With Productive, you can manage internal projects and track the time spent on tasks in detail.
This gives you a clear view of the time your team spends on internal efforts and helps you monitor workload, efficiency, and overhead costs.
Key Points About Internal Projects
Tracking time on internal projects generates costs but not profit, as it reflects your employees' salaries. The time tracked is automatically added to overhead cost calculations.
While internal projects cannot be billed to clients, they provide valuable insights into non-billable efforts, helping you effectively manage your team's resources.
Internal projects also allow for collaboration within your team. You can assign tasks, track time, and monitor progress, but keep in mind that, as the name implies, clients cannot be added to internal projects.
Creating an Internal project
1) Open the Projects Menu
Navigate to the Projects menu (Project management > Projects) and click the + Project icon to start a new project.
2) Select "Internal Project"
Choose the Internal Project option.
3) Choose a Starting Point
Create a new project from scratch.
Copy an existing project.
Use a project template.
4) Set Up the Project
Give the project a name.
Select the default task workflow.
Assign a project manager.
Decide whether to enable time tracking for tasks in the project (this can be adjusted later).
5) Budget Setup (Optional)
If needed, create a budget for the project. This allows you to:
Track time and log expenses against the budget, and track the costs of tracked time and logged expenses.
Make bookings for services in the budget using the Resource Planner.
Using Internal Projects
Internal projects operate similarly to client projects in Productive. You can assign teams, add tasks, and track time. However, the time tracked is treated as overhead and does not generate profit.
This setup allows you to track internal efforts in the same way you would for client projects, giving you a clearer view of your team's workload, efficiency, and progress.
Internal Projects and Budgeting
When you create an internal project, you can choose to set a budget.
Similar to client budgets, adding services to an internal project allows your team to:
Track time and log expenses.
Create bookings in the Resource Planner.
Monitor progress and hours spent on specific segments of the project.
Key Points to Note:
Internal projects and budgets only generate costs and cannot generate profit.
All services added to an internal budget are always non-billable.
Services and other details in the budget can be freely adjusted as the project progresses.
Tracking Internal Project Costs
You can track the costs of an internal project by:
Setting an estimated completion time for the project.
Assigning costs per hour or per item for specific services, including additional expenses.
This system helps ensure your internal project stays within budget. You can review:
Total project costs.
Team involvement and time spent.
Detailed insights via the Reports section or directly in the Project Budget tab.
In short, by leveraging internal projects and budgets, you can plan non-billable efforts effectively while gaining comprehensive insights—similar to how client projects and budgets operate.
Locating and Managing Internal Projects
To find all your active internal projects, apply the "Internal" filter under the "Type" filter in your projects list. You can also save this view for easy access.
Alternatively, hover over your avatar in the upper-right corner, select "My Company," and go to the Projects tab to view all your internal projects, both active and archived.
Sharing Options for Internal Projects
Just like with client projects, you can adjust the sharing options for internal projects.
This allows you to control who can access and collaborate on the project. You can share the project with individual team members, teams, or specific groups based on your needs.
Converting Between Internal and Client Projects
You can convert internal projects into client projects, and vice versa—this is especially useful if the project type was set incorrectly at the start.
Convert an Internal Project to a Client Project
If needed, you can convert an internal project to a client project. To do so:
Open the project sidebar and click on Edit Project
Switch the project type from Internal to Client
Select a client company from the Company dropdown (instead your own)
Adjust any other settings as needed (e.g., project name or Project Manager) and click Update Project to save your changes
Convert a Client Project to an Internal Project
If you created a client project by mistake, you can switch it to internal—unless the project has issued invoices.
To convert:
Open the project sidebar and click on Edit Project
Change the project type from Client to Internal
Your company will automatically be selected in the Company dropdown
Adjust any project details if needed and click Update Project to confirm
What Happens During Conversion
All client users will be removed from the project.
All services will become non-billable.
All billable hours will be reset to 0.
All existing invoices must be deleted before conversion is allowed.
Internal memberships and dynamic groups will be preserved.
All client memberships and subscriptions will be removed.
What Happens If Invoices Have Been Issued
If any budget in the project has existing invoices, you won’t be able to convert the project type. To proceed with the conversion, you’ll need to delete all invoices from the project first.
