How to create a project

This article explains how to set up a project in FreeAgent.

Before you start

Please ensure that the customer you are creating the project for has been added as a contact, either by uploading their information into FreeAgent, importing them from Basecamp or manually adding them as a new contact.

1. Navigate to ‘Projects’

Navigate to the 'Work' tab at the top of the screen and select 'Projects' from the drop-down menu.

Alternatively, you can create a project by selecting ‘Quick Links’ on the ‘Overview’ page and selecting ‘New Project’ from the drop-down menu.

You can also create a project from a contact by selecting ‘Project’ from the ‘Add New’ menu.

If you’re creating your first project in FreeAgent, select ‘Create your first project’.

If you’ve already created your first project in FreeAgent, select 'Add New Project' in the top-right to create a new one.

2. Complete the project details

Next, you’ll need to complete the project details.

Contact

Select which customer the project is for from the ‘Contact’ drop-down menu. Please note that if the contact is hidden they won’t appear in the list. You can also add a new contact by selecting 'Or add a new contact' next to the ‘Contact’ field. However, this only allows you to enter the name of the new contact, not their email address. You will need to edit the contact to add additional details if you create a contact this way.

Project name

Enter a name for the project.

Status

Select the project status using the drop-down menu. You can choose between ‘Active’, ‘Completed’, ‘Cancelled’ or ‘Hidden’.

Contract/PO number

Enter a reference number for the project such as a contract or purchase order reference number.

Invoice numbering

If you want invoices for this project to follow project level sequencing, tick the ‘Project-level Invoice Sequence’ checkbox. Find out how invoice numbering works in FreeAgent.

Time and money

Select the relevant currency for this project using the ‘Currency’ drop-down menu. Please note that you can’t create an invoice for a project in a different currency than the one selected for the project.

You can set a budget of time for this project in the ‘Budget’ field if you wish. Don't worry if you go over your budget, FreeAgent won't stop you recording more time to the project. Leave this box as zero if there's no set budgeted time.

Enter the number of hours you'll be working each day on the project. So if a working day on this project would be six hours, enter 6.00 in the ‘Hours per day’ field. Please note that the number of hours you allocate here will be used if you add a task with a rate per day rather than per hour.

If you have a set billing rate for this project that you want to use on timeslips and invoices, enter that in the ‘Normal Billing Rate’ field. Please note that if you enter rates for individual tasks in the project, those rates will override the default project rate.

More options

Select the chevron arrow next to 'More Options' to expand this section and then enter the relevant details if required.

IR35

If the project comes under IR35 as de facto employment, tick the ‘Is ‘Employment’ under IR35?’ checkbox. This makes it easier for you to distinguish between projects that are inside and outside IR35 when it comes to working out your deemed payment.

Project dates

You can enter start and finish dates for the project if you wish and decide whether or not you would like to see unbillable time, which is time that you've spent on this project but won't charge your customer for.

Once you’ve entered the relevant details, select ‘Create New Project’ to complete the process.

You can then start adding tasks, costs and invoicing your customers for the work you've done on a project.

If you need to make changes to a project that you've previously created, find out how to edit a project.