If you have projects that won't be invoiced, use non-billable option when creating new one.
Follow these steps to categorize them appropriately:
Tenders (price quotes, requests for proposals)
To track internal hours or costs spent on quotes or other proposals, we recommend creating internal Brand where you can list all the tenders or internal projects.
Create e.g., a "Tenders" brand under the "Your Company" client (navigate the Clients & Brand section, then click on “Add new” button)
Create a new project via the '+ New project' button
Fill in the project details
Use 'nonb-billabe' option
There are different approaches for creating the 'Tenders' brand. You can either create the brand 'Tender' under each client, or you can create one 'Tenders' brand under the internal agency client for all quotes. In either case, differentiate particular tenders through project names, ensuring all projects are marked as 'non-billable'.
If you don't want to create new project for every quote, you have two options:
Always use a non-budgeted budget item and create one task for each quote.
Assign a budget to the project where each budget item represents one quote. When working on a new quote, open the current budget, add a new budget item, save the new version as final, and assign it to the project.
Utilizing a budget for tender projects helps you better structure the project and track internal resources spent on acquiring new deals.
What if the client agreed to cover the internal tender cost?
We recommend creating a new billable project under the given brand/client (whether it's a new client or a new brand under an already existing client).
Transfer the tracked hours the client agreed to pay and create an invoice.
If the client has also agreed to cover external costs, re-assign the external cost from the former project to the new one by editing the expense (change the assigned items in the budget items split at the end of the expense detail).
Pro Bono/Non-billable projects
To set up a pro bono project without expected invoicing, simply check the 'non-billable' option during project creation.
You can either work with a pre-created non-budgeted budget item or assign a budget to the project for a more organized project structure.
What if the client pays for external costs but not for internal work?
For scenarios where the client covers external costs but not internal work, avoid using non-billable option. Than, you have two options:
1) Set the client hourly rates to 0 € for agency work. Utilize the 'dollar' icon to price the service in the budget.
Tip: Create a Rate card for tenders where all the positions will have an hourly rate of 0 €.
2) Create tasks that will be marked as non-billabe. You will have a overview of work done and how much it costs your agency. But tracked hours on such tasks will also be marked as non-billable, so they won't be counted for invoicing.
Internal projects
To set up an internal project without expected invoicing, simply use 'non-billable' option during project creation.
You can either work with a pre-created non-budgeted budget item or assign a budget to the project for a more organized project structure. You can structure the budget based on your internal activities (e.g. Internal social media management, internal meetings, workshops..).
With Internal projects, you can efficiently monitor both internal and external costs incurred by your agency, including activities and overheads. Create distinct internal projects to track invoices from freelancers collaborating with the agency or to monitor operating costs effectively.