You can create a project in Ruddr by clicking on the Create a Project button on the project list screen (Figure 1) or on the Projects tab of the client dashboard. You will only see this button if you have the Create project permission on your security role.
Figure 1 - Click the Create a Project button on the Projects list screen
When you click the Create a Project button, a New Project window (Figure 2) will be shown. This window captures the minimum fields required in order to create a project. These required include the Project Name, Client, and Billing Type. Additionally, you can specify whether or not the project will use roles or have a budget. You can either select an existing client or create a new client right from this window. Note that initiating project creation from the client dashboard will set the client dropdown for the client you are currently viewing and will remove the ability to create a new client.
Figure 2 - Create a New Project
After clicking the Save button, the project will be created and the Edit Project drawer will be shown such that additional information about the project can be provided. The Overview tab includes the sections described below.
Basic Information
The basic information section (Figure 3) of the overview tab includes high-level project information.
Figure 3 - Provide Core Project Information in the Edit Project Drawer
The fields in this section include:
- Client - Select any client in the workspace. Note that depending on your permission setting, you may only have access to clients where you are on a project team for that client. For internal projects, select the default internal client associated with your workspace.
- Project name - The name of the project.
- Practice - The name of the practice that owns the project. Practices are optional in Ruddr.
- Business Unit - The name of the business unit that owns the project. Business Units are option in Ruddr.
- Project Status - The status of the project can be set to Not Started, In Progress, Paused, or Completed. A separate Ruddr help article covers project status in more detail.
- Project Type - The type of project. A Workspace Admin can set up any number of project types for your workspace.
- Project Dates - The expected start and end date for the project.
- Project Code - Any internal project identifier that your team may use for the project.
- Project Tags - Custom tags for this project. A Workspace Admin can set up any number of project tags for your workspace.
- Notes - Any notes about the project that could be helpful to other project team members.
Settings
The Settings section (Figure 4) of the overview tab allows you to control the primary project configuration options. Internal projects will have a designated setting for productive utilization.
Figure 4 - Configure the Project
The fields in this section include:
- Use roles - Projects can have bill rates assigned to roles or assigned directly to team members.
- Track overall budget - Enables you to track an overall budget for the project. Some project metrics are only available if a budget has been created. Also, budget hours must be provided for Fixed Fee projects in order for Ruddr to determine earned revenue to date on the project.
- Track project health - With this setting enabled, project health reports can be created / managed for the project. This setting is only present when the Project Health Reporting feature is enabled in the workspace.
- Track monthly budget - Some teams prefer to track both a monthly budget and an overall budget. For Fixed Monthly billing type projects, often the monthly budget is the only type used.
- Lock time and expenses - Turning this on keeps time or expense items from being created or edited. This can be useful if a project is put on hold or at times before or after a project has started / completed.
- Automatically assign new workspace members to this project - In some cases, you may want to have new workspace members automatically added to a project. By enabling this setting, as new members are created in the workspace, they will be automatically assigned to this project.
- Notify members when they are added to this project team - With this setting enabled, any members that you add to the project team will receive a notification indicating that they have been added to the project.
When a project's Lock time and expenses setting is turned on, this status will be represented in both the Projects List and within the project header (Figure 5) on the project dashboard.
Figure 5 - A Locked Indicator Appears when a Project is set to Prevent Time and Expense from being Created
Productive Utilization
Productive Utilization in Ruddr is the sum of client hours and productive, internal hours divided by a member's capacity. Hours logged to internal projects (projects that are created under the workspace's internal client) can be considered part of this calculation if the project's Time is attributable to Productive Utilization setting (Figure 6) is checked. This setting will appear in the Settings section (Figure 4) if the project being edited is an internal project.
Figure 6 - This Setting is Available for Internal Projects to Consider them for Productive Utilization
Time Tracking Rules
If you would like to apply rules that dictate how project team members can enter their time against the project, the Time Tracking Rules section (Figure 7) provides a number of options.
Figure 7 - Set Time and Expense Rules for the Project
The fields in this section include:
- Every time entry must have notes - With this option on, all time entries recorded against the project must include text in the Notes field.
- Every time entry must be associated with a task - If this option is selected, members will be required to specify a task for every time entry they create for this project.
- Time cannot be tracked on a weekend - Team members will be prohibited from entering time on the project for Saturday and / or Sunday.
- Time cannot be tracked on a holiday - Members of the project team will not be allowed to track time to the project on holidays as defined in the workspace.
- Members can only track time to assigned roles - Team members must have an active role assignment on the project to enter time against the project.
- Members can track no more than X hours in a week - If you wish to restrict the number of hours that a team member can submit for the project in a given week, check the box for this field and select the maximum number of weekly hours allowed in the dropdown.
- Members can track no more than X house in a day - With this option selected, members can track up to a maximum of hours on any given day for the project. Select the maximum number of daily hours from the provided dropdown.
Approval Options
The Approval Options section (Figure 8) includes the internal and client approval configuration.
Figure 8 - Configure the Method in Which Time and Expense will be Approved on the Project
The fields in this section include:
- Time approval - Time entries can require manual approval or they can be auto-approved upon submission.
- Expense approval - Expenses can require manual approval or they can be auto-approved upon submission.
- Enable client approvals - When this option is checked, a new tab on the Project Dashboard is shown called Client Approvals. This tab allows you to send a batch of time and expenses to the client for approval before an invoice is created. Note that once a client approval has been created, this option will be checked and disabled.
Multi-Step Approval Workflow
If your workspace has the Multi-Step Approval Workflow feature enabled and your approval options are set to Manual, then you will be able to specify whether you want leverage the workspace's default approval workflow or if you want to specify a custom workflow for this project. For more information, view the Managing Multi-Step Approval Workflows article in the Ruddr Help Center.
At some point in the future, should you wish to disable the Multi-Step Approval Workflow feature in the workspace, any projects that you wish to revert back to single-step approval will need to be reverted before you disable the feature in the workspace. Disabling the feature prior to reverting any projects' workflows will result in those projects' workflows being locked into the multi-step approval process that was specified for them.
Billing
The Billing section (Figure 9) of the overview tab allows you to set the basic financial configuration of the project.
Figure 9 - Set the Basic Billing Information for the Project
The fields in this section include:
-
Billing Type - Depending on the billing type selected, additional information may be required.
- For more, see the Billing types article.
- For more, see the Billing types article.
- PO Number - If the client has assigned a purchase order number to the project, it should be entered here. The PO Number will automatically be shown on any invoices created for the project.
NOTE: if the Purchase Orders feature is enabled in the workspace, in addition to the option to type in a PO Number, as illustrated above, you will have the ability to select from a list of Purchase Orders that you may have created on the client. If you select from one of these client purchase orders, the PO Number field will no longer be available.
If you select Fixed Fee or Fixed Monthly for the Billing Type, you will also be prompted to specify a Revenue Recognition Method and a Revenue Attribution Method.
Multicurrency
Workspaces that leverage Ruddr's Multicurrency feature will have options to associate a currency with the project. For more on assigning a currency to a project, please refer to the Project Currency article in the Ruddr Help Center.
Invoice Details
By default, each project uses the invoice details as set on that project's client, which can be provided on the Edit Client drawer. In this case (Figure 10), the Use client invoice details checkbox is checked and the invoice details are read-only.
Figure 10 - The Invoice Details Provided for the Project's Client are Used
Many times, there are multiple groups within a client that need to receive invoices for specific projects. In that scenario, the client invoice settings are not applicable. If you need to provide project-specific invoice details, simply uncheck the Use client invoice details setting (Figure 11), and edit the invoice details for the project.
Figure 11 - Provide Project-Specific Invoice Details
Note that when creating invoices for an individual project, the project's invoices settings are used. These settings can be inherited from the client, but can also be customized for that specific project. If an invoice is generated for more than one project for the same client, the client's invoice settings are used.
Integrations
Slack
If the Slack integration is configured in your workspace, this option (Figure 12) will appear. If you would like to map this project to a project Slack channel, you can select the respective project channel from the dropdown (Figure 12) on the right.
Figure 12 - Set a Corresponding Slack Channel for the Ruddr Project
Private Channels: if your project's Slack channel is private, you will need to add the Ruddr app to the channel as a first step. Once you have added the Ruddr integration to the private channel, that channel will display in the Project channel dropdown (Figure 9). To add the app to the channel, right-click on the channel in Slack, click on View Channel Details. In the channel details modal, select the Integrations tab and click the Add an App button, selecting Ruddr from the list of available apps.
For more information on Slack project alerts, please refence the Slack Integration Overview article in the Help Center.
Cloud Storage
You can connect any Ruddr project to a cloud folder from any of the major cloud storage providers.
Supported cloud storage providers include Google Drive, OneDrive, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, Box, Dropbox, and more. These cloud storage platforms allow you to store, share, and collaborate on files and folders from any mobile device, tablet, or computer.
To configure on a project, simply provide the URL to the cloud folder in the Cloud Folder URL textbox (Figure 13) on the Edit Project drawer. The link to this cloud storage location will appear on the information bar on the Project Dashboard, making it accessible to project team members.
Figure 13 - Provide a URL to your Project's Cloud Storage Location
Remaining Project Setup
The other tabs on the Edit Project drawer allow you to further configure the project. These tabs provide information about:
Note that depending on the project configuration settings on the overview tab, some of these additional tabs may not be available.