Getting Started

Create & manage projects & clients on workspace level

7 min read

As a Workspace admin or Owner, you’ll play a key role in creating and managing projects and clients. This will help your team organize their time, track progress, and optimize workflows. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know about setting up, managing, and maintaining projects and clients in your workspace.

Key concepts #

Projects #

Projects are essential for categorizing and grouping time entries based on the type of work being done. They help you analyze data, generate reports, and track the time spent on different tasks.

A project can only belong to one client but a client can have multiple projects.

Projects can be private (visible only to selected users) or public (visible to everyone in the workspace). Projects are useful for tracking time, setting estimates, assigning tasks, and reporting.

Clients #

Clients are the entities or individuals for whom you are doing work. Clients can be linked to multiple projects, and each project can belong to only one client.

Create projects #

As an Admin or Owner, you have the ability to create projects for your workspace. Here’s how you can do it:

Who can create projects? #

By default, only Admins can create projects. However, this setting can be changed to allow Admins and Project Managers or Anyone in the workspace to create projects. You can modify this setting in Workspace settings.

Steps to create a project:

  1. Go to the Projects page
  2. Click Create new project
  3. Enter project name
  4. Select a client
    If the client doesn’t exist, you can create a new one right from the project creation screen if you type the name and click Create client
  5. Choose project color to help visually distinguish your project
  6. Set visibility
    Choose between Public or Private visibility
  7. Click Create

Once the project is created, it will be available for time tracking. If the project is set to private, only users assigned to the project will be able to track time under it.

Quickly create project #

You can also create a project while creating a new time entry:

  1. In the Time tracker page, click on the +Project field
  2. Start typing the project name
  3. If the project doesn’t exist, you’ll be prompted to Create new project
  4. Enter the necessary details such as project name, client, visibility, etc.

You can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Enter to quickly create a project.

Manage projects #

Archive projects #

Once a project is completed, you can archive it to keep your workspace organized.

Steps to archive project:

  1. Go to the Projects page
  2. Click the three dots next to the project name
  3. Select Archive
  4. You can choose to mark all tasks as done during this action
  5. Click Confirm to archive the project

Restore archived projects #

To access archived projects again:

  1. Change the Active filter to Archived at the top of the Projects page
  2. Click Apply filter
  3. To restore the project, click the three dots next to the archived project and select Restore

Delete projects #

You can delete a project only after it has been archived. Once deleted, the project will be removed from time entries but the time data remains intact.

Steps to delete project:

  1. Go to the Projects page
  2. Change the filter to Archived or All
  3. Click the three dots next to the archived project name
  4. Select Delete and Confirm

Merge projects #

While it is not possible to directly merge projects, you can:

  1. Filter the time entries of one project and assign them to another project
  2. Use the bulk edit feature to update multiple time entries at once in the Detailed report

Once you’ve reassigned the time entries, you can archive and delete the project you no longer need.

Manage project access & permissions #

As a project manager, you have control over who can access the project, modify tasks, and track time under it. You can also assign users as project managers for specific projects.

To learn more about how to manage users on a project, please refer to our Manage users on projects help article.

Project status & notes #

Each project can have a status (e.g. In progress, completed) to help track its progress.

  • Project status: You can update the status as you track time and progress
  • Project notes: Add additional context or instructions to the project by using the project note feature. This is especially useful for providing key details to the team working on the project.

Edit project name, client, or color #

To edit a project’s settings such as its name, client, or color:

  1. Go to the Projects page
  2. Click on the project you want to edit
  3. Switch to the Settings tab
  4. Make changes to name, client, and project color

These changes will be updated immediately across the workspace.

Setting billable rates for projects #

You can define a billable rate for each project to ensure that time entries are tracked correctly.

Steps to set a billable rate for a project:

  1. Go to the Projects page
  2. Click the project you want to update
  3. Switch to the Settings tab
  4. Set the Billable rate for the project

You can also set different rates per user in the Access tab if you want to apply specific rates to different team members.

Filter and sort projects #

With many projects in your workspace, it can be hard to keep track. Use filters and sorting options to easily find the projects you’re looking for.

  • Filter by: Active status, client, project users, billability, or name
  • Sort by: Name, Client, or Status

Create projects from templates #

To avoid recreating similar projects repeatedly, you can use project templates. This feature is available with paid plans and allows you to create projects with pre-set settings (billable rates, tasks, estimates, etc.).

To create a project from a template:

  1. When creating a new project, select project template from the templates you saved
  2. The settings from the template will be automatically applied to the new project.

Bulk add and edit tasks #

Admins and Owners can add and edit multiple tasks across several projects at once. This is useful for organizing large numbers of tasks.

Steps for bulk task management:

  1. Select the projects you want to update
  2. Use the bulk edit screen to modify visibility, access, client, color, billability, and tasks
  3. You can add new tasks to multiple projects or overwrite existing tasks in bulk

Manage clients #

Who can create clients? #

  • By default, Admins and Owners can create clients
  • If the setting Who can create projects and clients is set to Anyone, Regular users can also create clients, but they won’t have access to the Clients page

Create a client #

  1. Go to the Clients page
  2. Enter the client’s name in the Add new client field
  3. Click Add

Edit existing clients #

To edit a client’s information:

  1. Go to the Clients page
  2. Click the pen icon next to the client you want to edit
  3. Modify details such as Client name, Client address, Client notes, and Currency

Archive clients #

To archive a client (only available for Owners and Admins):

  1. Go to the Clients page
  2. Click the three dots next to the client’s name
  3. Choose Archive and confirm the action
    • You’ll also have the option to archive all projects linked to that client.

Delete clients #

Clients can only be deleted after they are archived. Once archived, you can delete a client by:

  1. Going to the Clients page
  2. Selecting Show Archived or Show All from the filter
  3. Click the three dots next to the archived client
  4. Choose Delete and confirm

FAQ  #

Can a project belong to multiple clients? #

No, each project can only belong to one client. However, a client can have multiple projects.

How do I set different billing rates for different users on the same project? #

You can set a project billable rate in the Settings tab. If you need different rates for different users, you can modify them in the Access tab.

Can I delete a project without archiving it first? #

No, projects must be archived before they can be deleted.

How can I track time for a project? #

Once a project is created, you can select it when tracking time through the time tracking interface. If the project is set to private, only users with access to the project can select it.

Was this article helpful?

Thank you! If you’d like a member of our support team to respond to you, please drop us a note at support@clockify.me