Phases

Setup required before use	Who can use it?	Where is it?
Switch on Phases system wide	Assistant project manager Project Manager Director Administrator System Administrator	Project > Project Plan > Sub Projects Project > Sub Projects

Phases can be switched on / off at any time during the project life cycle. Enable phases to have grouping on an invoice, and for advanced grouping within the Sub Projects tab. This is helpful when there are a large list of sub projects.

1. Open the Project > Project Plan > Sub Projects tab.
2. Click the Phases & Sorting button in the toolbar.
3. Click the '' button in the toolbar.

Click the image above to see where to turn phases on.

4. A phase grouping has been created for each Sub Project that was on the Project.

Click the image above to the initial phase grouping created.

5. Drag and drop the sub projects into the required groups. Or use the button in the toolbar to re-order the sub projects. Use an existing default phase as the initial phase grouping, and then we can rename the phase.
6. Delete the extra phase groups that are not required using the button in the toolbar. Highlight the phase not required and click 'Delete Phase'.

Click the image above to see the extra phase groups and how to remove them.

7. Update the Phase name. Select a phase in the list, and update the phase name and description in the right panel.
8. Repeat the phase name change for each phase (as required).

Click the image above to see how to rename a phase.

9. Re-order the sub project or phases if required. Use drag and drop or the arrow buttons in the toolbar.
10. Save and close.
11. Phases are now shown in the sub projects tab and the work breakdown tab.

Click the images above to see how phases look within a project.

Add a new phase group to a project by:

1. Open the Sub Projects tab.
2. Click the Phases & Sorting button in the toolbar.
3. Select button in the toolbar.
4. Type a Name for the Phase i.e. 'Architectural'.
5. Drag and drop the Sub Projects required into the new phase group.
6. Save and Close.

Click on the image above to see phases in a project.

The Sub Projects tab will display Phases which have Sub Projects attached by default. Locate the phase without sub projects by:   

1. Select the Project Plan > Sub Projects tab.
2. Change the screen filter to Phases Only.  
3. Open the phase to attach sub projects.

When you create an invoice you will select the Phase name(s) to be invoiced, instead of the Sub project name. The values entered for each sub project will be grouped together and shown to be invoiced as a Phase in the invoice wizard. Each Sub Project within a phase can then be updated to determine which transactions are included on the invoice, or if there is pre-billing performed for a fixed fee or percent of project fee type.

When creating the invoice output you can select to display the phase summary information, or the phase and sub project invoice details. The bookmarks to populate the phase and sub project information must be included in your invoice document template. A sample of am invoice with phase grouping and the sub project invoice breakdowns displayed is below.

Click the image above to view a phase invoice example.

Learn more about invoicing phases in the Invoicing 101 topic.

It is possible to display the phase details in the Proposal document templates. Use the 'fee detail table' available in the Proposal document template. This table allows the setup of a phase name, phase fee or phase budget total values to be displayed with the sub project breakdowns.

Learn more about creating a proposal document template.

Synergy reports do not have a column by default to show the Phase Name. Synergy phases are for invoicing purposes (not reporting) which is why this feature is not currently available. There there is a work-around available if you need to have this detail showing in your Synergy reports.

1. Add a new 'Sub Project' attribute for the commonly used Phase Names by:
   1. Go to Default Data > Attributes.
   2. Click New attribute in the toolbar.
   3. Enter the description of 'Phase Name'.
   4. Select the type of 'Sub Project'.
   5. Select the data type of 'drop down list'.
   6. Save.
   7. The attribute list table is shown. Type the name of the common phase names in this table. i.e. type the phase name next to the + symbol and click tab, then type the next phase name into the item field for the next row shown. These will be the options available in the drop down list.
   8. Save and close when all the attribute options have been setup.

Click the image above to view the phase name attribute.

2. Add the Phase Name bookmark to a project for use in report.
   1. Go to a Project that has Phases enabled.
   2. Open the Sub project > Attributes tab.
   3. Select an option for the 'Phase Name' attribute setup in step 1.
   4. Save and close the sub project.
   5. Open each of the sub projects and repeat the allocation of the phase name attribute.

Click the image above to view allocating the phase name attribute.

3. Add the Attribute column to your Synergy report to display the new details in the report output.
   1. Go to reports.
   2. Open the report that requires the phase details added.
   3. Go to the columns tab.
   4. In the Sub Projects column group add the 'Sub Project Phase Name' column to the list, and move the column to the required position using the up/down arrows.
      
      _{Click the image above to see the report column.}
   5. Adjust the column titles to be shorter - to more easily fit on the report output.
      
      _{Click the image above to see the update report columns.}
   6. Save.
   7. Note: The report shown above is available to download from the online library.
4. Run the report in the project to view Phases in the output.
   1. Open the Project.
   2. Go to the Reports menu > Sub Projects group.
   3. The report above will appear named 'Sub Project - Work Breakdown Budget with Phases'.
   4. Select the report and the Phase Name will be shown in the output using the attribute added to the sub projects.

View a sample of the report output with the Phase Name shown using attributes.