Edition: All
User-Level: User and above
Permissions (Enterprise Only): Manage Projects (security group) - Access Project Breakdown, View Stage Details, Project Financials. Budget lines and totals also require read access to the budget; creating, editing, splitting, deleting, and clearing budget lines, and switching between Planning and Delivery mode, require edit access to the budget.
Project Breakdown is where you set up and manage the Phases and Stages that make up your project. From one page you can edit Stage details inline, set fees and contract fees, build and maintain the budget, switch between Planning and Delivery mode, apply templates, and jump to financials, transactions, and invoicing. You can also tailor the table to how you work by choosing columns, pinning the Name column, and saving your own Views.
Getting to Project Breakdown
From within a project, go to:
Project navigation bar > Breakdown > Project Breakdown
Project Breakdown is the first option in the Breakdown dropdown, followed by Work Breakdown, Budget, Stage Management, and Budget vs Actuals.
The Project Breakdown Page
Your project's Phases and Stages are shown in a table. Each row is a Phase or a Stage, and the columns show the key details for each, such as Status, Assignee, Discipline, Fee Type, Fee/Cap, and Budget Total.
At the top of the page
Planning mode / Delivery mode - shows the project's current mode, with a toggle to switch. See Planning Mode and Delivery Mode.
Search box - search for a Phase or Stage by name.
Clear Filters - appears when any column filter is applied. Clears all filters in one click.
Insert - add a Stage, a Phase (when Phases are enabled), or a budget line ("Insert Budget").
View - pick the Default View, a built-in Focus View, or one of your saved custom Views.
Export - download the table as an Excel file.
Ellipsis menu - page-level actions: Enable/Disable Phases, Contract Fees, Insert from Template, Create Template, Customise Columns, Save custom view, Reset All Columns, Clear Budget, and Delete Project.
In the table
Editable cells show a highlight and a pointer cursor on hover. Click a highlighted cell to edit it inline. Changes save automatically.
Each row has its own ellipsis menu on the far right (visible on hover) with actions for that Phase, Stage, or budget line.
Stages show a coloured dot in the WBS column matching their Stage Colour. The dot is read-only - change the colour in the side pane.
Phases load expanded the first time you open a project. After that, Project Breakdown remembers which Phases you expanded or collapsed, per user and per project.
Stages with budget lines show an expand indicator. Click it to show the Stage's budget lines.
Choose 20, 50, or 100 rows per page.
The side pane shows a loading state while Stage details are fetched.
Planning Mode and Delivery Mode
Planning and Delivery mode is a project-level setting that controls whether the budget, fee, and resourcing are linked. The current mode is shown in the page header, with a help icon, a toggle, and a "Switch to Delivery mode" or "Switch to Planning mode" action.
If the project is in Planning mode - the budget, fee, and resourcing are linked. Changing one changes the other two.
If the project is in Delivery mode - the budget, fee, and resourcing are unlinked and managed separately. Adjust the budget directly on its budget lines.
How the mode changes
New projects start in Planning mode.
You can switch to Delivery mode at any time, whatever the project status.
You can only switch back to Planning mode while the project status is Proposal. At any other status, "Switch to Planning mode" isn't shown.
The project moves to Delivery mode automatically, with no confirmation, the moment its status changes to Active, Pending Invoice, or On Hold.
Editing Stages or budget lines on the page doesn't change the mode.
Confirmation messages
Switch to delivery mode - "In delivery mode, the budget, fee and resourcing are unlinked and managed separately. Click OK to switch to delivery mode."
Switch to planning mode - "The existing budget and resourcing will be deleted. The planning mode budget and resourcing are linked to and calculated from the fee. Click OK to continue and delete the existing budget."
Select OK to switch, or Cancel to leave the mode unchanged.
Anyone with access to Project Breakdown can see the mode. Switching it in either direction requires edit access to the budget.
Adding a Stage
Select Insert > Stage at the top of the page. The new Stage is added to the bottom of the list. To add a Stage to a specific Phase, use Insert Stage from that Phase's ellipsis menu (or from any Stage's menu in that Phase) - the Stage is added as the last Stage in that Phase.
Type the Stage name in the new row.
Click through the row to set Status, Assignee, Discipline, Cost Centre, Rate Group, Fee Type, Fee/Cap, and Start and End Dates.
For other fields (Tax Rule, Client Reference Number, Scope, and so on), open the side pane via the ellipsis menu > Open Details.
Changes save automatically as you edit each field.
Adding a Phase
Phases must be enabled on the project first. Open the ellipsis menu at the top right of the page and select Enable Phases. Once enabled:
Select Insert > Phase. The new Phase is added to the bottom of the list.
Type the Phase name in the new row.
To add a description, click the Phase row to open the side pane.
To turn Phases off again, select Disable Phases from the same menu.
Editing Stage Details
Most Stage fields can be edited directly in the table.
Editable inline in the table
Name
Status
Progress
Assignee
Discipline
Cost Centre
Rate Group
Fee Type
Percentage - for Stages with a Fee Type of Percent of Contract
Fee/Cap
Start Date and End Date
Budget Date
Editable in the side pane (ellipsis menu > Open Details)
Tax Rule
Client Reference Number
Scope
Restrict Rates
Restrict Tasks
Stage Colour
Use Project Contract Fee
Contract
The side pane's Assignee field matches the table: it's labelled Assignee and only lists active staff.
Side pane notes
Rate Group - changing it recalculates all WIP (uninvoiced) transactions on the Stage. Invoiced and written-off transactions are unchanged.
Restrict Rates - only available when stage-specific rates are set up. When on, only those rates can be used for timesheets, budgets, and invoicing on the Stage.
Restrict Tasks - only available when stage-specific tasks are set up. When on, staff can only log time against those tasks on the Stage.
When a field can't be edited
Start Date / End Date - not editable when the Stage status is On Hold, Unsuccessful, or Complete. Once set, a date can't be cleared.
Fee/Cap - not editable when the Stage has draft invoices, the Stage status is Complete or Unsuccessful, the Fee Type is Non-Billable or Hourly, or the project is non-billable. It can't be reduced below the amount already invoiced.
Fee Type - not editable when the Stage has draft invoices, Use Project Contract Fee is on, or the Stage or project status is Complete or Unsuccessful. Changing it shows a confirmation first.
Percentage - only shown when the Fee Type is Percent of Contract. The total across all contract-linked Stages can't exceed 100%.
Progress - whole numbers from 0 to 100.
Discipline - not editable when the Stage or project status is Complete or Unsuccessful.
Editing Phase Details
Name - edit inline in the table.
Description - edit in the side pane. Click the Phase row to open it.
Phase progress, dates, and totals roll up from the Stages beneath them and update automatically.
Stage Actions
Open the ellipsis menu at the far right of a Stage row. Actions are grouped with dividers, and Delete shows in red.
Open Details - opens the side pane.
Duplicate Stage - copies the Stage within the same Phase, carrying across Status, Assignee, Discipline, Cost Centre, Rate Group, Fee Type, Tax Rule, and Fee. Progress, budget, resourcing, and custom fields aren't copied.
Insert Stage - when Phases are enabled, adds a new Stage as the last Stage in the same Phase.
Create Invoice - starts a draft invoice filtered to this Stage.
View Financials - opens the financials view for this Stage.
View Transactions - opens the transactions list for this Stage.
Clear Budget - removes every budget line on the Stage. See Clearing a Budget.
Delete Stage - only available when the Stage is in Proposal status with no transactions or invoices. Confirm before it's deleted.
Reorder - move the Stage to the top or bottom of its Phase in one click, drag it to any position in the Phase, or drag it into a different Phase.
Example: Jane needs three near-identical design Stages. She creates the first Stage inline, sets its details, then duplicates it twice. She clicks into each copy to update the Name, Assignee, and Fee - no need to re-enter every field.
Phase Actions
Open the ellipsis menu at the far right of a Phase row.
Duplicate Phase - copies the Phase Name and Description. Stages in the Phase aren't copied.
Insert Stage - adds a new Stage as the last Stage in this Phase.
Delete Phase - only available when every Stage in the Phase is in Proposal status with no transactions or invoices. You can't delete the only remaining Phase - disable Phases instead. Confirm before it's deleted.
Reorder - move the Phase to the top or bottom of the list in one click, or drag it to any position.
Fees and Contract Fees
Set each Stage's Fee Type and Fee/Cap inline. Totals roll up to the Phase rows and the table footer.
Fee Type - Fixed Fee, Capped Rates, Hourly, Percent of Contract, or No Billing. Changing it shows a confirmation before it's applied.
Percent of Contract - enter the Stage's Percentage of the contract fee. The total across contract-linked Stages can't exceed 100%.
Use Project Contract Fee - set in the side pane. When on, the Stage's fee comes from the project contract fee and its Fee Type can't be changed. You can't turn it on if it would take the project total over 100%.
Contract Fees - open from the page ellipsis menu to view and edit the project's contract fee amounts and variations.
If the project is in Planning mode - changing a Stage's fee updates its budget and resourcing. Entering a fee of 0 removes the Stage's budget.
If the project is in Delivery mode - changing the fee doesn't change the budget or resourcing.
Budgets
Budgets are managed directly on Project Breakdown. Each Stage's budget lines sit beneath it, and Budget Total and Units roll up to the Stage, Phase, and table footer.
Viewing budget lines
Click the expand indicator next to a Stage to load its budget lines. Lines only load when you expand a Stage, so the page stays fast on large projects.
Each line shows Task, Budget Rate, Type, Category, Units/Value, Rate Value/Markup, Budget Total, and Staff.
Type and Category show as chips (for example Staff, Inspection, Lump Sum, or Contingency). Both come from the rate and can't be edited separately.
If you've hidden every budget column, expanding a Stage shows a message explaining why the lines look empty, with a quick way to show the budget columns again.
Creating a budget line
Select Insert > Insert Budget, or use the insert control under an expanded Stage.
Select a Budget Rate. The rest of the line stays locked until you do, with the tooltip "Select a rate to unlock budget fields".
Complete the Task, Units/Value, and Staff fields.
If the project is in Planning mode and the Stage has Start and End dates - a matching resourcing estimate is created, so the work appears in resource planning.
If the project is in Delivery mode, or the Stage has no dates - only the budget line is created.
Business edition organisations don't support resourcing, so budget lines there always behave as they would in Delivery mode.
Editing a budget line
Budget Rate - recalculates the line's total and which staff can be assigned.
Task - only tasks in the same Stage can be selected.
Units/Value - units-based or fixed value, depending on the rate. Changing it recalculates the total.
Staff - only staff set up to charge at the line's rate are shown.
A failed save puts the cell back to its previous value. Lines can't be edited once invoiced, or once their Stage is locked.
Budget Date - editing a Stage's Budget Date recalculates every open budget line on the Stage using the rates for the new date.
Example: Priya moves a Stage's Budget Date from March to June because the work has been rescheduled. Every open budget line under that Stage recalculates using June's rate values, and the Stage's Budget Total updates to match.
Splitting a budget line
Open the ellipsis menu on a saved budget line and select Split Budget.
Enter the amount to split off. The fields depend on the line's rate type (see below).
Check the live preview of both lines.
Select Split. The original line is reduced and the new line is created in one step.
Staff / Inspection - Task, Staff, and Units.
Cash Expense / Supplier / Supplier Item - a dollar Value.
Travel Expense / Office Expense - Units.
Lump Sum - a dollar Value. You can also pick a different rate for the new line, and the fields change to match that rate type.
Only Lump Sum lines let you change the rate on the new line. For every other type, the new line keeps the original rate and the Rate field is locked.
You can split off any amount up to the full line. An amount of 0, or more than the line holds, shows a warning and Split stays disabled.
Stage, Phase, and project totals and the Stage's fee don't change.
Markup on an expense rate is applied once, to the new line. Any rate variation on the Stage is applied to the new line.
Draft lines and Contingency lines can't be split.
If the Stage status is Proposal or Active - Split Budget is available in both Planning and Delivery mode.
If the Stage status is On Hold, Pending Invoice, Complete, or Unsuccessful - Split Budget isn't shown.
If the project is in Planning mode - splitting a Staff line moves the resourcing hours with the units, and splitting a Lump Sum onto a Staff rate creates a resourcing estimate for the new line.
If the project is in Delivery mode - splitting doesn't change resourcing.
Example: Priya has a $10,000 Lump Sum line on the Design development stage. She splits off $6,000 onto a Staff rate for Sam (30 units), then splits $1,000 from the remaining lump sum onto the Meals expense rate. The Stage now has a $3,000 Lump Sum, $6,000 Staff, and $1,000 Meals line, and the Stage total stays at $10,000.
Deleting a budget line
Open the ellipsis menu on the budget line and select Delete.
Confirm the deletion.
The linked Task is kept, but any resourcing estimate tied to the line is deleted. Once a Stage's last line is deleted, its expand indicator disappears.
If the Stage or project status is Unsuccessful or Complete, or the project is archived - the line can't be deleted.
If the Stage status is Proposal, Active, Pending Invoice, or On Hold - the line can be deleted.
Clearing a Budget
One Stage - Stage row ellipsis menu > Clear Budget (directly above Delete). Only shown on Stages with budget lines.
Whole project - page ellipsis menu > Clear Budget. Clears every eligible Stage.
Confirm in the dialog, and a "Budget cleared" message confirms it's done. Linked Tasks are kept.
Only Stages whose status type is Proposal or Active can be cleared, including your organisation's custom statuses of those types.
On other Stages, Clear Budget is greyed out with the tooltip "Budget can only be cleared while the stage is Proposal or Active."
Clear Budget is a bulk action, so it can't be used on Pending Invoice or On Hold Stages. Delete those lines one at a time instead.
At project level, Clear Budget is greyed out when no Stage is eligible or the project is Complete.
If the project is in Planning mode - the Stage's fee is set to 0 and its resourcing estimates are removed.
If the project is in Delivery mode - the fee and resourcing estimates are kept, and resourcing hours are recalculated.
Budget totals
Stage rows show rolled-up Budget Total and Units without expanding the Stage. Phase rows and the table footer show the total for every Stage beneath them.
Totals update automatically after every create, edit, split, delete, or clear.
Applying a template calculates budget totals straight away.
Numeric range filters are available on Budget Total columns.
Columns and Filters
Customise Columns - from the page ellipsis menu, choose which columns to show. Hover over a column option for a description - for example, Assignee ("For Stages, these are your Stage Managers"), % ("This is the percent of the Contract Fee"), and Invoiced ("Net invoiced amount").
Reorder and resize - drag column headers into any order and drag their edges to resize.
Pin the Name column - hover over the Name column header and select the pin icon to freeze Name alongside WBS on the left while you scroll across. Select it again to unpin. WBS is always pinned, and Name is the only other column that can be pinned.
Filter - use the filter icon on any column, for example by Stage, Start/End Date, Discipline, or a numeric range. Select Clear Filters to remove them all.
Reset All Columns - from the page ellipsis menu, returns the table to the standard columns, order, and widths with no sort. A "Columns reset to default" message confirms it.
Views
Save your column layout as a View and switch between Views from the toolbar, instead of rebuilding your layout each time.
A View saves column visibility, width, order, and whether the Name column is pinned. It doesn't save filters or sort order.
Views are personal. A View you save is available on every project you open, but no other user can see it.
Exporting to Excel isn't affected by the View you're using.
Built-in Views
Default - the standard column layout.
Focus - With Budgets - places the budget columns, including Budget Date, straight after Project Status.
Focus - Without Budgets - hides all budget columns.
Built-in Views can't be renamed, deleted, or overwritten. The two Focus Views are only shown to users with read access to the budget.
Saving a custom View
Set up the columns how you want them - show, hide, resize, reorder, or pin Name.
Open the page ellipsis menu and select Save custom view.
Enter a name (1-25 characters). Optionally tick Set as my preferred View.
Select Save. A "View saved" message confirms it, and it becomes your current View.
Name rules
Empty names can't be saved.
Names over 25 characters show "Please enter 25 characters or fewer".
A name you've already used shows "A view with this name already exists".
Switching Views
Select the View button in the toolbar. The list shows the built-in Views and your custom Views. Type to search by name.
Selecting a View applies its columns straight away.
Example: Jane saves a "Design Review" View on Project A, showing only the columns her team uses. When she opens Project B, "Design Review" is already in the View list, and selecting it applies the same columns.
Editing, renaming, and deleting a View
Select the settings (cog) icon next to a custom View to open Update View.
Change the name and select Save changes to rename it.
Select Delete View and confirm to remove it.
Which View loads
If you have a preferred View - it loads whenever you open or refresh any Project Breakdown page.
If you switch to another View - that choice is remembered for one hour on the same device, across projects. After that, you return to your preferred View, or Default if none is set.
If the View you're using or your preferred View is deleted - Project Breakdown loads your preferred View, or Default.
Templates
Insert from Template - from the page ellipsis menu, add Phases and Stages from a pre-built template.
Create Template - save the project's current Phase and Stage structure as a template for future projects.
When a template is applied, budget totals are calculated straight away. If the template carries its own budget lines, those are used.
Export
Select Export to download the table as an Excel file. The export includes the columns your permissions allow you to see (see Permissions) and isn't affected by the View you're using.
Delete Project
Delete the project from the page ellipsis menu. A confirmation step appears before the project is deleted.
Permissions
The Manage Projects group in the Security Matrix (Enterprise only) controls access to Project Breakdown.
Access Project Breakdown - access to the page and its base columns: Phase and WBS, Stage Name, Status, Dates, Assignee, Scope of Works, Client Reference Number, and Progress.
View Stage Details - requires Access Project Breakdown. Adds Fee Type, Cost Centre, Discipline, Tax Rule, Restrict Rates, Restrict Tasks, and Tags, in the page and the Excel export.
Project Financials - requires Access Project Breakdown. Adds Fee, Cap Value, Cap, Fee and Cap, Total Fee, Contract Amount, Construction Fee Percent, and Construction Fee Value, in the page and the Excel export.
If Access Project Breakdown is OFF - the user can't see the page, and the other two permissions have no effect.
If Access Project Breakdown is ON - the user sees the page and base columns, and the other two permissions each add their columns.
Budget permissions
Read access to budget - see budget lines, Budget Total and Units, and the two Focus Views.
Edit access to budget - create, edit, split, and delete budget lines, use Insert Budget, and switch between Planning and Delivery mode. Without it, budget lines have no ellipsis menu.
Clear Budget - View budget and Edit budget, plus "Add and Edit All Stages", or "Add and Edit My Stages" on a Stage you manage.
"Add and Edit My Stages" only - you can split, delete, and clear budget lines only on Stages you manage. Project-level Clear Budget only clears those Stages.
Pinning columns and saving Views are personal display settings, available to anyone who can see the page.