Every service in Productive has a name, can belong to a section, and can include a description. These elements help your team quickly identify what a service is, where it belongs in your workflow, and any details important for tracking, budgeting, or billing.
Important: Productive is rolling out a new Services overview, currently in Beta. If your services don’t look like the examples in this article, you might still be using the old services overview. Some fields and layouts described here may not yet appear in your account, but the functionality remains the same.
Service Names
The service name should clearly describe the type of work being delivered. For example:
Design Sprint
Frontend Development
Project Management
Clear names make it easier for team members to select the correct service when tracking time, booking in the Resource Planner, or adding line items to an invoice.
Service Sections
Sections allow you to group related services within a budget or deal. For example, you could have a “Phase 1” section containing Design Sprint, Frontend Development, and Project Management services, and an "Expenses" section containing any running expenses you plan on keeping track and/or billing to the client.
Sections improve organization and make it easier to see related work at a glance.
Sections are also visible when logging time: you’ll see the full hierarchy as Client → Project → Budget → Section → Service Name, which helps your team select the correct service quickly and consistently.
Service Descriptions
Service descriptions provide additional details about a service, such as what is included or special considerations.
In the new services overview (currently being phased in), a Description field can be added in the Services tab. This helps your team and clients understand exactly what each service entails.
Service descriptions also appear in reports that use the Services data source, giving you more context when analyzing service performance.
Related Setup Options
When creating or editing a service, you’ll often define additional details that shape how it works:
Service Types help categorize your work into broader profit centers.
👉 Learn more about Service Types.
Billing Types determine whether a service is billed at a fixed price, by time and materials, or tracked as non-billable.
👉 Read about Billing Types.
Units (hours, days, or pieces) define how you measure and track delivery.
👉 See how Units work.
Sections and descriptions tie these options together, ensuring that your services are easy to understand, track, and invoice consistently.