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Projects & Project Management ​

Organize work under clients, track project progress, manage budgets, and coordinate team assignments.

Overview ​

Projects in Hidma are the organizational containers that structure all your work. Each project sits under a client and serves as the focal point for time tracking, team collaboration, budget management, and billing. Whether you're running a three-month consulting engagement, managing ongoing monthly accounting services, or delivering a specific legal matter, projects give you the structure to track, manage, and bill that work effectively.

Projects connect the dots between who you're working for (clients), what you're working on (projects), who's doing the work (team members), and how time gets categorized and billed (jobs and charge-out rates). This interconnection means that every hour tracked, every task completed, and every invoice generated flows through the project structure, maintaining clear relationships and proper attribution.

What You Can Do ​

Creating Projects ​

When you start new work for a client, you create a project to contain all the associated activity. Navigate to Projects and click "New Project" or the + button. Select the client this project belongs to - this parent relationship means all work on the project is ultimately attributed to that client. Give the project a name that clearly describes the engagement - specific names like "2024 Tax Return Preparation" or "Q4 Financial Statement Audit" work better than generic ones like "Ongoing Work."

Assign an optional project code for easy reference in timesheets and reports. Many firms use coding schemes that combine client codes with project numbers, like "ABC-2024-TAX" or simply sequential numbers within each client. Set the project status - typically Active for new projects, though you can create projects as On Hold if they're waiting to start. Define any budget constraints, such as estimated hours or maximum dollar amounts, which Hidma will track against actual consumption. Assign team members who should be able to log time to this project, controlling who has access while maintaining proper segregation across different client engagements.

Managing Project Information ​

Projects accumulate a wealth of information as work progresses. The Overview tab shows key details: project name and code, which client it belongs to, current status (Active, On Hold, or Completed), when it was created and last updated, budget information showing estimated versus actual hours and costs, and project description or scope notes. This summary gives you a snapshot of the engagement's current state.

The Time tab provides detailed visibility into all hours logged against the project. See a breakdown by team member showing who's worked how many hours. View distribution by job type to understand what kinds of activities are consuming time - perhaps more client meetings than expected, or research taking longer than budgeted. Filter by date range to analyze specific periods, and drill down to individual time entries if you need to verify or understand specific work details. This time visibility is crucial for project management and profitability analysis.

The Bills tab displays all invoicing activity related to the project. See every bill generated from this project's tracked time, with statuses indicating draft, sent, paid, or overdue. View the relationship between time tracked and amount billed, which can reveal whether work is being billed regularly or if significant WIP is accumulating. Track the project's financial progression from work performed through billing to payment collection. This billing history helps you understand project profitability and client payment patterns.

The Team tab lists everyone assigned to work on the project with their respective roles and charge-out rates. This visibility helps project managers understand who can contribute, what different team members cost per hour (important for profitability), and who might be overloaded or underutilized. You can add or remove team members as the project evolves, ensuring access control stays appropriate throughout the engagement lifecycle.

Project Templates ​

Many professional services firms deliver similar engagements repeatedly - annual tax returns, monthly accounting closes, quarterly compliance reviews, standard consulting assessments. Rather than recreating these projects from scratch each time, project templates let you define the standard structure once and reuse it with just a few clicks.

A project template captures the typical configuration: standard project name pattern (with placeholders for year or client name), default team member assignments, standard job types that will be used, typical budget estimates, and any standard descriptions or notes. When you need to start a similar engagement, create a new project from the template and Hidma pre-populates all these details, which you can adjust for the specific instance. This templating dramatically reduces setup time while ensuring consistency in how similar work is structured. Learn about project templates

Sharing Projects ​

Team collaboration requires that the right people have access to the right projects. When you share a project with a team member, you're granting them permission to log time against it, view project details, and see associated billing information (depending on their role permissions).

The sharing interface lets you add individual users or entire teams to a project. For each person or team, you can specify whether they should be able to log time (essential for anyone doing billable work), view the project (perhaps for managers who oversee but don't directly contribute), or have additional permissions like editing project details or creating bills. As projects evolve and team composition changes, you can adjust sharing at any time - adding new team members when they're assigned, removing people when they roll off, or changing permission levels as roles shift. Learn about sharing projects

Key Features ​

📊 Budget Tracking ​

Project budgets in Hidma help you track whether engagements are progressing as planned or running over estimate. You can set budgets in multiple ways: estimated hours (perhaps 80 hours for a tax return), maximum dollar amount (a fixed-fee engagement capped at $10,000), or both hours and dollars to track different aspects of the constraint.

As team members log time to the project, Hidma automatically tracks consumed hours and calculates dollar cost based on each person's charge-out rate. The budget view shows you estimated versus actual in real-time: if you budgeted 80 hours and the team has logged 65 hours so far, you can see you're at 81% consumption with (hopefully) most of the work complete. Visual indicators warn you when projects approach budget limits - typically at 80% or 90% consumption - giving you time to either finish efficiently or have conversations with clients about going over estimate.

Budget tracking serves multiple purposes. It helps you price future similar engagements more accurately based on actual historical consumption. It provides early warning when projects are trending over budget, triggering conversations about scope or additional billing. It enables profitability analysis showing which types of engagements are actually profitable versus those that consistently overrun. This budget discipline separates profitable firms from those that chronically underestimate and undercharge.

Budgets can be based on cost, time (hours), or chargeable amount, and you can run multiple budgets on the same project. Time-bound budgets (monthly, quarterly, or annual) re-measure each period - ideal for retainers - and provide pro-rated recoverability. You can also set custom budget notifications to alert the right people at the thresholds you choose. Learn about project budgets and budget notifications.

📋 Project Status Management ​

Projects move through different states during their lifecycle, and status management helps everyone understand where each engagement stands. Active projects are currently being worked on - team members can log time, work is progressing, and billing happens regularly. On Hold projects have been paused temporarily, perhaps awaiting client information, waiting for regulatory approvals, or postponed due to client circumstances. During the hold period, time tracking typically stops, giving you a clear picture of work done before and after the pause.

Completed projects have finished and are closed to new time entries. Marking projects complete is important for keeping your active project list manageable and for accurate utilization reporting - you don't want "available work" calculations including completed engagements. Completed projects remain in the system for historical reference, reporting, and analysis, but they're filtered out of day-to-day work views. This status progression from Active through On Hold (if needed) to Completed mirrors the natural engagement lifecycle.

🎯 Project Codes ​

Like client codes, project codes provide short, memorable identifiers that make reference easier. When team members are filling out timesheets, "ABC-TAX" is quicker to find and harder to confuse than "Acme Corporation - 2024 Tax Return Preparation." Codes appear in reports, making data denser and more scannable. They feature in file naming conventions, so project documents can be organized consistently.

Effective project coding schemes often combine elements: client code + year + service type (ABC-2024-TAX), or client code + matter number for law firms (ABC-M001), or client code + sequential project numbers (ABC-P001, ABC-P002). Whatever scheme you choose, consistency matters more than the specific pattern. Document your coding convention and train team members to follow it when creating new projects.

💼 Billing Type ​

Categorise each project by how it's billed - Manual, Automatic, or your own custom values - then filter your portfolio and the Ready for Billing queue by that category. It's a great way to separate recurring-bill projects from work you bill by hand. Learn about billing types

👁️ Tailored Statistics ​

Choose exactly which metrics appear on the Projects summary page and on each project dashboard. Pin your five most relevant data points with Quick Overviews, and swap dashboard statistics on the fly. Click the Cost tile to open the full Cost Summary breakdown - time, cost, charge-out, and amounts billed per entry, groupable by user or job and exportable to CSV. Learn about tailored statistics

🔄 Recurring Projects ​

Configure a project once and let Hidma generate each occurrence on a schedule, with dynamic placeholders that resolve the project name and code automatically. Works for a single client or as a bulk roll-out across your whole client base. Learn about recurring projects

🧾 Billing at Project Creation ​

Define Bills, Recurring Bills, and Charges in the same pass as the project itself - ideal for fixed fee, retainer, and upfront billing arrangements where the fee is agreed before any work starts. Learn about billing at project creation

Common Workflows ​

Creating a Standard Project ​

The typical project creation flow starts with understanding the engagement. Navigate to Projects and start creating a new project. Select the client this work is for - if the client doesn't exist yet, create them first. Enter a descriptive project name that will make sense months from now when you're looking at historical data. Assign a project code following your organization's convention. Set status to Active since you're starting work now.

If you have a budget - whether from a fixed-fee quote or an estimated hours discussion - enter those budget parameters. This is optional but recommended for budget tracking and profitability analysis. Add team members who will be working on this project, ensuring they'll be able to log time to it. Include any relevant project description, scope notes, or special instructions in the notes field where the team can reference them. Save the project, and it immediately becomes available for time tracking.

Using a Project Template ​

When you're starting work that's similar to engagements you've done before, templates save tremendous setup time. Navigate to Projects and choose "Create from Template" rather than creating a new project from scratch. Select the template that matches the type of work - perhaps "Annual Tax Return" or "Monthly Bookkeeping" or "Audit Engagement."

Hidma presents a pre-populated project creation form with all the template's standard values: default name pattern (which you can customize for the specific client), suggested team members (add or remove based on who's actually assigned), standard budget estimates (adjust if this client's engagement is larger or smaller than typical), and default job types and descriptions. Review these defaults, customize what needs adjustment for this specific instance, select the client, and save. You've just created a fully configured project in a fraction of the time it would take to build from scratch.

Managing an Active Project ​

As a project manager overseeing an engagement, regular project monitoring keeps things on track. Navigate to the project dashboard to get a comprehensive view. Check the time tab to see how many hours have been logged this week and by whom - are people making expected progress, or is work lagging? Review budget consumption to understand if you're tracking toward estimate or running over - if you're at 90% budget with 50% scope remaining, you need to have conversations.

Look at unbilled hours to see work that's been done but not yet invoiced - large unbilled balances might indicate it's time to create a bill. Check which team members are assigned and whether that roster is still appropriate - perhaps you need to add someone with specialized skills or remove someone who's rolled off. Review the bills tab to understand invoicing frequency and payment status - is the client paying promptly, are invoices going out regularly, or is revenue recognition lagging work completion? This regular monitoring, ideally weekly for active projects, prevents surprises and keeps engagements healthy.

Best Practices ​

Project Management Tips

Descriptive Project Names Generic project names like "General Consulting" or "Ongoing Work" become impossible to distinguish when you have dozens of projects. Specific names like "2024 Q2 Financial Statement Review" or "ERISA Compliance Audit - Plan Year 2023" make it clear what each project covers. Include time periods when relevant, since many clients have recurring annual or quarterly work. Good names improve timesheet accuracy (people select the right project), enhance report clarity, and make historical analysis easier.

Set Budgets Even for T&M Even when you're billing time and materials rather than fixed-fee, setting project budgets provides valuable tracking and early warning. Perhaps you told the client to expect 40-50 hours - enter 50 hours as the budget. Now you'll get warnings when consumption exceeds that range, triggering client communication about additional scope or additional billing. Budgets don't restrict what you bill; they just provide visibility and control.

Regular Budget Reviews Don't set project budgets at the beginning and then ignore them until the end. Review budget consumption weekly for active projects, particularly those with tight margins or fixed-fee arrangements. When you see a project trending toward or over budget, immediate action might salvage profitability: accelerate work to finish within budget, have a scope discussion with the client about additional billing, or reallocate team members to use lower-cost resources. Budget problems caught early have more solutions than problems discovered after you've blown past the limit.

Keep Project Teams Current As projects evolve, team composition changes - people roll on as their expertise becomes needed, others roll off as their part finishes. Keep project team assignments current by adding and removing people as these changes occur. Outdated team lists mean people who shouldn't have access can still log time (creating improper attribution), while people who should contribute can't find the project in their lists. Monthly team review for long-running projects ensures assignments stay appropriate.

Use Status Appropriately Don't leave projects in Active status forever, including completed or paused engagements. When work pauses waiting for client input or external dependencies, mark the project On Hold - this improves utilization reporting since you're not credited with available work that's actually blocked. When projects finish, mark them Completed to clean up your active project list and generate accurate capacity metrics. Disciplined status management provides better visibility into what's actually in flight versus what's merely not archived.

Project Notes and Documentation Use the project description and notes fields to capture important information that team members should know: special billing arrangements, key client contacts specific to this project, scope boundaries or exclusions, unusual rates or discounts, or technical requirements. This documentation in Hidma means team members can find critical information without having to ask around or search through email, reducing friction and improving consistency.

Project Setup ​

Time and Billing ​

Reporting ​

What's Next? ​

Ready to effectively manage your projects?

For new users:

  1. Create your first project under a client
  2. Share the project with relevant team members
  3. Track time to understand project progression

For experienced users:

  1. Set up project templates for recurring work
  2. Implement budget tracking for profitability analysis
  3. Use status management to maintain clean project lists

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