter so that the quote you want to work with is shown.
3. Click the Draft tab and drill down on the quote you want to work with.
4. Click the Phases tab. Existing phases in the quote are displayed in the Phases pane.
5. Click the phase you wish to rename. The phase description and contents are displayed.
6. Select Edit Phase. In the Edit phase dialog, type the new name for the phase.
7. Save your changes.

Job

To rename a phase in a job:

1. In the Jobs menu, select All Jobs.
2. On the Job Manager screen, drill down on the number of the job you wish to work with.
3. Click the Phases tab. Existing phases in the job are displayed in the Phases pane.
4. Click the phase you wish to rename. The phase description and contents are displayed.
5. Select Edit Phase. In the Edit phase dialog box, type the new name to use for the phase and click Save.

Invoice

It's not possible to rename phases in an invoice. If you rename the phase in the job you are invoicing, the renamed phase flows through to the invoice.

Printing phases

You can print information about the contents of phases in quotes, jobs and invoices in several ways.

Print phases in quotes

To print a phase in a quote:

1. In the Sales menu, select Quotes.
2. If necessary, choose a filter so that the quote you want to work with is shown.
3. Drill down on the quote you want to work with.
4. Click the Phases tab. Phases in the quote and the contents (if any) of the Unassigned phase are displayed.
5. Click the phase you wish to print. The phase name, description and contents are displayed.
6. Select Print PDF.
7. On the Print Quote phase screen, select which print template to use to print the phase. You can choose the System Default print template or any available custom print template.
8. If you chose the System Default print template, use the checkboxes to select which items you want to print and choose whether or not to include Time/Quantity, Rate, Amount and Notes for specific items and whether or not to group by phase or display the phase description.
9. Select Generate.
10. Check the preview displayed on screen, and then send to the printer, email or export to an electronic format, as required.

More to explore...

• Add or edit a quote or estimate note manually
• Add or edit a job or task note manually
• Create a job template from scratch