Projects

Create and manage projects, track progress, and organise your work.

Overview

Projects are the foundation of Beeswax. Almost everything — tasks, milestones, invoices, expenses, quotes, time entries, files, and messages — lives within a project. Each project belongs to a client business and is managed by a team member.

The typical workflow is:

  1. Create a project and assign it to a client business
  2. Add tasks, milestones, and team members
  3. Create quotes, invoices, and track expenses
  4. Close the project when all work and billing is complete

Projects can be filtered by status, company, or manager and are displayed with key metrics (task counts, invoice totals, etc.) visible at a glance.

Key characteristics of projects:

  • Business-linked — Every project is associated with a business (company), which determines who is billed for the work.
  • Auto-numbered — Projects can receive sequential numbers automatically from your account's numbering settings.
  • Status-tracked — Projects move through configurable statuses (e.g. Prospective, In Progress, Closed) to reflect their current stage.
  • Manager-assigned — Each project can have a designated manager responsible for oversight.
  • Privacy-controlled — Projects can be restricted so only specific team members can see them.

Creating a Project

Click New Project from the projects list to open the creation form.

Fields

Field Required Description
Name Yes A descriptive project name.
Company Yes The client business this project is for. Start typing to autocomplete.
Number No Auto-generated from account settings. Can be edited.
Cost No The project budget or cost value. Cannot be zero. Defaults to 50.
Manager No The team member responsible for this project.
Status No The initial project status. Defaults to the account's default status.

Important Notes

  • Your subscription plan determines how many active projects you can have open at once. If you reach the quota you will need to close a project or upgrade your plan.
  • Projects can only be created by users with manage permissions (Owner, Super Admin, Admin, Accountant).
  • A default project can be set in account settings for use when importing data or creating records without specifying a project.

Project Dashboard

When you open a project, you see the project dashboard — a central hub showing key information at a glance.

Dashboard Widgets

Widget Description
Tasks Summary of open and completed tasks in the project.
Milestones Overview of task lists and their completion status.
Invoices Invoice count and total amounts.
Quotes Quote count and total amounts.
Expenses Expense count and total amounts.
Files Attached files and documents.
Notes Project notes and documentation.
Messages Project conversations and communications.
Activity Recent activity feed showing changes and updates.

Note: General Users see a reduced dashboard — only Tasks, Milestones, Files, and Notes widgets are shown.

The project page provides quick access to:

  • Overview (dashboard)
  • Invoices, Quotes, Expenses
  • Financial Summary
  • Products Report
  • Activity
  • Messages
  • Files / Documents
  • Notes
  • Team (People & Access)

Project Statuses

Projects use a status system to track their current stage. Statuses fall into two categories: system statuses that are fixed and always present, and custom statuses that you can create, edit, and delete.

Project States

System Statuses

Every account has the following system statuses built in. These cannot be renamed, recoloured, reordered, or deleted.

Status Colour Description
Prospective Grey Initial status for new projects. Default status for new accounts.
New Blue Project has been confirmed and is starting.
In Progress Green Active work is being done.
On Hold Grey Work is paused.
Need to Invoice Green Work is complete, ready for billing.
Closed Dark Project is archived. Automatically set when closing a project — cannot be manually assigned.
Reopened Red Project was closed but has been reactivated. Automatically set when reopening — cannot be manually assigned.

Default Custom Statuses

New accounts also start with two custom statuses. These behave like any other custom status — they can be renamed, recoloured, reordered, or deleted.

Status Colour Description
With Client Blue Awaiting client feedback or approval.
Ready to Close Red All work and billing done, ready to archive.

Customising Statuses

  • You can create your own statuses with custom names and colours.
  • Custom statuses (including With Client and Ready to Close) can be edited, reordered, and deleted.
  • System statuses are locked and cannot be modified or removed.
  • Only one status can be marked as the default for new projects.
  • Available colours: Primary, Secondary, Success, Danger, Warning, Info.

Automatic Status Changes

  • When a project is closed (archived), its status is automatically set to Closed.
  • When a project is reopened, its status is automatically set to Reopened.
  • These two statuses are managed entirely by the system — they cannot be manually assigned to a project and do not appear in the status picker.

Project List & Filtering

The project list page shows all active projects with key metrics visible at a glance.

Columns Displayed

  • Project name and number
  • Status (colour badge)
  • Milestones count
  • Open tasks count
  • Closed tasks count
  • Time entries
  • Files count
  • Notes count
  • Quotes count
  • Expenses count
  • Invoices count

Filtering Options

Filter Description
Search Filter by project name.
Status Filter by one or more project statuses.
Company Filter by the client business.
Manager Filter by the assigned project manager (admin users).

Archived Projects

Closed projects are moved to the Archived tab, accessible from the project list. Archived projects can be viewed but not modified (except by Super Admins).

Closing & Reopening Projects

Closing a Project

Closing a project archives it and sets its status to Closed. A closed project becomes locked — most records within it cannot be created or modified.

Closure Requirements:

Before a project can be closed, all of the following must be true:

  • All tasks must be completed (no open tasks)
  • No active recurring invoices exist on the project
  • The project must not be the account's default project

What Gets Locked:

Once a project is locked:

  • Tasks cannot be created, edited, or deleted (completion is still allowed)
  • Milestones cannot be created, edited, or deleted
  • Invoices, expenses, and quotes cannot be created or modified
  • Time entries and events are restricted

Reopening a Project

A closed project can be reopened via the Reopen action. This sets the project back to active and changes its status to Reopened. Email notifications are sent to Super Admins when a project is reopened.

Deleting a Project

Projects can only be permanently deleted when they have no associated records.

Deletion Blockers

A project cannot be deleted if it contains any of the following:

  • Invoices
  • Expenses
  • Quotes
  • Payments (of any type)
  • Tasks
  • Milestones
  • Time entries
  • Events
  • Email messages
  • Imports
  • Time in lieu entries

System projects (built-in projects used internally) can never be deleted.

To delete a project, you must first remove or reassign all associated records. In most cases, closing (archiving) a project is preferred over deletion. Closed projects retain their data for historical reference.

Project Privacy & Team Access

Projects support privacy controls that restrict which team members can see and access them.

How Privacy Works

  • By default, projects are visible to all users who have project read access.
  • You can restrict a project to specific team members via the Team page.
  • When privacy is enabled, only listed users (plus Owners and Super Admins) can see the project.

Managing Team Members

From the project's Team tab you can:

  • View current team members with access
  • Add users by searching for existing people or creating new contacts
  • Remove users from the project
  • Invite new users to the account and grant project access in one step

Privacy & Roles

  • Owner and Super Admin can always see all projects regardless of privacy settings.
  • Admin and Accountant can see projects based on privacy settings.
  • General Users can only see projects they have been explicitly added to.
  • Contractors have limited project visibility.
  • Clients can view associated projects but cannot manage them.

Financial Summary

Each project provides a financial overview showing the state of all quotes, invoices, and expenses.

What Is Tracked

Metric Description
Quotes Count and total value of project quotes.
Invoices Count and total value of project invoices.
Expenses Count and total value of project expenses.
Task Hours Total hours logged via time entries.

Financial Page

The dedicated Financial page provides a detailed breakdown of all financial activity within the project, including individual invoice and expense status.

Products Report

The Products Report shows a breakdown of line items across all financial documents, grouped by product or service category.

Project Notes

Projects include a notes feature for storing internal documentation, meeting notes, specifications, or any other reference material.

  • Notes are accessed from the project's Notes tab.
  • Notes can be edited by users with appropriate permissions.
  • Notes support rich text formatting.

Messages & Conversations

Projects have a built-in messaging system for team communications.

  • Messages are accessed from the project's Messages tab.
  • Conversations are scoped to the project, keeping discussions organised.
  • Messages support threading and multiple participants.

Files & Attachments

Projects support file storage for documents, images, and other files.

  • Files are uploaded and managed from the project's Files tab.
  • Projects can optionally use NAS or WebDAV storage via account storage configuration.
  • Default folders are automatically created when a new project is set up.

Note: If your account uses NAS or WebDAV storage, project folders are automatically created and renamed when the project name changes.

Activity Feed

Every project maintains an activity log that records who did what and when.

Tracked Activities

  • Project creation, updates, closure, and reopening
  • Task and milestone changes
  • Invoice, expense, and quote actions
  • File uploads and changes
  • Team member additions and removals

The activity feed is paginated and can be loaded incrementally.

How-to Guides

Create a New Project

  1. From the Main Navigation, select Projects (or use the + button)
  2. Click New Project in the top right
  3. Fill in the project name, select the company, and configure settings
  4. Click Save

Edit a Project

  1. Navigate to the project from the Projects list
  2. Click the pencil icon or project name to access project details
  3. Modify the project settings as needed
  4. Click Save

Close a Project

  1. Navigate to the project you want to close
  2. Ensure all closure requirements are met: no open tasks, no unpaid expenses, no unsent invoices, and all milestones complete
  3. Click Close Project from the project menu
  4. The project status is automatically set to Closed and the project is archived

Note: All tasks must be completed, there must be no active recurring invoices, and the project must not be the account's default project before it can be closed.

Edit Project Settings

  1. Navigate to the project
  2. Access project settings from the project menu
  3. Modify settings as needed
  4. Click Save

Use Admin Projects for Running Costs

You can create Admin projects to track running costs per tax period (e.g. "Admin 2018 - Qtr 1"). Use milestones for tax filing dates and tasks for activities like bank reconciliation. This keeps your administrative work organised alongside client projects.

Manage Your Project Quota

Each plan allows a certain number of open projects. The project list uses a red/green approach to indicate your quota status. If you reach your plan's limit, you will need to close a project or upgrade your plan to create new ones.

Permissions by Role

Different roles have different levels of access to project features.

Action Owner Super Admin Admin Accountant General Contractor Client
View projects All All All All Assigned only Limited Limited
Create projects Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No
Edit projects Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No
Close / Reopen Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No
Delete projects Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No
Change status Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No
Manage team Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No
View financials Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No
View notes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
View activity Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No
View files Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
View messages Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No

Key Permission Notes

  • Owner has full access to all project operations, including account-level settings.
  • Super Admin has full access to all project operations. Can modify records even on locked projects.
  • Admin can manage projects but cannot access the ledger, BAS statements, recurring invoices, or payroll.
  • Accountant has full access to project management and financial features but cannot manage account settings.
  • General User can only view projects they are assigned to. They can manage their own tasks, milestones, and time entries within those projects.
  • Contractor can manage milestones (task lists) but cannot view the project list, files, notes, or financial documents.
  • Client can view associated projects but cannot manage them or access financial documents.