Overview, progress & budget

Select Overview in the main navigation. Use Comms for conversations across projects, or Details for project position and task-level exceptions.

Counters help direct attention. A record total is not automatically an unread-message count, and an attention indicator is not a substitute for reviewing the underlying record.

Select a message's status button in the queue to load its conversation on the right. Read the original message and replies, confirm the recipient and context, then enter your reply. Use New Message for a separate discussion.

1. Read the historyCheck the project, task, contract and previous messages so the response addresses the actual question.
2. Reply deliberatelyVerify the recipient and conversation status. Keep the reply in this discussion rather than creating an unrelated duplicate.
3. Check the resultRead the return message after saving. The example explicitly says no email notification is sent; saving a reply is not proof of email delivery.

In Details, each project combines a budget summary, a time/work/billing comparison and its task rows. Start with the summary, then follow the exception down to its task.

Project budget

The budget recorded for the project.

Committed

Overview sums each task's positive actual budget, falling back to its estimate where no positive actual budget is recorded. This total is not restricted to awarded contracts.

Available

Project budget minus that commitment total. A negative amount signals that the recorded commitments/estimates exceed the project budget, not that the bank account is overdrawn.

Time elapsed

The elapsed portion of the project window derived from task start and finish dates.

Work complete

An average of task completion percentages in this implementation, not a cost-weighted assessment. Missing task percentages contribute zero.

Money billed

Recorded task billing compared with the project budget in this Overview summary. Task-row billing percentages use the task's own value, so the denominators differ.

A schedule gap in percentage points is not a forecast of days late. Likewise, “Billing aligned with work” is a comparison of recorded percentages, not a certification of invoices or site progress. Use the numeric labels as well as the bars.

Open the project to compare budget values, timing and progress. Each view uses a different measure; the same colour does not carry one universal meaning across all charts.

Locate the expected month

The mint amount represents 90% of the commitment in the start month; gold represents 10% in the finish month. For a $25,000 task, the split is $22,500 and $2,500.

Understand the assumption

This view uses the positive actual budget, or the estimate as a fallback. It is not a calculation from individually approved supplier milestones and does not instruct anyone to release payment.

The 90/10 split is this chart's planning convention, not a statement of contract terms or a legal holdback requirement. Check the actual agreement and approved records before acting on a payment.

Demo-data warning: this screenshot contains a zero start date and an implausible forecast drift of millions of days. Do not rely on that forecast. Review the source dates and forecast calculation before using the result; this tutorial does not repair the application.

Select Progress in the project workspace. Each row compares Work Complete, Total Billed, Expected Billing and Schedule. The task name opens its contract workflow; row detail provides further billing, schedule and invoice-trend context.

Expected billing

The current calculation starts with the deposit, then applies elapsed schedule percentage to the remaining contract value. It is a schedule-based expectation, not an amount automatically approved or due.

Billing variance

Total billed minus expected billing. A negative number means recorded billing is below the expectation; it is not the unpaid invoice balance.

Forecast drift

The forecast finish compared with the planned finish, expressed in days. Check the invoice-trend confidence and approved-point count. Sparse or invalid input can make it unreliable.

Milestone Health

Open the separate milestone-review view when a checkpoint needs investigation. Progress charts do not replace the milestone approval workflow.

60%Work complete

32%$8,000 / $25,000 billed

100%Planned time elapsed

For Pre Planning, all planned time has elapsed while recorded completion is 60%. Review the remaining work and schedule. Billing is $8,000 against $25,000, or 32%; the displayed -$17,000 is the comparison with expected billing, not an instruction to pay $17,000.

Passing the planned finish date does not prove completion. Keep the dates, work-complete record and billing evidence current rather than adjusting one measure merely to make the bars match.

1. Scan OverviewReview communications and project position. Note a late task, budget shortfall, billing gap or unanswered question.
2. Open the sourceUse Open Task or Open Project. Check dates, scope, budget values, invoices, milestones and the conversation behind the signal.
3. Record the next stepResolve incorrect data or ask the responsible person a specific question. Return to the overview after the underlying record is updated.

Budget

The recorded allowance against which commitments are compared.

Commitment

A recorded task value; some summaries use an estimated fallback. Read the view's definition.

Billed

The recorded billing amount, not proof of cash paid.

Expected billing

A deposit-and-schedule-based comparison, not an approved invoice.

Cash-flow forecast

In these financial charts, a 90% start-month / 10% finish-month timing assumption.

Progress status

Work/schedule state, separate from the commercial status and from percent billed.

Forecast confidence

A reason to examine the supporting data, not a guarantee of the finish date.