To add a project into Projectal, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Management screen by clicking Management on the left sidebar.
2. Click the Projects button to display the Projects screen.
3. Click the Add button on the Projects screen toolbar.
4. This will display the New Project screen.

Project Avatar

Click the Pencil icon to add or change the project avatar (or logo).  This will display the Files screen and allow you to select a file that you have uploaded into Projectal.

Click the Delete icon to remove the project avatar.

Project Banner

Click the Pencil icon to add or change the project banner.  This will display the Files screen and allow you to select a file that you have uploaded into Projectal.

Click the Delete icon to remove the project banner.

Name

Enter the name of the project.

ID

Enter an optional identifier of the project.  It could be the short code for the project.

Company

Click the Add Company button to add the companies that will work on this project.  If just your company will be working on this project, then select just your company.  If other companies are also working on this project as partner companies or outsourced companies, then add them also.  The list of companies defines the staff pool that is available to work on this project.

Color

Click the color swatch to set or clear the color for the project.  The color can used in other screens to highlight items by project.

Location

Click the Add Location button to add the location of where the majority of the work will be completed for this project.  The selected location's work calendar becomes the project's calendar and this defines the working week and teh non-working days for the project. 

Customer

Click the Add Customer button to add the customer(s) of the project. This lets you associate the project to your customer in Projectal.

Priority

Select the priority of the project.

Tip: You can change the names and number of priority values to match the way your company works using the Lists screen.

Status

Click the Add Status button to the current status of the project. For example, the project status may be Bidding or Awarded or In Progress or Completed.  You can define the status (or stage) values in the Project Stages screen.

Start Date

Enter the intended start date of the project.  If the start date of the project is not yet known yet, then you can leave it blank.  If the start date changes throughout your project, you can update this value and Projectal will re-schedule the project into an optimal schedule. 

Tip: It is recommended to enter the intended start date as soon as you know it to allow Projectal to assist you when scheduling your project.

Finish Date

Enter the intended finish start date of the project.  If the start date of the project is not yet known yet, then you can leave it blank.  If the finish date changes throughout your project, you can update this value and Projectal will re-schedule the project into an optimal schedule. 

Tip: It is recommended to enter the intended finish date as soon as you know it to allow Projectal to assist you when scheduling your project.

Fixed Duration

The fixed duration for the project is the budgeted duration or awarded duration or bid duration for the project.  This is typically the original estimated duration when the project was awarded or first started.  This is useful to compare against the estimated duration and actual duration as the project is executed and changes occur to the original plan for the project.

Estimated Duration

The estimated duration of the project is the total of all the estimated duration values of all the tasks in the project.  This can be compared to the fixed duration and actual duration to ensure the project is running on time.

Actual Duration

The actual duration of the project is total of all the actual duration values of all the tasks in the project.  Actual duration is the amount of work taken by the assigned staff to complete a task.  The actual duration can be compared to the fixed duration and estimated duration to ensure the project is running on time. 

Schedule Mode

Select the schedule mode for the project.  There are two modes to choose from:

• Auto Scheduled.  When your project is set to auto schedule mode, then Projectal will re-schedule your project whenever you make a change to the project or its tasks.  This keeps your project in an optimal schedule.
• Manually Scheduled. When your project is set to manual schedule mode, then Projectal will not adjust the schedule of your project.  You can freely schedule your project and its tasks yourself using start and end dates that are known to you.  

Note: When you add new tasks to your project, the tasks will have their schedule mode set to the current schedule mode of your project.

Schedule From

Select the schedule from mode for the project.  This setting is used when auto scheduling is turned on and Projectal re-schedules your project into an optimal schedule.  There are two modes to choose from:

• Project Start Date.  When your set your project to be scheduled from the project's start date, then Projectal will try to get all tasks to start "as soon as possible" (or as close as possible to the project's start date).  This is often called ASAP mode in project management.  ASAP mode is the most commonly used mode for auto scheduling.
• Project Finish Date. When your set your project to be scheduled from the project's finish date, then Projectal will try to get all tasks to start "as late as possible" (or as close as possible to the project's finish date).  This is often called ALAP mode in project management.

Note: Schedule From modes only apply when auto scheduling is turned on for the project.

Description

Enter a description for the project.

Fixed Cost (Gross / Net)

The fixed cost for the project is the budget or budgeted cost or awarded cost for the project.

Click the dropdown arrows on the right of Fixed Cost label to view the Fixed Cost in Gross or Net terms.  The Gross value is the fixed cost without rebates being applied.  The Net value is the fixed cost with rebates being applied.

Set the Fixed Cost to be in Gross mode and enter a fixed cost (or budget) value for the project.

Example: If you are creating a new project and it has a $1M budget, then you would enter the 1,000,000.00 as the Fixed Cost (Gross) value.

Note: The Fixed Cost (Net) value is read only.  It is calculated by Projectal based on the Fixed Cost (Gross) value and cannot be edited.

Currency

Enter the currency for the project.

Tip: You can change the list of currencies to match those used by your company using the Lists screen.

Note: The Actual Cost (Gross) and Actual Cost (Net) values are read only.  They are calculated by Projectal in real time and cannot be edited.

Rebates

Click the Add Rebate button to add the rebates (or tax incentives or subsidies) that are available for this project.  Once set, then any new task added into the project will have these rebates automatically applied to it.

If you have existing tasks in the project, then your rebate changes in the project will not be made to them.  You will need to go to the Tasks screen and set the rebates for those tasks.

If you add more than one rebate, then the cumulative total of all rebates that have been added will be used in Net cost calculations.

Task Stages

Task stages are the permitted stage (or status or gate) values that you want tasks to pass through in this project.  For example, you may want the task stages to be Ready, In Progress, Client Review and Completed.

Task stages are displayed as the columns your project's Kanban board.  The order of the columns in your Kanban board is determined by the order of the task stages as listed in the Edit Projectal screen.

Click the Add button to add a stage to the list of Task Stages. 

Click the Delete button to remove the selected stage from the list of Task Stages. 

Click the Move Up button to move the selected stage up in the list of Task Stages. 

Click the Move Down button to move the selected stage down in the list of Task Stages. 

Files

Click the Add File button to display the Files screen.  Select a file attach to the project.  Multiple files can be attached a project.

Note: After saving the new project, then you can add extra information about the project such as the task stages.  You can do this via the Edit Project screen.